The Alps seen from the mediterranean coast, near St Tropez :
Wow, I never knew the Alps were so present in Provence. They must exercise a strong hold on the Provençal imagination then, I guess. _________________ Wer fremde Sprachen nicht kennt, weiß nichts von seiner eigenen. = Those who don't know foreign languages, know nothing of their own. (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)
Wow, I never knew the Alps were so present in Provence. They must exercise a strong hold on the Provençal imagination then, I guess
The administrative region which corespond to the former region of Provence is now fully called "Provence-Alpes-Cote-d'Azur".
On the six departements of this regions, half of them have the name "Alpes" in them : such as
- "Alpes maritimes" where is Nice.
- "Alpes de haute provence" where is Digne and Verdon canyon.
- "Hautes Alpes", where is Gap
Just a small transposition, and you will be saying it perfectly, fab --
"Alpes maritimes" where Nice is.
- "Alpes de haute provence" where Digne and Verdon canyon are.
- "Hautes Alpes", where Gap is.
It's just a weird little eccentricity of English. But the way you had those sentences worded actually makes them read as interrogatives -- that's how you would ask "Where is Nice? Where are Digne and Verdon Canyon? etc. To turn them back into statements, you go back to noun, then verb order.
What's weird though is that I still often make that mistake in German, even though the word order is the same as in English. For example, when I was lost in some random suburbs in Germany at night, I asked a girl who was waiting at a bus stop for directions. I said:
'Entschuldigen Sie bitte, wissen Sie, wo ist Kircheim-Rathaus-Nord?'
When I should have said:
'Entschuldigen Sie bitte, wissen Sie, wo Kircheim-Rathaus-Nord ist?'
I don't know why I made that mistake, because it's the same as in English.
What's weird though is that I still often make that mistake in German, even though the word order is the same as in English. For example, when I was lost in some random suburbs in Germany at night, I asked a girl who was waiting at a bus stop for directions. I said:
'Entschuldigen Sie bitte, wissen Sie, wo ist Kircheim-Rathaus-Nord?'
When I should have said:
'Entschuldigen Sie bitte, wissen Sie, wo Kircheim-Rathaus-Nord ist?'
I don't know why I made that mistake, because it's the same as in English.
She may not have perceived it as a mistake, it sounds like the kind of lax syntax a tipsy night owl might resort to, to me, but let's ask Icke in the German section!
If the girl was your age, she was probably more baffled by the polite form of adress! _________________ Wer fremde Sprachen nicht kennt, weiß nichts von seiner eigenen. = Those who don't know foreign languages, know nothing of their own. (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)
Lol! Prior to that, however, I'd asked some men who happened to be sitting out in their front garden (yes, in the dark). I said something similar to them, but one of them responded responded:
<Strong American Accent>
'Kircheim-Rathaus-Nord? You guys have any idea where that is?'
Apparently, I had wondered into the American ghetto in Heidelberg. Which I must say was rather fortunate, even though I'd gone in completely the wrong direction.
In case you're wondering, I'd been to Baden-Baden by train for the afternoon, and on the way back had got off at the wrong station in Karlsruhe, which had delayed me several hours. I knew that the busses from Heidelberg Hauptbahnhof to Kircheim (where I was staying) would be rather infrequent at that time, so I decided to get off at Kircheim station. Besides, I had seen Lidl right by the station, and I knew that there was a Lidl very near to my host family's house... of course, it wasn't the same Lidl. So I ended up wondering around in almost total darkness for about an hour trying to find their house! When I finally got there, most of my host family weren't there anyway, except for their 22-year-old daughter and her boyfriend, so I sat in the garden with them for a bit and we ate massive pieces of the chocolate cake which she had made.
Wow, I never knew the Alps were so present in Provence. They must exercise a strong hold on the Provençal imagination then, I guess
Some people seems to not associate mountains with southern Europe. In reality, at the exception of the Norwegian mountains, most of high mountains in Europe are situated around the mediterranean. The meeting of them with the sea is actually one of the main characteristic of mediterranean landscapes.
I've always noticed that most of your European mountains are in the southern parts -- the Alps, the Pyrenees, the Carpathians, the whole spine of Italy. Northern Europe seems to be a lot more mountain-free -- flat or hilly.
