{"id":140,"date":"2018-09-12T13:42:35","date_gmt":"2018-09-12T13:42:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/?p=140"},"modified":"2026-08-17T05:53:35","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T05:53:35","slug":"france-2018-08","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/?p=140","title":{"rendered":"FRANCE 2018. 08"},"content":{"rendered":"

This has been a trip of discovery.\u00a0 Not as in Land Rovers (sorry Gran!), but rather one of etymological interest.\u00a0 We have picked up at least four new words.<\/p>\n

Firstly, we have “FRELON” – une grande et dangereuse g\u00fbepe or HORNET. Much talked about following Greg’s recent encounter.<\/p>\n

Secondly we have “FAUCUSED”. The origin of this word is confused to say the least. At best it’s sort of Franglais. \u00a0Much used (mainly by Greg) to describe our attitude to walking the coastal path. \u00a0 Loosely translated as “manicly determined” or “totally committed in a focused sort of way”.\u00a0 Cheeky!<\/p>\n

I’ve temporarily forgotten the third one! Hope it comes back to me before I post this…<\/p>\n

However, fourthly – and by far the most debated is “UXORIOUS”. \u00a0This is a much under-used English word defined as: ” Having or showing a great or excessive fondness for one’s wife”. \u00a0Well, having tried fitting that into as many of our conversations as possible, thoughts turned to the question of what would be the female equivalent word. \u00a0After much research overnight Alison woke us all up with the following quotation from Mr Google:<\/p>\n

“There is no corresponding term because, in our common understanding, a woman cannot be too doting on a man – in fact, doting and over-attentive has long been the norm (though perhaps things are beginning to change just a bit) in other words, it is not an abberation, not even considered a phenomenon, and therefore requires no word!” \u00a0Personally, I fully agree with that – I think – probably!<\/p>\n

Anyway, as I write this I’m sitting on a beach looking directly at the location of the now famous nid des frelons in Port de Logeo… from a safe 400 paces!<\/p>\n

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Two emergency vehicles have just hooted their way into the Port – possibly to collect the latest victims of insectical attack ???\u00a0 Well, anything’s possible with the pompiers.\u00a0 They do ambulance service, attend fires, defuse bombs and deal with rogue insect nests. \u00a0Apparently they are even available for weddings and other celebrations.<\/p>\n

While we are in this area we love to go people-watching at the Moulin \u00e0 Caf\u00e9. \u00a0We’ve been to this cafe, which we have known only as “Eric’s Place”, many times over the years.\u00a0 It’s always a hive of activity in the bar area and there’s always a queue of 10 to 15 people waiting to be served at the bakery end.\u00a0 Anyway, for the first time ever we have noticed its proper name.\u00a0 This explains the hundreds of coffee grinders (mills) which adorn the place. Some of them are visible above Eric’s head.<\/p>\n

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I had to wait 20 minutes to get a clear view of Eric and his coffee mills!<\/p>\n

By the way, to follow up on the cracked caravan issue, we have just heard that Coachman have agreed to replace the whole rear panel of the caravan – and it’s a big panel! \u00a0So that’s another couple of round trips to Taunton this Autumn. \u00a0Soon the axle and wheels will be the only original parts on the van!<\/p>\n

Anyway, back to our faucused trip… lots more lovely coastal and gulf views…<\/p>\n

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Sometimes with oyster rearing gear in the inter-tidal area – as above and sometimes with large areas of rocks exposed crawling with French “pecheurs \u00e0 pied” – and there are at least 21 of them on the next photo – all of them after their lunch. \u00a0Oysters, mussels, crabs, prawns, shells, crocodiles – anything they can collect they will eat …<\/p>\n

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In the upper reaches of the gulf there are lots of old boats which are not going anywhere any more.\u00a0 Not even up and down with the tides!<\/p>\n

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I’m going to end this episode with a couple of the more confusing directional signs we have seen:<\/p>\n

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I’ll try and get round to traffic calming measures and speed bumps next time!<\/p>\n

However, I’ve just remembered the third new word – “Magn\u00e9tiseur” – seen on a noticeboard outside a house in a village nearby.\u00a0 A professional “magnetiser”.\u00a0 Sounds an EXTRMELY useful occupation! \u00a0Not as useful as a boulanger or a boucher or even a plombier perhaps, but you never know when you might need something magnetised. \u00a0The odd bicycle, deck chair or camping car maybe???<\/p>\n

Actually, another meaning of the word is “Hypnotist”.\u00a0 Now that sounds more likely!<\/p>\n

10, 9, 8, \u00a0 7…, …6.., \u00a0 \u00a0 5 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0zzzzz<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This has been a trip of discovery.\u00a0 Not as in Land Rovers (sorry Gran!), but rather one of etymological interest.\u00a0 We have picked up at least four new words. Firstly, we have “FRELON” – une grande et dangereuse g\u00fbepe or… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-france-2018"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=140"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8090,"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140\/revisions\/8090"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}