These stairs are in Blois, the préfecture, or administrative seat, of our département, le Loir et Cher. You might notice that Loir is spelled without a final "e." With it, it refers to the river and its valley that cross the middle of the département. Without it, Loir refers to an affluent (tributary) to the north. The Cher is another tributary to the south (where we live) Our département takes its name from those two tributaries of the larger river. Most of France's départements are named for the rivers that flow through them.
Rivers that flow into the sea are called fleuves. La Loire is a fleuve, as are la Seine and le Rhône. There are other fleuves, including France's shortest, la Veules in Normandy, at just over a kilometer long before it empties into the English Channel. As tributaries, le Loir and le Cher are called rivières.
I didn't intend to write about rivers today. It just ended up that way. I had to turn to the internet to find out the name of the shortest fleuve.
One kilometer is a very short river.
ReplyDeleteThank you for that nugget of information re: fleuve. I´ve always wondered what the difference is between fleuve and riviere. There´s something new to be learnt every day, sometimes in unexpected places! Thank you.
ReplyDeleteI think we've had this discussion before, but... I always wonder why we use LA in front of La Loire, when it's un fleuve ,but then we put LE in front of Le Loir and Le Cher, when each of them is une rivière.
ReplyDeleteGood point, Judy!
DeleteBettyAnn
mitch, for sure!
ReplyDeleteanon, so true!
judy, language is not mathematics! LOL
Oops! That was moi.
DeleteThat is no help as an answer, Walt ! LOL
DeleteJudy