Page 403 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - France

A flat-bottomed boat
transversing the Venise
Verte, Marais Poitevin

François Le Duc (1670) of a are crisscrossed by a winding 9th century had the only mint
building destroyed during labyrinth of weed-choked in Aquitaine. Later its fame
the Wars of Religion. canals, adorned by irises and derived from the baudet du
water lilies, shaded by poplars Poitou, a sturdy mule bred in
and beeches, and support a the area. Now Melle is better
6 rich variety of birds and other known for its churches of which
wild life. The maraîchins who
the finest is St-Hilaire. It has a
Marais Poitevin live here stoutly maintain that 12th-century Poitevin façade
much of the huge, water- with an eques trian statue of
! C4 ⌂ Charente-Maritime,
Deux-Sèvres, Vendée logged forest is unexplored. the Emperor Constantine
above the north door.
The pretty white washed
~ La Rochelle £ Niort, La
Rochelle @ Coulon, Arçais, villages here abouts are all
Marans n 2 rue Brisson, built on higher ground, and TOP BIRDING SITES
Niort; www.niortmarais the customary means of 4 IN POITOU AND
trans port is a flat-bottomed
poitevin.com
boat, known as a platte. AQUITAINE
The Poitevin marshes, which Coulon, St-Hilaire-la-Palud,
have been slowly drained with La Garette and Arçais, as well Dune du Pilat
canals, dykes and sluices for a as Damvix and Maillezais in Europe’s tallest sand
thousand years, cover about the Vendée, are all convenient dune and a haven for
800 sq km (309 sq miles) starting points for boat trips terns, oystercatchers
between Niort and the sea. around the marshes. and plovers (p413).
The area is now a regional
park, divided into two parts. Teich Bird Reserve
To the north and south of the 7 A vast and wild natural
Sèvre estuary is the Marais space, home to at least
Desséché (dry marsh), where Melle 323 bird species (www.
cereal and other crops are ! C4 ⌂ Deux-Sèvres. @ reserve-ornithologique
grown. The huge swathe of n 3 rue Émilien Travers; -du-teich.com).
the Marais Mouillé (wet marsh) www.decouvertes.
is upstream towards Niort. paysmellois.org Parc Marais Poitevin
The wet marshes, known as A paradise for migratory
the Venise Verte (Green Venice), A Roman silver mine was the birds, plus owls and
are the most interest ing. They origin of Melle, which in the falcons (www. parc-
marais-poitevin.fr).
Gironde Estuary
The Poitevin marshes, which have been Teeming with seabirds,
slowly drained with canals, dykes and sluices birds of prey and migra-
for a thousand years, cover about 800 sq km tory birds (p414).
(309 sq miles) between Niort and the sea.
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