"and overseas-alike). Nouvelle-Aquitaine is delimited by four other French regions (Pays de la Loire to the north-west, Centre-Val de Loire to the north, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes to the east, and Occitanie to the south-east), three autonomous communities in Spain to the south (from east to west, Aragon, Navarre, and Basque Country), and the North Atlantic Ocean (the north-eastern part of Bay of Biscay, ""Golfe de Gascogne"" in French) to the west. Nouvelle-Aquitaine comprises twelve departments : Charente, Charente-Maritime, Corrèze, Creuse, Dordogne, Gironde, Landes, Lot-et-Garonne, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Deux-Sèvres, Vienne and Haute-Vienne. Its largest city and only metropolis is Bordeaux, in the heart of an"
"Bay of Biscay The Bay of Biscay (; , , , ) is a gulf of the northeast Atlantic Ocean located south of the Celtic Sea. It lies along the western coast of France from Point Penmarc'h to the Spanish border, and the northern coast of Spain west to Cape Ortegal. The south area of the Bay of Biscay washes over the northern coast of Spain and is known as the Cantabrian Sea. The average depth is and the greatest depth is . The Bay of Biscay is named (for English speakers) after Biscay on the northern Spanish coast, probably"
"that the priest of Bourdelles took the trouble to retranscribe the event, at the end of the acts of the year, in the parish register of baptisms, marriages and deaths. Garonne The Garonne ( ; ; Occitan, Catalan, and Spanish: , ; or ) is a river in southwest France and northern Spain, with a length of . It flows into the Atlantic Ocean at Bordeaux. The name derives from Garumna, a Latinized version of the Aquitanian name meaning ""stony river"". The Garonne's headwaters are to be found in the Aran Valley in the Spanish Pyrenees, though three different locations"
"Stream enters the bay following the continental shelf's border anti-clockwise (the Rennell Current), keeping temperatures moderate all year long. The main cities on the shores of the Bay of Biscay are Bordeaux, Bayonne, Biarritz, Brest, Nantes, La Rochelle, Donostia-San Sebastián, Bilbao, Santander, Gijón and Avilés. The southern end of the gulf is also called in Spanish """"Mar Cantábrico"""" (Cantabrian Sea), from the Estaca de Bares, as far as the mouth of Adour river, but this name is not generally used in English. It was named by Romans in the 1st century BC as ""Sinus Cantabrorum"" (Bay of the Cantabri) and"
"towards Bordeaux, where it meets the Gironde estuary. The Gironde flows into the Atlantic Ocean (Bay of Biscay). Along its course, the Garonne is joined by three other major rivers: the Ariège, the Tarn, and the Lot. Just after Bordeaux, the Garonne meets the Dordogne at the Bec d'Ambès, forming the Gironde estuary, which after approximately empties into the Atlantic Ocean. Other tributaries include the Save and the Gers. The Garonne is one of the few rivers in the world that exhibit a tidal bore. Surfers and jet skiers could ride the tidal bore at least as far as the"
"1630, and was also a munitions provider to the Catalan Army. Riquet became wealthy and was given permission by the King to levy his own taxes. This gave him greater wealth, which allowed him to execute grand projects with technical expertise. Riquet is the man responsible for building the 240-kilometre-long artificial waterway that links the southern coast of France to Toulouse to link to the canal/river system that ran across to the Bay of Biscay, one of the great engineering feats of the 17th century. The logistics were immense and complex, so much so that other engineers including the ancient"
"also, ""Mare Gallaecum"" (the Sea of the Galicians). On some medieval maps, the Bay of Biscay is marked as ""El Mar del los Vascos"" (the Basque Sea). The Bay of Biscay has been the site of many famous naval engagements over the centuries. In 1592 the Spanish defeated an English fleet during the eponymous Battle of the Bay of Biscay. The Biscay campaign of June 1795 consisted of a series of manoeuvres and two battles fought between the British Channel Fleet and the French Atlantic Fleet off the southern coast of Brittany during the second year of the French Revolutionary"
"area of Labourd. Cantabrian Sea The Cantabrian Sea is the coastal sea of the Atlantic Ocean that washes the northern coast of Spain and the southwest side of the Atlantic coast of France; it represents the south area of the Bay of Biscay. It extends from the cape Estaca de Bares in the province of A Coruña, to the mouth of the Adour river, near the city of Bayonne on the coast of the department of Pyrenees Atlantiques in French Basque Country. It washes of coastline shared by the Spanish provinces of A Coruña, Lugo, Asturias, Cantabria, Biscay and Gipuzkoa,"
"Cantabrian Sea The Cantabrian Sea is the coastal sea of the Atlantic Ocean that washes the northern coast of Spain and the southwest side of the Atlantic coast of France; it represents the south area of the Bay of Biscay. It extends from the cape Estaca de Bares in the province of A Coruña, to the mouth of the Adour river, near the city of Bayonne on the coast of the department of Pyrenees Atlantiques in French Basque Country. It washes of coastline shared by the Spanish provinces of A Coruña, Lugo, Asturias, Cantabria, Biscay and Gipuzkoa, and the French"
"contributes €26m per year. The canal was extensively featured on the BBC television series ""Rick Stein's French Odyssey"" (2005). Canal Latéral de la Garonne The Canal de Garonne, formerly known as Canal latéral à la Garonne, is a French canal dating from the mid-19th century which connects Toulouse to Castets-en-Dorthe. The remainder of the route to Bordeaux uses the river Garonne. It is the continuation of the Canal du Midi which connects the Mediterranean with Toulouse. Together they and the Garonne form the Canal des Deux Mers which connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic Ocean. The canal runs along"
