We just returned from a vacation with family in the north of Spain (Barcelona) and the south of France (Languedoc).  When I get my thoughts in order, I'll sprinkle the Muse with news of places we saw and things we did.  For now, let me whet your appetite with what I wrote after our first trip to France in 2005:

CANAL TRIOLET

The Midi Canal in the south of France

By tree-studded banks wends its way.

Ducks and dragonflies do a dance.

The Midi Canal in the south of France

Spellbound travelers see a green expanse

As La Tortue glides smoothly each day.

The Midi Canal in the south of France

By tree-studded banks wends its way.

The triolet (pronounced tree-o-lay) originated in France in the 13th century.  The triolet is a verse form of eight lines with this rhyme scheme:

A
B
a  Rhymes with 1st line
A  Identical to 1st line
a  Rhymes with 1st line
b  Rhymes with 2nd line
A  Identical to 1st line
B  Identical to 2nd line

Canal du Midi, built in France in the 17th century, stretches from the city of Toulouse to the Basin of Thau on the Mediterranean.  45,000 trees were planted after its completion to hold the land along the canal banks.  It originally connected with the Garonne River in Toulouse, which connects with the Gironde River in Bordeaux, completing a boat route between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean much shorter than through the Straits of Gibraltar.  The Garonne is sometimes not navigable due to weather conditions, so a second canal paralleling the Garonne was built in the mid-19th century, connected to the Midi and the Gironde. 

La Tortue is an 1895 coal barge built in Holland that was converted to offer cruises on Canal du Midi.

terrier  noun  A small dog of a breed originally used for turning out foxes and other burrowing animals from their lairs.  Late Middle English: from Old French (chien) terrier 'earth (dog)', from medieval Latin terrarius, from Latin terra 'earth'.

terrier  noun  historical  1.  A register of the lands belonging to a landowner, originally including a list of tenants, their holdings, and the rents paid, later consisting of a description of the acreage and boundaries of the property.  1.1 An inventory of property or goods.  Late 15th century:  from Old French terrier, from medieval Latin terrarius (liber) '(book) of land', from Latin terra 'earth'.  http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/terrier

territory  1 a :  a geographic area belonging to or under the jurisdiction of a governmental authority  b :  an administrative subdivision of a country  c :  a part of the United States not included within any state but organized with a separate legislature  d :  a geographic area (as a colonial possession) dependent on an external government but having some degree of autonomy  2 a :  an indeterminate geographic area  b :  a field of knowledge or interest  3 a :  an assigned area; especially :  one in which a sales representative or distributor operates  b :  an area often including a nesting or denning site and a variable foraging range that is occupied and defended by an animal or group of animals  Middle English, from Latin territorium, literally, land around a town, from terra land  

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/territory

A.Word.A.Day with Anu Garg

tellurian  (te-LOOR-ee-uhn)  adjective:  Relating to or inhabiting Earth.  noun:  An inhabitant of Earth.  From Latin tellus (earth). Tellus,  also known as Terra, was the goddess of the earth in Roman mythology.  Earliest documented use:  1846.

Paul Pry  (paul pry)  noun  An excessively inquisitive person.  From a character in the comedic play Paul Pry by John Poole (1786-1872).  Earliest documented use:  1826.

boycott  (BOI-kot)  verb tr.: To protest by refusing to buy a product or to deal with a person, organization, nation, etc.  noun:  The practice or an instance of this.  After Charles C. Boycott (1832-1897), an English land agent in Ireland, who was ostracized for refusing to lower rents during a time of poor harvest.  Earliest documented use:  1880.

fribble   (FRIB-uhl)  verb intr.:  To act in a wasteful or frivolous manner.  verb tr.:  To fritter away.  noun:  A wasteful or frivolous person or thing.  Of uncertain origin.  Perhaps an alteration of frivol (to behave frivolously), from Latin frivolus (worthless).  Earliest documented use:  1610.

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 1347  September 16, 2015  On this date in 1620, Pilgrims set sail from England on the Mayflower.  On this date in 1966, the Metropolitan Opera House opened at Lincoln Center in New York City with the world premiere of Samuel Barber's opera Antony and Cleopatra.