Dry stream of Bottles
This week I am featuring another photo from the Montreal Botanical Garden, or the Jardin Botanique de Montreal, as they say up there.
I hope it’s spelled right. My knowledge of French is limited to listening to a couple of “You, too, can speak French!” type cassette tapes in the car on the way to work back in the 1980’s, after being laughed out of the wine shop by my mispronunciations of French wine varieties. I found after a few weeks that it was easier to just buy California wines.
Anyway. The photo, taken in July of 2006, shows a display that caught my fancy. It was called “Le Ruisseau en Boutielle,” which I believe translates to Stream of Bottles, because I Googled the phrase, and Google doesn’t lie.
A dry stream is generally made with cobbles placed in a pattern on a slope to simulate a stream bed. It might have water running in it during a rainstorm, but is basically intended to simulate a stream and inspire reflection and stuff. In the case of the display in the photo, they simulated the flow of water using green bottles, and I thought it was quite effective. I don’t know how long the display would hold up in the home garden, but think of all the fun accumulating the bottles!
Very cool idea ! Wonder how long it might last in real life….
Glass wine bottles, I believe L. Hurley
Wow! Thanks for the hearty laugh! Mispronouncing French words of their wines by Larry brought a few memories of my travels in Canada and a very hearty laugh. I always enjoy seeing “Beyond Behnkes” Lots of memories there too! Harold B.
Mispronouncing French is one of my special gifts. It’s nice to hear from a fellow practitioner of the Art.
I recall Steve Martin talking about this on his first album, from around 1974. More or less, from memory.
“I got off the plane in Paris, got a taxi, and said, Take me to the hotel! And he couldn’t understand me, so I spoke realllly slowly, and said Take me to zee ‘otel! And he Still couldn’t understand me. Those French People have a different word for Everything!”