A long journey for a little stream

Perhaps this little stream that runs by our house doesn't look much to you. But ........

300 metres from this photo our stream joins the 'Big Stream', Grand Ruisseau, from which our village gets its name. This flows down through a deep valley to the village of Chardernolles, from where it meanders briefly across relatively flat land until it joins the River Dore in Marsac en Livradois. The River Dore flows north through Ambert, Olliergues and Coupiere joining the River Allier just west of Ris Gare

Just south-west of Nevers, the River Allier joins the River Loire, France's longest river. The aerial photo above shows that junction and also the shifting sand banks. Rising in the southern Massif Central, the Loire flows north and west for over 1000 km to the Atlantic Ocean, draining an area of some 117,000 sq km. The river can change rapidly with the weather being only reliably navigable for a relatively short distance from its mouth.

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..... it is setting out on a journey of about 850 kilometres all the way to the Atlantic