{"id":16562,"date":"2012-09-18T15:20:27","date_gmt":"2012-09-18T13:20:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=16562"},"modified":"2017-10-20T14:17:02","modified_gmt":"2017-10-20T12:17:02","slug":"le-pyla-europes-tallest-sand-dune-is-in-south-of-france","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/le-pyla-europes-tallest-sand-dune-is-in-south-of-france\/","title":{"rendered":"Le Pyla: Europe’s Tallest Sand Dune—Is in South of France!"},"content":{"rendered":"

If someone ever quizzes you about the location of the tallest dune de sable <\/em><\/strong>(sand dune) in Europe, thanks to today’s French Blog post you will know it: It’s in the South of France<\/strong>, not too far from the city of Bordeaux<\/strong>!<\/p>\n

* * *<\/p>\n

Well, sure, you won’t feel like you’ve somehow been teletransported to the Sahara<\/strong>, or to the wilderness of the Kilimanjaro<\/strong> desert. Yet, the view offered by this sand dune is still very impressive.<\/p>\n

People there call it “La dune du Pyla<\/em><\/strong>“, (“The Dune of Pyla<\/strong>“), and sometimes spell its name with an “i<\/strong>” and a “t<\/strong>” in the end: “Pilat<\/strong><\/em><\/span>.”<\/p>\n

The “t<\/strong>” in “Pilat<\/strong>“, as in many French names, is silent.<\/p>\n

However, “Pilat” (or “Pyla”) is technically not “French”, per se, as it is originally from\u00a0one of the six main Occitan <\/em><\/strong>dialects known as\u00a0Gascon <\/strong><\/em>(the other five being l<\/strong>e Languedocien<\/strong><\/em>, l’Auvergnat, le Limousin, le Provin\u00e7al<\/em>,<\/strong> and le Vivaron-Alpin<\/em><\/strong>.<\/em>)<\/p>\n

In Gascon, the original word is “pilhar<\/em><\/strong>“, which means a “heap<\/strong>“, or a “pile<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n

Therefore, le pyla\u00a0<\/em>(or pilat) is just a “pile of sand<\/strong>“!<\/p>\n