triporteur (Italy, part 3)
Friday, October 13, 2006
For sweeping through the serpentine alleyways in Ceriana, Italy.
Discover Mark Twain's classic "A Tramp Abroad""...delicious, whether you open it at the sojourn in Heidelberg, or the voyage down the Neckar on a raft, or mountaineering in Switzerland, or the excursion beyond the Alps into Italy.” —William Dean Howells
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le triporteur (tree-por-ter) noun, masculine
1. delivery tricycle
2. three-wheel truck, mobility scooter
3. tricyclist
Granlux était un personnage dégingandé qui essayait de livrer toutes sortes d'objets avec son triporteur. Granlux was a lanky character who tried to deliver all sorts of objects with his tricycle. --from "Les annees pilote" by P. Gaumer
A Day in a French Life...
Hunger follows us out of the echoing Piazza, along the red brick path, past a marching band and right into a camion* full of sweet Vermentino grapes. The quirky truck--one of those narrow, three-wheeled triporteurs*--is stalled behind the religious procession on the Corso Italia, the main drag in the town of Ceriana. Behind the tiny green truck with its stacked red crates, I see a blue figure: that is, a woman in a bright blue sweat-suit, her hair tucked under a cherry-red scarf revealing a lovely truffle-brown complexion. I take up my camera.
Through the viewfinder, I notice a man approaching. When he reaches out to offer a cluster of green grapes, I lower the lens and thank him. The woman in the cherry scarf nods, encouraging me to eat the fruit.
Jean-Marc talks shop with the vigneron* and learns that he and the woman run a pizzeria in town. "But we are closed today," the man apologizes, indicating the crates of harvested grapes in the truck bed.
We try to conceal our hound-dog expressions, but the idea of eating "chez le vigneron" is just too much. "Never mind," the vigneron decides, turning to the woman with the scarf. "My wife and I have to eat anyway and you are welcome to join us at our table."
I nervously study the face of the woman who has been slumped over vines, grape picking since dawn, and who has just learned that she will now be cooking for two lazy wanderlusts. Her dark shining eyes and inviting smile reveal only warmth. Some say that the joy is in the giving. In return, I wish this woman bliss.
le triporteur (tree-por-ter) noun, masculine
1. delivery tricycle
2. three-wheel truck, mobility scooter
3. tricyclist
Granlux était un personnage dégingandé qui essayait de livrer toutes sortes d'objets avec son triporteur. Granlux was a lanky character who tried to deliver all sorts of objects with his tricycle. --from "Les annees pilote" by P. Gaumer
A Day in a French Life...
Hunger follows us out of the echoing Piazza, along the red brick path, past a marching band and right into a camion* full of sweet Vermentino grapes. The quirky truck--one of those narrow, three-wheeled triporteurs*--is stalled behind the religious procession on the Corso Italia, the main drag in the town of Ceriana. Behind the tiny green truck with its stacked red crates, I see a blue figure: that is, a woman in a bright blue sweat-suit, her hair tucked under a cherry-red scarf revealing a lovely truffle-brown complexion. I take up my camera.
Through the viewfinder, I notice a man approaching. When he reaches out to offer a cluster of green grapes, I lower the lens and thank him. The woman in the cherry scarf nods, encouraging me to eat the fruit.
Jean-Marc talks shop with the vigneron* and learns that he and the woman run a pizzeria in town. "But we are closed today," the man apologizes, indicating the crates of harvested grapes in the truck bed.
We try to conceal our hound-dog expressions, but the idea of eating "chez le vigneron" is just too much. "Never mind," the vigneron decides, turning to the woman with the scarf. "My wife and I have to eat anyway and you are welcome to join us at our table."
I nervously study the face of the woman who has been slumped over vines, grape picking since dawn, and who has just learned that she will now be cooking for two lazy wanderlusts. Her dark shining eyes and inviting smile reveal only warmth. Some say that the joy is in the giving. In return, I wish this woman bliss.
* * *
For past chapters in this story, visit:
For past chapters in this story, visit:
Italy, Introduction :: Part One :: Part Two :: Part Three :: Part Four
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References: le camion (m) = truck; le triporteur (m) = three-wheel truck; le vigneron (la vigneronne) = winegrower, vintner
A Thousand Days in Venice by Marlena De Blasi. Featuring Marlena’s own incredible recipes, A Thousand Days in Venice is the enchanting true story of a woman who opens her heart—and falls in love with both a man and a city.
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References: le camion (m) = truck; le triporteur (m) = three-wheel truck; le vigneron (la vigneronne) = winegrower, vintner
A Thousand Days in Venice by Marlena De Blasi. Featuring Marlena’s own incredible recipes, A Thousand Days in Venice is the enchanting true story of a woman who opens her heart—and falls in love with both a man and a city.France Today features different regions of France with practical travel tips & suggestions for where to eat & stay, where to shop & play, as well as features on food & wine, cinema, culture & French products available in the U.S.A.
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French Pronunciation:
Listen to Jean-Marc recite today's example sentence: Download triporteur.wav
Granlux était un personnage dégingandé qui essayait de livrer toutes sortes
d'objets avec son triporteur.
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