A city founded by the Romans, Auch had its period of power during the Middle Ages, when it was the capital of the old province of Gascony. The high quality of the limestone is an important component of its monuments and buildings, such as its cathedral.
Some of these places of interest are:
Crevichon
Crevichon is an islet off Herm, immediately to the north of Jethou, in the Channel Islands.
According to Dr S.K. Kellett-Smith, the name "Crevichon" means "island of crabs, crayfish or cranes".
Like many names in the Channel Islands, it is Norman language in origin. A thousand years ago, the water level was ten feet lower (3 m), so there were many more of the animals the island was named after.
The island is about 212 by 168 metres (696 by 551 ft) at its widest. Its area is less than . The distance to Jethou is about 215 metres (705 ft).
A 16th-century drawing of the islet, now in the British Museum, shows Crevichon as apparently a wooded islet.
Prof. John Le Patourel, in "The Building of Castle Cornet" said that in 1566, iron and hammers were taken to "Creavissham", and the island quarried for the castle. The quarry has been used since then, but this has made the island much smaller, and less visible. As a result, a fifteen-foot () marker was built on the top. Crevichon may have provided the granite for the steps of St. Paul's Cathedral in London.
It is said that in earlier times, pirates were hanged on it with chains, like nearby Jethou.
Compton Mackenzie, former owner of Herm called Crevichon "Merg" in his book, "Fairy Gold", which is a fictionalised version of the islands.
In 1953, Victor Coysh says that he saw the remains of a German bomber, from the time of the occupation.
Other wrecks include:
Communes of the Gard department
This is a list of the 353 communes of the Gard "département", in France.
Houmets
""Houmet" redirects here, for further information on the placename element, please see "-hou""
Les Houmets are to the east of Guernsey in the Channel Islands. Their name comes from "hou", a Norman/Guernésiais word meaning islets. They are tidal islands.
Amongst the islets are Houmet Benest/Houmet Benêt, Houmet Paradis and Houmet Hommetol (Omptolle). Although Victor Hugo suggests that they were heavily eroded by quarrying (which was certainly true in the case of Crevichon off Herm), Victor Coysh disagrees saying:
Victor Hugo who wrote about many of the Channel Islands in his books, described Les Houmets, in "The Toilers of the Sea" ("Les Travailleurs de la mer"). Gilliat, the main character lives on Houmet Paradis:
Moreover, this house had some very nasty inhabitants besides Gilliat,
The novel was written in the 1860s and set in the 1820s when the islands were still inhabited.
Houmet Benest/Benêt is about two hundred yards (180 m) from the shore. It is triangular, and 80 × 50 yards (73 × 45 m). There is an 18th century gun battery here, to defend against the French. The German occupation added their own, and the British another after the Germans left. The steamer "Clarrie" sank off Houmet Benêt in 1921, in the Great Roussel. "Heathery Brae" in 1952 tried to salvage it, but ended up being wrecked itself, and there are also the wrecks of "Vixen" (a brig), "Rescue" (a tug) and "Romp" (a cutter) went ashore here. It is covered in grass and brambles.
Houmet Paradis, the fictional Gilliat's home, was originally known as Houmet de l'Eperquerie, as it was used for fish gutting, and drying on stands known as "perques" (perches). It was formerly owned by the Collas family, whose estate at Paradis, gave the islet its new name. In the 1920s, it was used for quarrying, and it was also used for grazing cattle, and has a lot of grass. In 1951 it was sold to James Watson of Newcastle upon Tyne for £500 who placed the island under the stewardship of the National Trust of Guernsey. It remained within the family until 2004 when it was sold at auction by James Watson's grandson (also called James Watson who live on Alderney) to a local consortium to keep the island as a nature reserve.
Hommetol, more commonly called Omptolle by the Ordnance Survey etc., is used for gathering ormer. It is mostly covered in thrift.
Phoenix Park
Phoenix Park () is a park in the middle of Dublin, Ireland. It lies about west of the city centre, north of the River Liffey. The wall around it is 16 km long. The area within the wall is . It is one of the largest walled city parks in Europe. It has large areas of grassland and wide roads with trees on both sides. A herd of wild Fallow deer have lived in the park since the seventeenth century. The English name ("Phoenix") comes from the Irish "fionn uisce" meaning "clear water".
A Royal Hunting Park was created in 1662 by the English Lord Lieutenant of Ireland at the time, Lord Ormonde. The park contained pheasants and wild deer, and a wall was built around the whole area to stop them escaping. The Park originally included more land which was to the south of the River Liffey. But when they started to build the Royal Hospital at Kilmainham in 1680, the Park was made smaller to the size it is today. It was opened to the people of Dublin by Lord Chesterfield in 1745.
Two people were killed in the park on 6 May 1882. This became known as the Phoenix Park Murders.
"Áras an Uachtaráin" is Irish for "the house of the President". The President of Ireland lives here. It was built in 1754. It was first called the Viceregal Lodge, as it was where the English Lord Lieutenant of Ireland lived.
The Chief Secretary's Lodge was the former house of the Chief Secretary for Ireland. It has been the official house of the United States Ambassador to Ireland since 1927.
The oldest building in the park is Ashtown Castle. It is a medieval tower house from the 15th century. It was restored in 1989. It is located beside the Visitor Centre which has information on the 5,500 years of park and area history.
The Magazine Fort in the south east of the Park is the location where Phoenix Lodge was built by Sir Edward Fisher in 1611. In 1734 the house was knocked down when the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Lionel Sackville, 1st Duke of Dorset wanted a powder magazine ("a building to store gunpowder") for Dublin. An extra wing was added to the fort in 1801 for troops. The Christmas Raid of 1939 happened here.
Dublin Zoo has more than 600 animals and tropical birds from around the world. It was founded in 1830 and opened to the public on 1 September 1831, which means it is the third oldest zoo in the world. It received animals from the Zoological Society of London. Within a year the zoo housed 123 different kinds of animals.
The Wellington Monument is a tall obelisk. It remembers the victories of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington. It is the largest obelisk in Europe and would have been even higher if the public funding had not run out.
The "phoenix monument" is a Corinthian column with a Phoenix bird rising from the ashes at the top. Lord Chesterfield had it made in 1747.
The "Papal Cross" is a large cross that was placed in the park for the visit of Pope John Paul II on 29 September 1979. Over one million people attended an open-air mass in the park at the time. The large white cross is high and is made of steel.
There are 351 plant species in the Park; three of these are rare and protected. The park has kept almost all of its old grasslands and woodlands. It also has rare examples of wetlands. The current 400–450 fallow deer descend from the original herd.
A Birdwatch survey in 2007-8 found 72 species of bird including buzzard, sparrowhawk, kestrel and jay.
The park also has several streams that flow into the River Liffey.
These gardens were created in 1840 as the "Promenade Grounds" ("grounds for talking a walk in"). It has small lakes, a children's playground and a picnic area. The gardens are located close to the Parkgate Street entrance.