By repeating such a driving trip, you will naturally become familiar with the regional cities and even the administrative regions (departments, regions) of France.
In particular, there is a concentration of beautiful villages in South West France, as I have mentioned many times in this blog.
アキテーヌ地域圏、ミディ・ピレネー地域圏、リムーザン地域圏、オーヴェルニュ地域圏、ラングドック・ルーション地域圏、プロヴァンス・アルプ・コート・ダジュール地域圏、そしてローヌ・アルプ地域圏。
How many times have you visited these regional areas over the past four years?
When you travel in these areas, you may often see flags with the following coat of arms.
The photo at the beginning of this article shows the famous Capitol of Toulouse, where the flag with this coat of arms is also displayed.
And I’ve seen them from time to time in the most beautiful villages in France that I’ve visited in the past.
This flag is the flag of Occitània (Occitania).
オクシタニア(Occitània)とは、先に掲げたアキテーヌを始めとする地域圏を中心とした地域の名称。
« Langue d’oc, the name of a region in France where the Occitan language is spoken, is also an Occitan word for land.
(以上、WIkipediaより抜粋)
By the way, have you ever heard of this « Occitania » or « Occitane » anywhere?
そう、あの化粧品メーカー「ロクシタン(L’Occitane)」、実はこの名の由来が「オクシタニア」なんだそうです。
You’re a manufacturer from the south of France.
But of course Provence is also Occitania, but my image of Occitania is Midi Pyrenees.
Today, when I was doing some research on the Internet, I found something I didn’t expect, so I decided to write a blog post about it.
It’s hard to notice many things when you’re traveling, but by coming back and writing about it in my blog like this, I learn a lot. I acquired another valuable knowledge.
次回この地を旅するときには、「オクシタニアの紋章」に注目してみたいと思います。