Montjay

This sundial is situated on the south-facing side of a house, just below the rain-gutter. The latter causes an ugly shadow during the day. They should have put it lower. The design is simple: white on a rosy background. The motto says Une secrete voix a toute heure nous crie que la terre n’est pas notre heureuse patrie. This can be translated to A secret voice every hour shouts at us, that the earth is not our happy homeland. A guess this is a roman catholic message. On the dial is on the left side a date 1777, which might be the erection-date. That will make it a very old dial. On the right it says de oo (or 8 on the side?) 10 d6, but I have no idea what this is supposed to mean.

The information given by this dial is limited to the hour and half hours, Locat Apparent Time. The first indication starts at 5:30 a.m. and the last at 7:00 p.m. The gnomon has a thick part at the end, but it is not used.

The dial can be found in France, Hautes-Alpes, Monjay. The house is on the main road between St.André de Rosans and Trescleoux in the village of Montjay. Coming from St.André it is just before (50 meters?) the main square of the village on your left (which is the south-facing part of the street).

The dial was seen during a sundial tour, weather was clear.

Categories: france • hautes-alpes • vertical •
PermaLink • Comments • TrackBacks •

Serres

This is a very interesting sundial. This is the first (and yet only) sundial that I have encountered. The sundial is probably built right away with the construction of the school on which it can be found. The dial has been built by Chavin in 1882. The indicator on the gnomon consists of a circle in the form of a sun with rays and has a small hole in the middle. As you can see on the image it gives a nice shadow. The hole is sufficiently clear to leave an impression. I happed just to be in time to see a shadow near the noon mark.

The sundial shows only the 12 o’clock line at Local Apparent Time. With the Analemma (the figure ‘8’), it is possible to determine Local Mean Time. On the Analemma a mark is drawn for each first day of the month. This allows to determine the rough date of the year.

This sundial can be found in Serres, Hautes-Alpes, France. The sundial is on the elementary school of the village, which can be found in the old part of the town on the north-western shore of the Buëch. Follow the signs to the school to find it.

I took this picture on a sundial discovery tour I made on 14 july 2004.

Categories: france • hautes-alpes • noon mark •
PermaLink • Comments • TrackBacks •

Ribeyret

I like the design of this sundial. It has images of lavender and corn, both are grown extensively around the village of Ribeyret. I am not sure what the significance is of the bird. I assume that it can be found in the wild here.

The motto of this dial is Pren lo daise e fai te vieilh. I assume this is in the provençal language and roughly means Take the day and make yourself old.

The information on the dial is simple. It has hourlines from 7 o’clock to 4 o’clock. It could have more lines as the dial seems to be well oriented to the south. For the half hours dots have been indicated in a band, where the numbers of the hour lines are as well.

The gnomon has a thick point roughly halfway. The shadow of this thick point felt on the moment of viewing on the edge of the band. I wondered whether this band followed the line of maximum declination of the sun at 21 June, but I think it should have a different shape.

The sundial has a mark of the designer and says en Peyrol

This sundial can be found in the village of Ribeyret on the church in the center of the village. Ribeyret lies in the western part of the department Hautes-Alpes in France.

I visited this sundial on 14 july 2004 during a small dial discovery trip.

Categories: france • hautes-alpes • vertical •
PermaLink • Comments • TrackBacks •

Correo - Les Evêques

The dial is rectangular with a rounded top side. The dial is painted white on a brown backdrop. The dial has a motto (in provençal?), which I can not quite decipher (far louncamh? louro passo).

This is a vertical sundial, which seems to be inclined to the west. The dial shows the hour lines and half hour lines. First timeline is at 7:30 and the last timeline is at 6:30. The dial shows the True Local Time.

This sundial can be found on a house next to a Chambre d’Hôte, which was created in 2004. This chambre d’hôte can be found in Haute Correo, which is a part of Roche des Arnauds in the Hautes-Alpes, France. I do not remember what the name is of this Chambre d’Hôte, but it is in a place called Les Evêques.

I accidentily found this sundial while visiting several places on the Soyez Touriste dans votre village day.

