Charité sur Loire

For some two hundred years the bridge across the Loire at La Charité was the only one between Nevers and Gien and so this fortified town commanded the trade route. You can walk up the Promenade des Remparts to get a good overview. Now the town has a peaceful air about it with its cobbled streets and antiquarian book sellers. A well known book fair is held each July here, and music festivals are staged in the summer.

Charité sur Loire, combining old and new

There’s 20 kms of nature reserve going northwards from La Charité to the much smaller town of Pouilly-sur-Loire. Here 190 species of bird have been spotted and it is home to numerous types of fish. So important is this wildlife habitat, that during the hunting season, bows and arrows are used instead of guns by those insatiable hunters of wild boar. Pouilly marks the midway point of the Loire from its rise to its fall, and the Pavillon, a centre at Quai Jules-Pabiot, provides good area information.

The delicious dry white wine, Pouilly Fumé and Blanc-Fumé, is produced here mainly from the Sauvignon grape. On the opposite side of the Loire is Sancerre, their arch wine rival. Sancerre is near enough for you to be able to enjoy its many facilities such a golf club, restaurants and numerous cultural activities.

The river Loire at Cosne is divided by islands and sand banks, and is an area of great interest to nature lovers. Cosne itself is a busy market town with the medieval ramparts at its centre. The town has had a tumultuous past suffering a siege during the Hundred Years War. It has seen the rise and fall of industry and trade, most notably it was famous for the ships’ anchors produced here. The town, the second largest in the Nièvre department, is on the edge of the Puisaye region so ceramics are high on the agenda. The surrounding countryside is gentle and unspoilt with pasture and meadow, woodland and streams.