People refer to the Loire as the last 'untamed' river in France. And it's certainly true that it has its moods : its sudden floods and dried-out summer sand banks make it one of the most unpredictable rivers you could imagine. But anyone who has ever walked along its banks, daydreamed in the shadow of its châteaux or strolled through the narrow streets of its historic towns will realise that the word 'untamed' is rather inappropriate applied to this most human of rivers, one so eminently civilised that no-one will be surprised by the inclusion of its valley on the World Heritage list.

The rivers near the Loire all seem to share its blessings, starting with the Loiret itself, which has its source in a floral park, and seems to be wandering at whim through trees over its 12 kilometres. Then there's the Loing, beloved of painters, which makes Montargis the improbable 'Gâtinais Venice'; the Oeuf and the Rimarde, charming and often overlooked brooks, which further north give birth to the Essonne; the Cosson, as mysterious and secretive as the Sologne it flows through; the Aquiaulne and the Notreheure, whose names are so full of poetry; the Canal de Briare, with its stunning canal viaduct over the Loire - and not forgetting the region's other man-made waterways, the Canal latéral à la Loire, the Canal du Loing and the Canal d'Orléans.