Categories: france • hautes-alpes • vertical •
PermaLink • Comments • TrackBacks •

Ribiers

A sundial with a catholic theme. The design is pretty simple. It seems to have been created in 2003. The logo depicts the lamb of god and the motto says L’alpha et L’omega + Je suis l’agnus dei, qui est, qui etait et vient + le debut et le fin, which roughly translates to The alpha and the omega + I am gods lamb, who is, who was and who will be the beginning and the end.

The sundail depicts the true time and shows the hour and half-hour lines. Note that the twelve hour is designed by the mark M, which I assume means Midi, twelve o’clock. The dial is not facing exactly south, but has adeclination to the east.

This dial can be found in the village of Ribiers in the Alpes de Haute-Provence in France. It is on the southerly wall of the main church in thisvillage, a bit to the south of the main square.

When I so it, it was sunny and roughly twelve o’clock European summer tme.

Categories: france • hautes-alpes • vertical •
PermaLink • Comments • TrackBacks •

Savournon

A nicely designed sundial dating from 2000. The vertical lines make it interesting. The sheep is the landmark of Savournon. They used to breed a famous sheep here. The location of the dial is not very interesting. It is on a non-descript building.

It is a vertical sundial, with hourlines from 5 to 4 o’clock. Half hour lines are notes as dots. The dial shows True Solar Time. The dial is declining to the east (I did not measure the angle yet).

The sundial can be found in the village of Savournon, in the southwest of the Hautes-Alpes in France. Coming from the route National (Serres or Laragne), the dial is after one enters the village on the Mairie on your left. This is before the crossing to Veynes and ?.

The weather was overcast when I took the picture.

Categories: france • hautes-alpes • vertical •
PermaLink • Comments • TrackBacks •

Veynes

This sundial is situated on a large wall in a small courtyard. The sundial is some 3-4 meters above the ground. The wall is further adorned with trompe-l’oeil windows. The sundial seems to be created from painted(?) tiles (3 by 5) and is about 75 by 125 cm large. It looks like a nice dial. A small plaquette tells the information about the dial (geographic location, declining angle and correction to get to mean time for France (including summer Time).

This is a vertical declining (45,3 degrees to the east) sundial. The hours present the true time and each hour is designated by a number.

The dial can be found at geographic location 44 deg 32 min 13 sec North and 5 deg 49 min 1 sec East. This is in France, in the Hautes Alpes (05) in Veynes. The dial can be easily found starting from the Office the Tourisme. Standing in front of the Office (facing the road) go to your left into the street, which leads into the village. After 30 meters there is a courtyard on your right. There it is.

The weather was very nice, blue sky and it was about 14:50 MET (Summer Time).

Categories: france • hautes-alpes • vertical •
PermaLink •

Musée de Cluny 2

This sundial is close to the sundial Musée de Cluny 1. The dial is carved on the wall and the lines are inked black. It is however on a wall, which is more south facing. The design is extremely simple. The gnomon is missing.

A vertical sundial. It has hourlines in a very symmetric fashion, which suggest that the dial faces the south. I am however not sure that this is the case. It seems more like a test drawing.

This dial can be found in the courtyard of Musée national de Moyen-Âge; Thermes et hôtel de Cluny; 6, place Paul Painlevé; Paris, France. After passing the main gate and walking toward the main entrance, the sundial is on your left. It is just passed the sundial Musée de Cluny 1.

The weather was overcast.

Categories: france • paris • vertical •
PermaLink • Comments • TrackBacks •

Musée de Cluny 1

I came across this sundial when visiting the Musée de Cluny in Paris. As this museum is very old, it has the impression that the sundial is very old as well. Nice feature of this dial is that it extends over two walls, which are oriented in different directions.

This is a vertical sundial. It has hourlines marked from 4 to 15 hour. This seems to suggest it is an east-facing dial and the dial was indeed facing the east. I did not check the exact orientation. The motto is Nil Sim Nobis. The gnomon has a ring at its end, which allows a more accurate reading. However no use of the declination of the sun has been made.

This sundial can be found in the courtyard of the Musée national du Moyen Âge; Thermes et Hôtel de Cluny; 6, place Paul Painlevé; Paris, France. When entering the main gate and walking towards the official entrance, the dial is on the wall to your left.

The weather was overcast, so I could not check the working of the sundial.

Categories: france • paris • vertical •
PermaLink •