From: ramesh@henry.ece.cmu.edu (Mahadevan Ramesh)
Subject: ENGLISH COMPOSITION - PART 1
Organization: Electrical and Computer Engineering, Carnegie Mellon
Date: Wed, 2 Sep 1992 05:07:33 GMT

    

               ENGLISH COMPOSITION - PART 1

In one of my earlier posts I had written,

>> The first time I met Rajan Parrikar was when India was getting
>> thrashed by West Indies in World Cup cricket, after having
>> consumed countless beers. He is truly 'erudite' (I had always

A clarification. It was I who was inebriate - Rajan Parrikar is
a teetotaller and was as sane as he always comes across in his
expert posts on music. 

English language can be so ambiguous and loose. Here is what I
picked up in France - a tour brochure about Le Grand Canon du
Verdon, touted as the Grand Canyon of France. The brochure is
ostensibly in English. I have abstracted it a little for
brevity.

                            The Great Canyon of Verdon

The Great Canyon of Verdon !

It is difficult to imagine at one time all this was ocean.
Everything is turned up-side down. From this altitude 1000 one
discovers the 'plateau of fossils' and belvedere of Point
Sublime, also the bottom of the canyon altitude 600.

In 1905, Martel, the hydrographer observed that the torrent
continues to burrow the fissures, the gigantic faults of the
upper jurassic. At the present time, the dams regularize the
torrent. Martel thought of going down the river in a dinghy he
capsized a hundred times and broke up two of them. 

To do the 'bottom' is nowadays a venture. The route is very
varied showing by turns a moonlike desert green oasis in small
lost valleys. The villages sticking to the mountains look stern
and proud, well tuned to this nature without trickery.

It is recommended to drive the whole circuit on the two banks it
takes three or four hours or a day for those coming from the
Cote d'Azur and going back.

A long stop is recommended at the entrance of the Great Canyon.
(parkings, telescope, information) this spot being specially
arranged for the tourist - indeed a road goes up to the general
panorama of Rougon, while other goes down to the inside of the
gorges, facilitating the entrance by the path which prolongs the
road. ..This new alpine cliff road goes up till 1350 m lowering
vertically the Verdon far down at 540 m.

A belvedere bridge had to be constructed to obtain a 10 km short
entrance to Auigiunes from this high point at the outcoming of
the canyon, but only an endless deviation by the junction has
been. Nearby big Lake Ste Croix provides drinking water in four
departments. We are now describing the road left bank in order
to complete the drive on the road right bank. The complete
circuit of the two banks can be done in the two directions
because the cliff roads are open in two ways. Drivers who are in
a hurry can, follow at least one bank it won't delay them much. 

Easy trip in the Great Canyon from Point Sublime to Tripon, 2 km
by car and as much on foot, to go and come back. Take a stick
and a torch at the inn then go down by car along road going to
"the Bottom". After the end parking (no keeper) begins the down
path at the bridge. The narrowness of the couloir obliges one to
take a tunnel. (3m diameter and flat) At 100 m inside, two
openings give a view upon the gap, then the tunnel goes on in a
curb and one has 'to light the lamp'. From the window stairs and
then a security ladder, give access to an extraordinary chaotic
shore where one sees in detail one of the greatest excavations
burrowed out by thousand years of wear by the torrent.

Now one goes back to the tunnel and the remaining 300 m. after
that another 100 m. The last end, the path goes through a slope,
along a third tunnel and comes to a small headland on the left.

One goes back by the same way. Now the sun allows one again to
take snap shots, different from the way forth. One has to take 2
hours in order to appreciate this trip very typical and easy. (8
km roads and 14 km paths in 6 to 8 hours normal going) 

One has to drive on 8 km on the cliff way till La Maline where
one leaves the car; unless one of the group who does not walk,
brings her back to Point Sublime in order to wait there that his
friends come back in the evening.  Better not to take to the
right downstream where one sees the bridge of Estellie as this
is for the trip by the bottom. It is agreeable to rest or take a
cold bath. It will be nice to bathe, even if it is only the
feet, it refreshes better than drinking the water of the Verdon.
Thirty meters below there is a 500m restful going. It is here
the quart part of the trip. The canyon changes of orientation
from east west it becomes North South streamupwards.

Be careful a templing path leads rapidly to the stream, but it
is only for anglers because without outcome. One can take a map
if the schedule has been respected. The trip is tiring. Reduced
weight in equipment, good soles, not too much to eat but drinks.
One can hear shocks and curse unconscious people who throw
stones from the cliff road.

In case of floods, one has to come back from here by the same
way out of water to get out of the canyon or better by the Vidal
path, vertiginous, concealed from the non connaisseurs. If one
wants to continue the descent, (despite the floods) one has to
remember ! You may be stuck by a releasing of 20 cubic meters
per sec. Whew ! If the lake is full up, its water comes up till
here and one has to swim, to use the ropes and climb on the
right bank. 

But this trip in nature is something unforgettable it will
revive you. 

Martel writes "We are at the bottom of a real well. Our arms
outstretched touch nearly the walls which tower in the sun 400m
higher in the sun. Below it is almost night in the prison.
...One ought to proceed 20 times through this canyon if one
dares to say to have seen it. Here exists a real unique wonder
in Europe. Indeed I have not changed my mind after having seen
the Great Canyon of the Colorado more gigantic but less narrow
and above all less green." 

-----------------

PS: Actually this is a very beautiful place. I spent three days
there. And now, here is a verse that I wrote in French. Somebody
else can make fun of it.

           Ilayaraja

J'ai fait une faute orthographique
Mais ce n'est pas une faute musique
Au lieu de ecrivant Ilayaraja du la musique
J'ai ecris Il y a raja du la musique.





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