Archive for April 2013
the mysterious ‘x’
On my virtual biking trip along the Sèvre Niortaise in central France, I have encountered a mystery. On many of the houses I see, there is an ‘X’ on the side of the house. Occasionally there are two. Sometimes the ‘X’ appears to be made of iron. Sometimes it is pressed into the structure of the wall.
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an ‘X’ on the wall of a house (image from Street View)
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another ‘X’ (image from Street View)
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At first, I thought they might mark the location of some feature, such as an underground water line…
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a pair of ‘X’s (image from Street View)
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Do you know the meaning of the mysterious ‘X’?
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another mysterious ‘x’ (image from Street View)
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I think I have figured it out, based on the photo below which shows a bolt in the center of the ‘X’. I think, at some time in the past, the metal ‘X’ was part of the method of shoring up an older house with bowed walls, in danger of collapse. I think the ‘X’ is the outside part of a cable that runs through the walls of the house. The ‘X’ is a kind of cleat, distributing the pressure over the outside walls, preventing the cable from pulling through the wall.
Do you think I am right?
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yet another mysterious ‘x’ (image from Street View)
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Copyright Jane Tims 2013
along the river
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a house along the river (image by Street View)
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map showing distance travelled (map from Google Maps)
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Today, I met two cyclists along the road…
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two cyclists along the road (image by Street View)
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Jane: Bonjour! Il fait beau, oui? (Hello. It’s nice out, eh?)
Pierre de Cheveux-Blancs (Pierre with the white hair): Bonjour Madame. Pourquoi est-ce que votre bicyclette n’ont pas des roues? (Hello – why doesn’t your bicycle have any wheels?)
Jane: Parce que c’est un bicyclette stationnaire! (Because it’s a stationary bicycle!)
Pierre de Cheveux-Blanc: Un bicyclette stationnaire! Comment est-ce que vous faites de progrès? (A stationary bicycle? How do you make any progress?)
Jane: Je fais mon progrès dans ma tête! (I make my progress in my head!)
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My bike trip took me along the banks of the Sèvre Niortaise in the resort town of Coulon…
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boats along the river in Coulon (image by Street View)
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Wouldn’t it be pleasant to live along the river?
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houses along the river (image by Street View)
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Best View: a boat docked along the Sèvre Niortaise…
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Copyright Jane Tims 2013
canal by boat
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a side trip on the river (image by Street View)
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On March 15, in order to return to my main route, I took a boat trip along a canal. This area of central France is very wet, dominated by the wetland known as the Marais Poitevin. The waterways are known as La Venise Verte. Land has been reclaimed from the wetland to create a labyrinth of waterways and dry land.
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my side trip, including a trip by boat (map from Google Earth)
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At the bridge in Le Gué de Magné, I put myself and my bike into one of the barges along the river and took a trip along the waterway…
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boats along the shore (image from Street View)
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The boat trip was a relaxing virtual vacation from all the biking I have been doing. In reality, I ‘simulated’ the boat trip by sitting down for 20 minutes with a book of Monet’s waterlily paintings…
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view along the canal from the bridge (image by Street View)
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It reminded me of a real trip I took on a barge at the Upper Canada Village in Ontario last fall…
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barge trip, Upper Canada Village, 2012 … barge was hauled along the river using horse power!
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The biking portion of the trip was along the Route de la Garette…
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the Route de la Garette, showing water as a major feature of the landscape
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I loved the view of this old barn and the rustic gates of the farm…
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old farm (image from Street View)
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Copyright Jane Tims 2013
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