Water and a lot of it...

Today has been dry and sunny but over the past few weeks have we had some rain...

This was the Aigronne valley on Sunday

Compare that with the normal view....

It was a similar picture at L'lle Bouchard this afternoon, where the Vienne was probably the highest we have ever seen it.

And now, a picture of steaming Chinon...

Only joking - it's the cooling from the nuclear power station (Centrale Nucléaire de Production d'Électricité deChinon) on the banks of the Loire at Avoine.

Plenty of water there then!!

Tales from the River Bank....

Visiting L'Île Bouchard and Chinon today for the first time since before Christmas, we were amazed to see evidence of how high the river had been when in full spate.

The first photo shows the Vienne at L'Île Bouchard. The hedge in the foreground is strewn with debris left when the water subsided. You can see it also on the trees to the left of the photo.

At Chinon it was a similar picture....

 

Comparing these with photos of the bridge in Chinon taken in the October 2011, the difference in water level is quite startling.

When you consider that in the top two photos the river has already subsided by (at a guess) ten feet, I don't think I'd have cared to have been crossing the bridge when it was in full flood!!