Need clarification on map term for France please?

Question

On the following map of northern coastal France when I expand the area of the map names appear in red text.

http://travel.yahoo.com/p-map-483127-map_of_avranches-i

For example To the left of the town of Le Rivage is one red name L’Enclos. Can you tell me what these names are? Are they villages or areas? What do these names signify? And who would I write to in that area of France to find out about these names? Thank you for your time.

Answer 1

They are called "lieu-dit" : they are just different parts of a village that the locals refer to by those names. The villages are marked in black.

They may not be inhabited and have no administrative value. Just names based on some old anecdote, or on a geographical or geological feature that's there, or on a building or house, or on its use (for instance L'Enclos means animal pen, enclosure).

Here is what a lieu-dit sign looks like on the road: http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Lieu-...

EDIT: By the way, in the area you are talking about, Le Rivage is not a town, it is a tiny village or hamlet that is not even a commune, it depends on the nearby village of Vains (666 inhabitants) administratively (postal code 50300). Avranches is the only local town with 8,500 people. All the black names around it are villages.

Answer 2

Well, the French word "rivage" means "coastal area", be it the land bordering water or the other way around. (As per fr.wiktionary.org). I speak fluent French, but living in the US it sometimes gets a bit rusty, I must admit. As for "enclos", I believe the translation is simply "enclosure".

Concerning the status of these different places, however, your best bet is probably Wikipedia and Google. In your country- regardless of whether that's Britain, the US, or someplace else, different communities have different statuses. It's very similar in France. There are municipalities, "arrondissements", "cantons", etc.

Sorry that I couldn't give you a more informed answer, but I hope that at least helped a bit.

Answer 3

These are what the french call "Lieu-dit"... They are usually hamlets (or what are modernly called subdivisions). They are not big enough to have their own town hall and pertain as such to the closest larger town. L'Enclos would be what the british call a "Close",

If you need more information on these locations you would be best off to address yourself to the Mairie d'Avranches (town hall).