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Breathe the Loire and its History

Updated: Jan 27, 2023

Last wild river in Europe, the Loire can be contemplated without moderation.


But do you know the myth of its birth ?


1020 km long which have the reputation of drawing

the most tumultuous river of Europe. If you know its mythical origins

this character will not surprise you.


On the other hand, for those who wish to discover it, here is its legend :


Coming from a sacred source and being one with its sister, the Seine,

they both flowed in the Manche.


They both flowed in the English Channel.

But the two sisters do not share the same aspirations.

The Seine, serene, queenly wishes to draw few curves, tracing a peaceful path.

While the Loire, impatient and impertinent, wants to run away and down

the maze of slopes where to dig its bed.


Numerous disputes are born and they can't stand each other anymore.

Then a divine messenger convened the Council of the Gods

and decided to separate them.


Thus the Loire slips into the old abandoned bed of a giant, who is constantly disturbed and harassed by invading crabs with snarling claws. The Loire rushes into this den with its hollow and twisted forms which frighten so much the most seasoned boatmen.


The victorious and delighted Loire thus becomes wild and untamable!










Allegory of the Loire - Picart Le Doux - mid 20th century

Ministère de la Culture (France), Conservation des antiquités et des objets d'art de l'Indre-et-Loire, all rights reserved



Here is our Top of the best places to admire and walk along the Loire.


  • The path of the edges of the Loire in Saint Dyé-sur-Loire

  • The port of La Creusille in Blois-Vienne

  • The edges of the Loire in Montlivaut

  • The banks of the Loire at the Observatoire 41

  • The "Ile de la folie" in Chaumont-sur-Loire (classified natural reserve)



Banks of the Loire - Montlivaut






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