Thursday, November 01, 2018

La Venise verte

The marshland region we visited last week is formally called le Marais poitevin, but it's also known as la Venise verte (Green Venice). The channels that criss-cross the region remind people of the canals in Venice, except that they're located in a green landscape and not a city. But, more than that, the water is very slow-moving and duckweed grows and covers the water's surface in many of them.

A channel that feeds the Vendée river near our rental house, covered with green duckweed.

A sizeable tourist industry is built around boat rides on the canals, either renting boats to people or taking them on rides with a guide. The boats are small and flat-bottomed, and the guides stand in the back of the boat and push them with long-handled paddles, in much the same way the famed gondoliers in Venice drive the boats there.

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