Loire River, Blois, France

The Loire River is the longest river in France with a length of 1,006 kilometres (625 miles). It starts in the southeast quarter of the French Massif Central in the Cévennes range, travels north through Nevers to Orléans and Blois, then west to Tours and Nantes, and to the Atlantic Ocean.

The Loire Valley in the Loire river basin is a 300 kilometre (190 mile) area in the western part of the river, starting at Orléans and ending at Nantes. The Loire Valley is a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to its castles. It is also known as the Garden of France due to its abundance of vineyards, orchards and fields.

MARTINA NICOLLS

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MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of: The Paris Residences of James Joyce (2020), Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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