Roundabout à la française
Following the well-signposted cycle route from the Saar to Petite Rosselle, I travelled through kilometres of woods then came to a mining village. Am I in France or Germany? The border is no more, so there are no checkpoints to cross. Within seconds you can tell which country it is. Everything is the same but slightly different. The colours of the houses are different, the use of French balconies, the way they cut their trees — and the use of roundabouts.
What a tease of a round-a-bout this is!! Here in Australia we make 'em bold and brassy and big so when the bus driver just goes straight over, he gets his shins dinged!!
ReplyDeleteAs I remember there are roundabouts everywhere in France. I saw different - huge and small, with trees in the middle and with lavender but this cute little one is really unique:)
ReplyDeleteJulie: yes, I would call this one a “bijou” roundabout.
ReplyDeletejoo: in the case of the roundabout in the picture, there seemed to be little reason for its existence at all. There was absolutely no traffic. But when the French see any expanse of tarmac, they put a roundabout in it.
Cute roundabout. Do you think that car drivers really drive around that tiny little thingy? (;
ReplyDeleteMysterious and intriguing in equal shares. As a sign left on the asphalt. Very good view
ReplyDeleteGreetings
I think these are some stony crop circles the UFO's put there ... kind of a landing spot.
ReplyDeleteLes arbres ne laissent aucun doute - c'est la 'douce France'. Ceci dit, cette maniere de tailler les arbres est affreuse! La mode vient chez nous et c'est un desastre.
ReplyDeleteRoundabouts are all the rage here in Minneapolis - whether they are needed or not. The miniature style roundabouts would allow suburb bragging rights, without messing up traffic.
ReplyDeleteI guess the roundabout (Glorieta) is only for aesthetic reasons and looks perfect for such an special place where you can stand on both countries.
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the comments:
ReplyDeleteBuenos Aires Photoblog: there do not appear to be any drivers at all, so that is a moot question.
Ángel Corrochano: glad you like the view. It was one of the few times I had an idea for a composition and it came out just how I wanted it.
Martina: as I read Ángel Corrochano's comment about the mysteriousness of the photo that is what I thought. Given there is no traffic in this street, I think a UFO landing spot is a more likely explanation.
Ada: moi aussi, je trouve cette manière de tailler les arbres affreuse -- mais fascinante.
RogerB: I do not think this applies to the roundabout pictured above, but out on little used junctions in the French countryside, I got the impression building a roundabout was a good way to get Paris to send a few euros to an otherwise depressed region.
Carraol: this is not actually on the border. It is inside a housing estate. A couple of kilometres away in Stiring-Wendel the border does run through a roundabout. And up the Saar between Kleinbliederstroff and Großbliedersdorf there is a friendship bridge straddling the border. I read in Wikipedia that a friendship bridge also connects Petite Rosselle (Little Rosseln in the picture in France) with Großrosseln (Big Rosseln in Germany) but I have not yet found it.
That is really interesting. Great angle on this photo!
ReplyDeleteBonjour AB,
ReplyDeletechez nous on dit: ROND POINT...drôle de nom!
quand à la taille des arbres je ne crois pas qu'elle soit esthétique mais nécessaire à leur bonne croissance...
alterdom: En Angleterre on ne le voit pas. Ici il y a beaucoup de styles différents — des français (2009-02-02) et des allemands (2008-12-02, 2009-02-13).
ReplyDelete