The river owes its present-day appearance to the numerous islands, most of them uninhabited and refuges for the wild flora and fauna that make the Val de Loire an essential European area in terms of biodiversity.
Beyond the river, on either side of the levees, the valley is made up of wide expanses of floodplain meadows and richly farmed fields.
From time to time, however, the reappearance of certain shapes leads us to recognize, in this apparent disorder, the outline of a system. The forces at work within the alluvial bed during periods of high water obey certain laws, which also govern the decreasing phase of floods, the mechanism of alluvial accumulation and, last but by no means least, the development of the alluvial bed.
…. a river that wanders at will, widening its valley, shaping it, changing the nature of the soil, the transparency of the air, the refraction of light, the color of trees and sunsets.
The light
The river mirrors the sky. Its light is unique in that the composition of the atmosphere, where oceanic and continental air meet, produces frequent mists with surprising effects at dawn and dusk, and changing colors over the course of the day and the seasons.
Movement
The river is indolent, violent and unpredictable, its floods powerful and threatening. Its long low-water periods uncover its bed, multiplying its arms, drawing furrows on the shores, the traces of secondary currents. Vegetation colonizes the banks. The river is a veritable “skin of sand and water” in perpetual motion.
Matter
The Loire transports, deposits and moves mountains of material. It sculpts its own image, reflecting itself from one bank to the other, scouring, scavenging or depositing alluvial matter. The river’s presence can be seen in the accumulations of gravel, branches, wood carved by the currents, eroded banks, …..