Geranium Posted June 1, 2005 Share Posted June 1, 2005 We bought a house called "Le Trois Sources" - The 3 Springs, but then found all mail was addressed to its proper name "Les Rious". However I can't find this in any dictionary. Does anyone have a translation please? Any suggestions welcomed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russethouse Posted June 1, 2005 Share Posted June 1, 2005 Riou is the name of a Breton family I know......any help ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexis Posted June 2, 2005 Share Posted June 2, 2005 I'll ask Gilles when he comes home from work. If I remember Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evianers Posted June 2, 2005 Share Posted June 2, 2005 Our original property in France was in a townhouse development called "Les Mesnils du Golf". Althoug Mesnils seems pretty frequent a name, no dictionary could give a translation. It took weeks to find a French-speaking person who could give us an idea of the English translation. Sort of 'champs' or fields, or links in this case perhaps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Motorhead Posted June 2, 2005 Share Posted June 2, 2005 There is no direct translation of mesnils into English but there is, sort of, in Scots. The old Scots word mensal is from the same root. It means the part of your land that you keep for yourself rather than rent out (which is the hirsel). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evianers Posted June 2, 2005 Share Posted June 2, 2005 Amazing! Thanks for the info. We don't actually live in France yet [our house is rented out to a French family] but still live in Belgium, where we rent one of the houses in the so-called Beguinage [Begijnhof in Flemish]. Sisters used to live here but have now sadly all died out. There is one such in almost every Belgian city and even two in Holland. Each house is named after a saint: ours is Sint Jozef [Saint Joseph] but we would dearly like to live in the house opposite which is called Guardian Angel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geranium Posted June 2, 2005 Author Share Posted June 2, 2005 Someone did tell us that Les Rious also meant little streams or springs but as I can't find it in the dictionary, I'd like a bit more of an explanation. If there is still anyone out there who can shed light................ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paolo Posted June 2, 2005 Share Posted June 2, 2005 Google is good for this sort of thing. If you type in "un riou" or "le riou" with the quotation marks, it will search for that whole phrase, so eliminating most instances of the surname Riou. I had a quick look at the results for this search and a riou does indeed seem to be a stream.Paolo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexis Posted June 3, 2005 Share Posted June 3, 2005 I did ask him. Just got a Gallic shrug and a look of incomprehension.I sometimes wonder if he really is French... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Betmont Posted June 4, 2005 Share Posted June 4, 2005 Most of the google hits are in the south and south west. Do you think it might be Occitan or Gascon? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nazelles Posted June 4, 2005 Share Posted June 4, 2005 This is almost certainly the Occitan, Gascon or Provencal for 'river', given that 'riu' is the Catalan for 'river' (obviously 'rio' in Spanish) and Catalan and the Southern French languages are close relations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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