{"id":19510,"date":"2013-06-05T15:27:54","date_gmt":"2013-06-05T13:27:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=19510"},"modified":"2017-10-20T15:01:44","modified_gmt":"2017-10-20T13:01:44","slug":"summer-fun-in-southwestern-france","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/summer-fun-in-southwestern-france\/","title":{"rendered":"Summer Fun in Southwestern France!"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you go on a Summer vacation to the South West of France<\/strong><\/span>, you can choose between\u00a0la mer<\/em><\/strong><\/span> (the sea), la for\u00eat<\/em><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0(the forest), la montagne<\/em><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0(the mountain)—and you can also enjoy le sable <\/em><\/strong><\/span>(sand), lots of it!<\/span><\/p>\n

People there call this place “<\/span>la dune du Pyla<\/em><\/strong><\/span>“, (“<\/span>The Dune of Pyla<\/strong><\/span>“)<\/span><\/p>\n

What is le Pyla?<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

It’s also spelled with an “<\/span>i<\/strong>“, and a silent “<\/span>t<\/strong>” in the end (“<\/span>Pi<\/span>lat<\/span><\/strong><\/em>“)<\/span>, as in many French names.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, “Pilat<\/em>” (or “Pyla<\/em>“) is technically not “French”, per se, as it originally comes from\u00a0one of the six main\u00a0Occitan\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>dialects known as\u00a0Gascon\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/span>(the other five being\u00a0Languedocien<\/strong><\/em><\/span>,\u00a0Auvergnat<\/span>, Limousin<\/span>, Provin\u00e7al<\/span><\/em>,<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Vivaron-Alpin<\/em><\/strong><\/span>.<\/em>)<\/p>\n

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

Conlusion? <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Le pyla\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>(or pilat<\/strong><\/em>) is therefore just a “pile of sand<\/strong><\/span>“!<\/p>\n