Bill,
I've played around online and it appears at first that this would be
translated loosely as:
"Visit 250 m from here the birthplace [source of the stones] of the
Pyramid in the ancient Roman quarries of Glanum."
The word "mas" actually means "farmhouse", from what I can see. It is as
if the stones were "grown" there, in a figurative sense. But I don't
think the pyramids of North Africa used European stones, so that is
probably not a good translation.
Alternatively, and more likely, it might mean:
"Visit 250 m from here a [farm]house (in the shape?) of the Pyramid in
the ancient Roman quarries of Glanum."
At that quarry is an oppidum (enclosed town space) near a sacred spring
and perhaps it contained a structure that was pyramidal in shape. See
http://glanum.monuments-nationaux.fr/en/#visiter
Jim
--
James R. Frysinger
632 Stony Point Mountain Road
Doyle, TN 38559-3030
(C) 931.212.0267
(H) 931.657.3107
(F) 931.657.3108
On 2011-08-30 11:06, Bill Hooper wrote:
Can anyone help me translate the following French sign I saw while on
vacation (in St. Rémy de Provence)?
Visite à 250 m mas de la Pyramide dans les anciennes carriéres Romaine
de Glanum.
It was on a sign outside the hospital where Van Gogh was incarcerated.
There are some Roman ruins across the road from the entrance to the
hospital. I'm not even sure which attraction the sign was pointing to.
I thought it was telling me that the entrance to the hospital was 250
metres away, but the words "Pyramide" and "anciennes" and "Romaine de
Glanum" seem to relate to some Roman ruins across the road from the
hospital entrance (none of which appeared to be a "pyramid", by the way.)
I tried an on-line translation web site but it was not much help.
So I don't know exactly what the sign was leading me to, but at least I
clearly understood that it was 50 metres away.
Regards,
Bill Hooper
Fernandina Beach, Florida, USA
==========================
Make It Simple; Make It Metric!
==========================
