Translate

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Gorges de la Diosaz; on the Arve below Chamonix

 We knew of the Gorges of the Diosaz because of the travel poster above, by a favorite French artist Roger Broders.  He painted advertising lithographs for about 10 years during the late 20s.  When we took the train from Chamonix to Servoz, hiked up the hill, and entered the gorge area, it still looked much the same as it did when Roger Broders painted it:




There was a monument to a young naturalist who died in the gorge area.
Since the monument had been erected during the early years after the French Revolution, the monument below gives the dates using the calender system that the new republic had instituted:  the 21st day of the month of Fructidor in the year IX/ beginning of Sept. 1800.
Note that Bonaparte is listed as one of the three French consuls.
 Mathamaticians and philosophers together came up with the new calender system.
In the explanation below can be seen the names of the months:
Winter:  Nivose, month of snow; Pluvose, month of rain; Ventose, month of wind
Spring:  Germinal, month of germination; Floreal, month of flowers; Prairial, month of meadows
Summer: Messidor, month of grain harvest; Thermidor, month of heat; Fructidor, month of fruits
Autumn:  Vendemiaire, month of grape harvest; Brumaire, month of fog; Frimaire, frost month:
Year I would have been 1891.

No comments: