I mentioned yesterday that my friend Cheryl and I spent half a day walking around and taking photos in a bird sanctuary on the Île d'Oléron when we spent a week on the island. Cheryl was an amateur birder and was very excited to discover the sanctuary, called Le Marais d'Oléron, which we weren't aware of before we arrived. Sad to say, she passed away nearly five years ago now. We had been friends since 1973, when we were both grad students in the French department at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. Then we worked together in the software industry in Silicon Valley for 15 or so years. Cheryl traveled to France with us once in 2001, when we stayed in Vouvray, and then came to visit us in France in 2003, 2006, 2008, and 2011.
In French, the word for peacock is paon — it's a one-syllable word that rhymes with dans, Jean, and Caen (the city in Normandy). The peahen is the paonne, which is also a one-syllable word and rhymes with canne, Jeanne, and Antoine. When you pronounce paon and paonne, pretend the O isn't there.
Talking about Cheryl, she loved owls. After Frank died, I sent her a set of metal trivets in the shape of owls that we had, one large and several small, for her collection. She liked them.
ReplyDeleteI guess she was excited to see the hoopoe.
Cheryl was thrilled to see a huppo on Oléronin 2008. I wish I had better photos of it. Then she went to Israel a couple of years later and said there were huppoes all over the place. I haven't seen one in years, but I do hear their distinctive call from time to time in summer.
DeleteBeautiful photos and sweet memories.
ReplyDeleteA beautiful bird and I’m sure finding the bird sanctuary was a special treat.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely day that was. Thanks for sharing...and for the French lesson.
ReplyDeleteWhen I saw "peafowl" in your headline, for some reason I thought "guinea hen". Those are possibly the stupidest, nastiest birds ever. Peacocks, however, are gorgeous, as are your photos.
ReplyDeleteImagine having to strut through life dragging the equivalent of a ten-foot train of feathers, however beautiful. I'd need frequent naps.
I think it is a Canada goose I see in the background in the second photo.
ReplyDeleteCould well be. I think I have photos of some Canada geese from that day.
Delete