The Ausable River, looking upstream
We were in the Adirondacks on Friday, near Whiteface Mountain and Lake Placid, where we met up with three dear people, two of whom are longtime blogger friends.
Many glorious leaves were peeped at.
Many wooly fibers were petted at the local yarn shop.
Many bottles of excellent Montreal-made and home-brewed stout were drunk.
We had a very good time. Many photos were also taken, but by my husband -- somehow, I actually forgot my camera! So these camera-phone photos of the Ausable River will have to suffice for the moment. French-speaking friends, would you translate that as River of Sand? Is the river on the sand, or of the sand, or just sandy? There are, I think, old dunes in the area, but all the sections of river I've ever seen are full of boulders!
When I was growing up in New York State, we pronounced the word Aw-SAY-bull, rather than au-SAHBl, and Ausable Chasm was more famous than the river itself. I've never seen it. The Wikipedia says that this gorge "has a continuous exposure of a section of the Potsdam Sandstone more than 160 metres (520 ft) thick, which includes, in an unpublished location, a rare, mid-cambrian jellyfish fossil."
Now that is something I'd dearly love to see, and to search for on a subsequent trip...maybe with these same intrepid friends!
If it were "rivière aux sables", it would be "sandy river", or "river with a lot of sand". "Au" or "aux" in that kind of context would mean "with", I believe.
Posted by: Martine | October 10, 2012 at 04:07 PM
Yes, as in "coq au vin". But might also be used as "river at the sands" - as in: let's meet at the restaurant: "au restaurant".
Beautiful pics, Beth.
Posted by: Natalie | October 10, 2012 at 08:45 PM
Beautiful photos, Beth.
Posted by: Jan | October 10, 2012 at 09:38 PM
Oh how pretty. I do miss those fall colors.
Posted by: Hattie | October 10, 2012 at 11:26 PM
And then there's the person (like me) whose first glance is glancing, thus seeing Usable River. Well, it might qualify for that adjective but only in a leisure context; can't see it as a conduit for Mark Twain in his river pilot days, or providing the power for a satanic mill.
Posted by: Roderick Robinson | October 11, 2012 at 02:08 AM
Or as in 'La Dame à la Licorne'. Lovely pictures, people apologise for phone pictures but they often seem marvellous, as these do.
Posted by: Lucy | October 11, 2012 at 03:57 AM