There are walks, guided if you want to, up the Gerbier to where the main source is. It’s a favourite tourist attraction in the area. Last year I spent an afternoon at the source, unable to locate it as it was summer and the three streams that feed the source were dried up above ground. Mont Gerbier de Jonc Public domain via Wikimedia Commons It rises at the foot of the Gerbier de Jonc, 1,240 metres (4,430 feet) high in the Cevennes mountains in the Ardèche department. Topographic map of south west France Public domain via Wikimedia Commons Longest Rivers of France The Magnificent Loire River Kayaking on the Loire at Saumur © Jean-Sébastien EvrardĪt 630 miles (1,013 kms), the Loire is France’s longest river. Une fleuve flows into the sea, and une rivière doesn’t. Look at the names of the French départements most are named after the major rivers that flow through them. The view from my house in the Auvergne © Mary Anne Evansįrance works in logical ways. The Allier is a glorious river, supremely unspoilt by industry or large cities as it flows through the remote, very rural and very beautiful Auvergne region. I’ve included information about the glorious Allier (my house looks down into the gorges) at the end as it is not one of the main rivers included here. My house in the Auvergne is near the source of two rivers: the Loire, which rises in the Cevennes just outside my department of the Haute-Loire, and the Allier, which rises in Lozère. Even the Arques which is just 6 km long and flows into the English Channel is proudly signposted. As you drive through the countryside, every time you come across one, however small, there’s a signpost by the bridge giving its name. France is Europe’s third largest producer, just behind Norway and, rather surprisingly, Turkey. The mighty rivers are the main reason for France’s hydroelectric achievement. But do you know the others? Blois on the Loire ©Laurent-Alvarez-ADT41 Think of France and you conjure up the mighty Loire with its banks lined with châteaux or the Seine running through Paris. They flow through the landscape, through cities, towns and villages. The longest rivers of France are impressive and beautiful.
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