PADDLER 72
Saint-Laurent Nouan nuclear power station
The bridge and chateau at Gien
“ On the river , draining after all a fifth of the entire French landscape , it was astonishing that I came across scarcely a single piece of plastic flotsam or jetsam each day . Someone somewhere is doing something right .”
PADDLER 72
Saint-Laurent Nouan nuclear power station
describes the situation succinctly , “ un portage s ’ impose impérativement .” It was only thanks to three German kayakers with a car that I could get safe transport to an access point below the dam , less than a kilometre as the crow flies but about six by road . ‘ Wild ’ as the Loire is , one cannot escape man-made impediments altogether . More came downstream at the nuclear stations of Belleville , Gien and Saint-Laurent-Nouan , each of whose dams required either portage or a run that caused me some excitement but would not bother anyone more seasoned . Slightly more problematic were passages under the beautiful , old bridges of towns such as Nevers , La Charité-sur-Loire and Blois , whose arches squeeze the river and where turbulence either forces a portage , depending on the height of the water or easing one ’ s way through by rope .
The bridge and chateau at Gien
JUNCTION OF THE LOIRE AND ALLIER RIVERS
In between , the Loire continued to surprise and to charm . It is joined by the equally broad Allier about ten kilometres below Nevers . Almost as though the two rivers dislike each other , their waters immediately split into a mass of channels separated by heavily wooded and often flooded islands . Due to the range of habitats ( many underwater when I passed through ), the area became a reserve under the auspices of WWF in 2004 . Camping on one of the larger islands , surrounded by beaver-gnawed tree stumps , I felt this was truly the Loire untamed , like , perhaps , some undeveloped tract of Eastern Europe . As a few mosquitoes emerged , nightingales , golden orioles and cuckoos sang their very different tunes against the din of a chorus of frogs .
Much of the next day , it led through more channels and islands where pristine nature seemed to rule . One of the delightful contrasts in the whole Loire paddling experience was the arrival that evening at the Pouilly home of one of the world ’ s most famous white wines , its eponymous Fumé . The vineyards themselves were on some of the first hillsides visible from the river , heralding a change from the low-lying woods and fields of before . Sancerre came the next day , perched high on its chalky outcrop as if to make the point .
The weather improved , bringing out thousands of iridescent banded demoiselles onto the river . Protruding above the surface from long , dark green fronds swaying below , the white flowers of water crowfoot formed spectacular carpets . On riverside trees were bunches of mistletoe in an abundance we simply don ’ t see in Britain . As if to complement bountiful nature , the river began to acquire more and more villages on its banks , each with a church spire or
“ On the river , draining after all a fifth of the entire French landscape , it was astonishing that I came across scarcely a single piece of plastic flotsam or jetsam each day . Someone somewhere is doing something right .”