This is a very big bone, isn't it? That must have been a part of the leg of a mammoth. We had a lot of mammoths here. Very big ones. Everything is bigger in Southern France. Did you know that once a sardine blocked the entrance to Marseilles "Vieux Port"?
No, actually, the bone is false. It is a sculpture, which was exhibited in the beautiful chapel where the Assises de la Traduction took place in Arles last November. To tell the truth, I think that some artists make fun of us.
Of course the story of the sardine is false too as you can read here:
The Sardine That Blocked the Port Entrance.
“We” say, in France (understanding that the “we” excludes the people of Marseilles), that the people of Marseilles have a tendency to exaggerate their stories. And it is stated, by these local people, that one day a sardine (the little fish!) blocked the entrance to the port. But this is not said in jest, a slight distortion maybe! In 1778, the Viscount of Barras, officer of the marine infantry regiment from Pondichery in India was captured by the British. Benefiting from special accords for prisoner of war exchanges, he embarked the following year on a boat, named the “Sartine”, which was not armed. To prevent potential attacks upon it, the captain would raise certain cartel flags that the enemy would recognize. However, the rule was not respected, because on May 1st, 10 months after being at sea without incident, a British war boat attacked the “Sartine” with two fatal canon volleys. The ship finished its trip and ran aground at the entrance to the old port. It is therefore not a “sardine” that blocked the port of Marseilles but a ship named “La Sartine”, on a beautiful spring day in 1780!
MarsBaRFAQ
Cet os n'est pas un os de mammouth comme j'ai tenté de le faire croire à nos amis anglophones. C'est une sculpture qui était exposée dans la belle chapelle où se sont déroulées les rencontres des Assises de la Traduction, à Arles, en novembre dernier. Moi j'ai tendance à penser que certains artistes se foutent de nous.
Bon je leur ai un peu parlé aussi de la sardine qui a bloqué le port de Marseille, et ça m'a permis de découvrir que cette histoire était basée sur un fait réel.
