Gien

 Our campsite is opposite this picturesque small town on the banks of the river Loire. It was from here that we visited Bourges, blogged previously.

The Loire is the longest river in France at 630+ miles. However, it is the least navigable of France’s large rivers because for much of the year it is shallow with constantly changing sandbars. In the past, when rivers were an important highway, it was more used and better managed with debris cleared and navigable channels maintained. Today its main use is for leisure, so this is the kind of craft we saw using the river, nothing more substantial than this paddleboarder. It makes the pleasure cruisers and narrowboats on our river Ouse seem like ocean liners.

The Loire in flood is another matter, and we saw flood marks that stretch the imagination. This one indicates a level of 7.3 metres (24 feet 3 inches) on a house on the main road, far above the current river level.

There were a couple of house boats tied up along the bank, again, very small and of garden shed design.

We climbed up a steep staircase to the castle and church occupying the top level of the town. The castle is now a museum, the museum of hunting, which didn’t inspire us to enter.

 

We did get a nice view of our campsite from the top and of the river.

So down we go, a different way, and come across a statue that seems to be bent on stopping the traffic. The plaque says it’s Vercingetorix - so who’s he? Well, oddly, he popped up way back in school. Vercingetorix was the chief of the Arverni tribe that united much of Gaul (mostly today’s France) in a revolt against Roman rule. He is still seen today as a symbol of French unity although he came up against Julius Caesar and lost. He’s not having much success with the traffic either.

The banks of the Loire contain many footpaths and cycle tracks. The campsite offers bike and canoe hire for those interested. We stuck to walking and came across lots of interesting things, this gypsy caravan for instance. It was trundling along the meadow path next to the river and then stopped for the horses to feed. We caught up with it, and from a halting conversation with the young guy on his own, it was clear he was a real Romany and this was his home.

We have another little trip out before we leave Gien, 10 miles down the Loire to Briare.