Green Venice

We left Airvault on Saturday morning and proceeded to drive about an hour toward the coast to an area known as the Marais Poitevin or the "Poitevin Marshes."  This is a large area of marsh land that has mostly been drained over the years with the creation of lots of canals.  Now there are several little towns all connected by canals that have given the area the nickname "Green Venice" thanks to lots of overhanging foliage and duckweed.

We stopped in the town of Coulon which is the main town of Green Venice and rented a canoe after a lovely lunch of sandwiches next to the canal (where we saw baguettes carried in 6 different ways in a matter of 30 minutes - see previous post).

In Coulon the canals are offshoots from the river Sevre-Niort, one of the two rivers that gives the Department (like a state or county) its name: Deux-Sevres

Barques for rent along the canal in Coulon

Our canoe glides through tranquil shaded canals

The canals passed through lots of farmland with cows, leading to repeated "vache" jokes a la Monty Python

Most of the pastures are islands among the canals and it seems that the canals are still used to transport the cattle.

Some houses along the canal have their "backyard" across the canal accessed by a small bridge

Returning to Coulon along the river Sevre-Niort 

After a few hours in the Marais Poitevin we continued on to Ile de Re, an island off La Rochelle on the Atlantic Coast.