Whilst researching the Alpes-Maritimes Département in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, I landed on the website of the beautiful medieval village of Sospel close to the Italian border on the high hills back from the French Riviera. This is a great place for hang-gliding (so I am told), on the old "route du Sel" (salt route) from Nice to Turin - and with a good market on Thursdays and Sundays (cheese, honey, vegetables, cake, spices...).
BUT, to find out more I tried the local tourist office website , where the original French version of the site has been totally mangled by some translating machine which produces the following example of gobbledegook:
Located at 15 minutes of Chin and 30 minutes only of Nice, Sospel has a site of coasting flight very appreciated with 1000 meters of altitude.
Easy and pleasant for a flight of the morning in school, 750 meters lower, a vast grassy ground, allows the beginners as with the pilots experienced to improve their landing.
The same site becomes during the morning a starting point interesting for the avid pilots of distances. Directed Southern South-west, this site with broad generous thermics will propel you easily worms of pretty ceilings.
All the year, come to discover the joys of the coasting flight! "
Other sections include "To come in Sospel", "To be restored" and "Reserve your Leisures" and the "MIddle Ages" or ("Moyen Age" in French) comes out as Average Age! - and "Our Producers will open the doors of their exploitation to you and will make you with pleasure discover the fruit of their work with nature. Contact them!!"
I get used to the ocassional inappropriate translations - usually due to a failure of a dictionary to identify the nuances of definition in English, but this has to be worth a prize for total garbage, My own grasp of French is reasonable rather than expert, but I will always decline the english version of a restaurant menu, as at least with the original French version I do know where my limitations are. The classic for misinterpretation (due to both languages seeking to find euphemisms for some dubious bits of offal) is "Sweetbreads" in English and "Ris de Veau" in French - both are often literally translated and could provide a severe shock to the diner when his/her "Veal Rice" turns out to be an ill-defined dish of a calf's pancreas.!
John Scallan at www.bandb-burgundy.com/ has set up a business translating French websites for English-speaking audiences, as too many website owners rely on pigeon-English and a dictionary.
But back to Sospel - my suggestion would be to avoid the English-language version of the site - and struggle with the original French version - believe me it is easier to understand even if you only have very basic French - see www.sospel-tourisme.com/
Better still see Linda Cookson's article in the Independent (5 May 2007) which in impeccable and entertaining English describes a trek through the region around Sospel.
