Passadoc Gazette – No. 109

The Hebdo 109

Asses

The donkeys...

They're said stupid, they're said stubborn. These are the unloved, the neglected... On the horse, the caparaçons; With donkeys, sticks...

Because he mowed a few strands of grass from a meadow – Oh... Not much... only the width of a tongue – he is guilty at La Fontaine and here he is very resentful when he becomes « Pope's mule » Daudet's.

Yet it is he who carries Mary and it is he who is found in the nursery, warming the child with his breath. It is present in all religions; It is the mount of the poor, the humble... and the only one allowed to women.

We meet him in many tales, fables, rhymes. Often anonymous: he is donkey and then that's it.
Thus in this story (arguably Berber):

– One day, the farmer sent the donkey to carry two lambs to the pasture on the hill where the shepherds were waiting for them. Knowing Renard Dhib would be on the lookout, the farmer...

From the beginning of the story, we know the name of the fox... We will reach the end without ever knowing the donkey's name.

Same – or almost the same – at Cervantes: it is in all memories that Don Quixote is inseparable from the meagre Rossinante; But what is Sancho Panza's mount called? Very few respond spontaneously Rucio !
(a name which is read only in the original version of the book).

Little is known about the appearance of donkeys. There are bones in prehistory and researchers place his arrival in Europe around 4000 B.C.E. According to some, his domestication is earlier than that of the horse... It is posterior according to others. It is said to be from Arabia; It would have moved to Egypt, then Greece, Italy and finally Gaul... The only sure thing is that he is very present in the Mediterranean countries.

There would still be a lot to tell about the donkey, the baudet, the bourricot, the aliboron...

- Aliboron? Are you sure?
- Yes... According to Littré, the word is of questionable etymological origin. But aliboron is a donkey and I...
– Shouldn't we say Boronali?
- Ah! You know this painting « And the sun fell asleep on the Adriatic » Hey! I take this funny story for donkey revenge! Read... It's all here!

– And our donkeys in all this?

Patience... They're coming!

*Research in various articles – Jeanne Monin

Photo A. Abbe
André Abbe – «
Podem batejar IAi! »
 
By finding this photo of my friend Julien Raynaud building his donkey – suspicious! i.e. « putting the boat in place » ; I didn't say « Fighting », Julien loved his animals too much to hurt them any harm – I've been thinking about this galejade:
 
Once, when at a party several men had the same name, they said:
- Podem batejar l'Ai! (We can baptize donkey!)
 
Be careful. « garlic » but we don't need to trip on the i « Ai ».
 
In Western Provence, donkey is said to be ase, but in us it is the grape grain.
Maryse Laugier
– I just learned a word: grape grain. Thanks André for this photo and the text!
 
Claude Boyer
– Me too! I didn't know. « Ase », grape grain.
In Théoule-sur-mer, on the railway between Saint-Raphaël and Cannes, the train passes through the Saùmo tunnel (pronounce saoume)... the saùmo being donkey.
Why is this tunnel called the donkey tunnel ?
Does anyone know?
 
Cyril R. Vergnaud
– We used the expression: « That's where the block hurts. » [Otherwise says: « That's where it hurts. »].
 
Patricia Jouve
– « Like a dumb ass » [Otherwise says: be a little foolish]
  • The Echoes of the Week
    By crossing Fayence
    Lemon Party
    The Puget camp
    The Carnival of Nice
    The Revolutionary and the Micocolier

  • Join the gazette!

  • The Library of Passadoc

By crossing Fayence...

In Crossing Fayence, you will pass the workshop of Raymond Porre, the father of Josiane fithe reader of Passadoc; We thank her for sharing these family memories.
 
Born in Saint-Baillon, a hamlet dependent on Comps-sur-Artuby today disappeared, in the Canjuers camp, Raymond began as a worker at the ironworks of Mme Roubaud in Sollies-Pont.
 
Mrs. Roubaud has a daughter, Simone... And so he becomes the son-in-law of his boss. Once married, the novis come and live in Fayence where Raymond settles as a marshal-ferrant.
 
