Hi !

Je comprends maintenant pourquoi il faut inclure "des" dans cet exemple.

Pardon !

Forgive me but I do not think that proper clarification was made here of all three ways:

The formal 'Souvenir' = Vous vous souvenez des iles Cyclades!

                                           and here des is a contraction of de+les.

The colloquial (dicey usage) "Vous vous rappelez 'des' Iles Cyclades!

                                            and again here des is a contraction of de+les.

Left unsaid in the discussion, it seems to me,  is that if  William had wanted to use rappeler,   and be grammatically impeccable and therefore 'correct,  the proper phrasing would have been...

(3)Vous vous rappelez les Iles Cyclades.(or les Iles des Cyclades).

Our discussion seems to imply that vous vous rappelez 'des' Iles Cyclades is unavoidable if the verb rappeler is chosen.

Am I wrong in suggesting phrase number 3 and including it because it highlights the formal usage of rappeler and adds to our understanding. If it is correct it will certainly add to mine. If not then I return to the doghouse in confusion.

One other example of this confusion with a proper name could be  could be:

You remember the Champs Elysees:

While Vous vous souvenez des Champs Elysees could  convey our message and be accepted  and looks right ...it  is like saying do you remember  the Eysian fields .

The correct translation would have to be , it seems to me, vous vous souvenez de l'Avenue Champs Elysees or more correctly vous vous souvenez de l'Avenue  Champs des Elysees and similar phrases with rappeler.