Of course in North and South America, all of the major mountain ranges run north and south for vast distances -- the Rockies, the Appalachians, the Andes, so I have no reason to associate mountains with northerliness or southerliness -- usually I have to think in terms of east or west to think mountainous vs flat. _________________ An apple a day....
I must admit that what that I often associate with extreme 'Northerliness' or extreme 'Southerliness' are grassy mountains, dry stone walls, lakes, small isolated cottages, and lots of sheep. I suppose it's the sort of landscape that I associate with Northern England, Scotland, Norway and Iceland, but also with the South Island of New Zealand, the Falkland Islands, and Southern Argentina.
Of course, I know that there are lots of mountains in the Mediterranean, but it's a different sort of landscape compared to the more extreme northern or extreme southern one.
Not sure I would dignify what you call "mountains" in the northern part of the UK with that term, when your highest point is only 1344m above sea level.... which is at about what I am, sitting here at my keyboard -- on the desert floor! _________________ An apple a day....
nIce pictures Benjamin ! those scottish landscapes are really wild... And the foogy ambiance that generally goes with (but not here) gives them a very interesting feeling, sometimes even a bit fritherning.
I would call Scottish relief as mountains, even if they are not high mountains but more average ones like massif central or Jura in France, I consider them not to be just hills.
In fact it is quite difficult to define what a mountain is. Actually it is not only a question of altitude, since you can have some VERY HIGH places completly flat, such as the Bolivian plateaux that rise at 4000m, but are as almost as flat as netherlands.
it can be also question of declivity more than altitude itself.
Quote:
Of course, I know that there are lots of mountains in the Mediterranean, but it's a different sort of landscape compared to the more extreme northern or extreme southern one.
Well, it actually depends of the place you are and its altitude. I know places in southern Alps of Provence that could look like those scottish landscapes.
the vallée des merveilles, just 50 km from Nice beaches
At high altitudes the landscape looks more the image we have of the Alps, and we foget that we actually are in a mediterranean region.
Since a few kilometers more down, in the lower parts (préalpes), the inland mediterranean vegetation is present and gives a different fell to more dry and much less high mountains.
I was kidding. I used to work with a girl from Colorado, and we were always trying to out-mountain each other -- she was from the Rockies, of course, and she used to always sniff, "These aren't mountains -- these would just be little foothills where I'm from!" (The Rockies top out at ~14,400 ft, while our mountains are slightly under 10,000 ft.) _________________ An apple a day....
Not sure I would dignify what you call "mountains" in the northern part of the UK with that term, when your highest point is only 1344m above sea level.... which is at about what I am, sitting here at my keyboard -- on the desert floor!
Not sure if the mountains on your continent can hold a candle to mine, what with Mt Everest and her colleagues on the Himalayas. _________________ Hillary Clinton is an acquired taste which I have clearly yet to acquire.
In fact it is quite difficult to define what a mountain is
And in fact there is a very cute movie about that, from Wales:
"The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain". When the English mapmakers refuse to recognize landforms of less than 1000 feet as mountains, the villagers conspire in Welsh and start a nocturnal improvement of their mountain.... _________________ Wer fremde Sprachen nicht kennt, weiß nichts von seiner eigenen. = Those who don't know foreign languages, know nothing of their own. (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)
In fact it is quite difficult to define what a mountain is
And in fact there is a very cute movie about that, from Wales:
"The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain". When the English mapmakers refuse to recognize landforms of less than 1000 feet as mountains, the villagers conspire in Welsh and start a nocturnal improvement of their mountain....
Actually for me 1000 feets is a bit small for a montain... It is the high of the Eiffel Tower, I'd have difficulties as recognising it a montain !
But that's actually very subjective, in Champagne region there is a place which is called "la montagne de Reims", while it is only a little hill of 50 meters !!
Not sure if the mountains on your continent can hold a candle to mine, what with Mt Everest and her colleagues on the Himalayas.
Actually those mountains are also on my continent - since the continent (real landmass) in which I live is Eurasia Contain both Europe and Asia, which in fact are the same continent, Europe is just a peninsula.
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Join! (free) 
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
But the way you had those sentences worded actually makes them read as 
Your grammar is sometimes unique, but I can always make out what you're saying, so no big deal.
I used to work with a girl from Colorado, and we were always trying to out-mountain each other -- she was from the Rockies, of course, and she used to always sniff, "These aren't mountains -- these would just be little