But Raymond does not just iron the horses, he puts his know-how at the service of the farmers to feed the ploughs of the ploughs blunted by too much land, or to repair the tools.
Then comes the time when "foreigners" build beautiful houses and ask Raymond to shape wrought iron works, and here again his know-how and mastery of his art are wonderful.
 
Simone and Raymond had seven children.
A volunteer firefighter, Raymond was one of the first relief workers on site during the Malpasset disaster in December 1959.
 
And to finish some photos:
Mr. Bagarry in Saint-Baillon, Josiane's great-grandfather who passed on the trade to his descendants, so that today Nicolas Porre is the fifth generation to make tinker and blushing iron in the forge.
 
Claude Boyer

Marie-Odile Beraud

At home, just two generations: my uncle François and my brother Marc.

My uncle in the middle of work.

Lemon Party

In Menton, until 26 February: 95th edition!
Tons of lemons and oranges to make these tanks!

Photos Marie-Odie Beraud

We'll talk about it at some length in « The Gazette » Next!

The Puget camp

Photos : Guy Bouyer Collection
« The Puget camp, which was part of the South-East camps, was established in 1915 at the initiative of General Gallieni. It served as a training camp for the African and Indo-Chinese Troops (during World War I, 240,000 indigenous fighters travelled through the camp).
 
In the early 1950s the camp took the name of « Camp Colonel Dessert »In honour of Colonel Dessert, killed in an ambush in Indochina in 1946. The camp was then administered by the Colonial Troop Training Centre, which became the Marine Troop Training Group. Note the sad chapter of the Second World War, following the Germans' destruction of the neighbourhoods north of the Old Port of Marseille. The population was evacuated, and 15,000 refugees were brought to the camps of Fréjus (Caïs and La Légue) and therefore Puget-sur-Argens. 830 of these refugees were deported, whose three quarters disappeared in German concentration camps.
 
In conclusion, Colonel Dessert's camp was abandoned in 1964.« 

Guy Bouyer

Read also

The Carnival of Nice

A big jump in the past!

Postcards - Guy Bouyer Collection

We'll talk about it at some length in « The Gazette » next week... Patience!

The Revolutionary and the Micocolier

The revolutionary and the micocollier.

The micocollier is renowned in carpentry for the quality of its wood.

In Sorède, in the Pyrénées Orientales, there is still a workshop that still works the micocolier as it was in the 13th century to make ties, while in Sauve in the Gard one manufactures forks with its branches.

Its fruit, the micocole is edible: yellow or burgundy in colour, it is fleshy and has a crunchy core rich in lipids that are good fatty acids; As for the pulp, it tastes like a caramelized apple.

On peut aussi aromatiser de l’alcool ; l’huile tirée de ses noyaux est utilisée en cosmétique et onguents médicinaux. Au printemps on peut consommer ses boutons floraux et ses feuilles, rêches au toucher, ressemblent à celles de l’ortie.

Maryse Laugier
Quand j’étais petite, à côté de l’école, il y avait un micocoulier ; il est toujours là. Je remplissais mes poches des petites boucles noires qui sont comestibles.
À part le goût sucre, il n’y a que la peau et le noyau et je les mangeais sur le chemin du retour à la maison.
Maintenant surprise ! Un petit micocoulier vient de pousser tout seul dans le jardin, cadeau d’un oiseau sans doute.

Marie-Dominique Germain
Les graines de micocouliers qui tombent autour de l’arbre dans la terre font toutes une petite pousse qu’il faut désherber avant de ne plus pouvoir les arracher.
Bien réfléchir avant de laisser pousser l’arbre qui devient très grand… s’il a assez de place !

 


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    • Writing – Passadoc – Participants included:
      André Abbe
      Marie-Odile Beraud
      Claude Boyer
      Guy Bouyer
      Marie-Dominique Germain
      Patricia Jouve
      Maryse Laugier
      Jeanne Monin
      Josiane Porre
      Cyril R.Vergnaud



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    Jeanne Monin

Passadoc