"Fermes"". By the middle of the 17th century, France was divided for tax purposes into three principal zones: Not all ""fermiers-généraux"" constrained their viewpoint to their own enrichment: Pierre-Paul Riquet, appointed collector in Languedoc-Roussillon in 1630, used his fortune to build the Canal du Midi that links the Mediterranean coast of France to Toulouse and then on to the system of canals and rivers that ran across to the Bay of Biscay on the Atlantic coast, considered to be one of the great engineering feats of the 17th century. The process was further developed under the aegis of Jean-Baptiste Colbert,"
"Garonne The Garonne ( ; ; Occitan, Catalan, and Spanish: , ; or ) is a river in southwest France and northern Spain, with a length of . It flows into the Atlantic Ocean at Bordeaux. The name derives from Garumna, a Latinized version of the Aquitanian name meaning ""stony river"". The Garonne's headwaters are to be found in the Aran Valley in the Spanish Pyrenees, though three different locations have been proposed as the true source: the ""Uelh deth Garona"" at Plan de Beret (), the Ratera-Saboredo cirque ), or the slopes of Pic Aneto (Salterillo-Barrancs ravine according to"
"Bidasoa The Bidasoa (, ; ) is a river in the Basque Country of northern Spain and southern France that runs largely south to north. Named as such downstream of the small town of Oronoz-Mugairi (municipality of Baztan) in the province of Navarra, the river actually results from the merger of several streams near the village ""Erratzu"", with the stream Baztan that rises at the north-eastern side of the mount Autza (1,306 m) being considered the source of the Bidasoa. It joins the Cantabrian Sea (Bay of Biscay) between the towns of Hendaye and Hondarribia. The river is best known"
"de Thau near the Mediterranean. Strictly speaking, """"Canal du Midi"""" refers to the portion initially constructed from Toulouse to the Mediterranean — the Deux-Mers canal project aimed to link together several sections of navigable waterways to join the Mediterranean and the Atlantic: first the Canal du Midi, then the Garonne which was more or less navigable between Toulouse and Bordeaux, then the Garonne Lateral Canal built later, and finally the Gironde estuary after Bordeaux. Jean-Baptiste Colbert authorized the start of work by royal edict in October, 1666, with the aim of developing the wheat trade, under the supervision of Pierre-Paul"
"Pyrenees mountain range, extends from the Mediterranean to the Bay of Biscay. In the extreme south of Spain lie the Straits of Gibraltar, which separate the Iberian peninsula and the rest of Europe from Ceuta and Morocco in North Africa; at its narrowest extent, mainland Spain and Morocco are separated by only . Most of Spain's boundaries are water: the Mediterranean Sea on the south to the French border and the Atlantic Ocean on the northwest and southwest (in the south as the Golfo de Cádiz and in the north as the Bay of Biscay). Spain also shares land boundaries"
"was introduced and first noticed in 1906 by oyster fishermen in the Bay of Biscay. The ""Grammatostomias flagellibarba"" (scaleless dragonfish) are native to these waters. Bay of Biscay The Bay of Biscay (; , , , ) is a gulf of the northeast Atlantic Ocean located south of the Celtic Sea. It lies along the western coast of France from Point Penmarc'h to the Spanish border, and the northern coast of Spain west to Cape Ortegal. The south area of the Bay of Biscay washes over the northern coast of Spain and is known as the Cantabrian Sea. The average"
"the Bay of Biscay until it nears Santiago. Though it does not pass through as many historic points of interest as the Camino Frances, it has cooler summer weather. The route is believed to have been first used by pilgrims to avoid traveling through the territories occupied by the Muslims in the Middle Ages. Most Spanish consider the French border in the Pyrenees the natural starting point. By far the most common starting point on the Camino Francés is Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, on the French side of the Pyrenees, with Roncesvalles on the Spanish side also being popular. The distance from Roncesvalles"
"Loire The Loire (; ; ) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains an area of , or more than a fifth of France's land area, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhône. It rises in the highlands of the southeastern quarter of the French Massif Central in the Cévennes range (in the department of Ardèche) at near Mont Gerbier de Jonc; it flows north through Nevers to Orléans, then west through Tours and Nantes until it reaches the Bay of Biscay (Atlantic"
"links Bordeaux to Paris, Sète, Toulouse Matabiau and Spain. A long metal viaduct, also built by Eiffel was originally used to carry the railway over the River Garonne but this two-track bridge became a bottleneck and a new four-track railway bridge was built next to it. The following services call at Bordeaux-Saint-Jean as of January 2018: Gare de Bordeaux-Saint-Jean Bordeaux-Saint-Jean or ""Bordeaux-Midi"" is the main railway station in the French city of Bordeaux. It is the southern terminus of the Paris–Bordeaux railway, and the western terminus of the Chemins de fer du Midi main line from Toulouse. The current station"
"Canal Latéral de la Garonne The Canal de Garonne, formerly known as Canal latéral à la Garonne, is a French canal dating from the mid-19th century which connects Toulouse to Castets-en-Dorthe. The remainder of the route to Bordeaux uses the river Garonne. It is the continuation of the Canal du Midi which connects the Mediterranean with Toulouse. Together they and the Garonne form the Canal des Deux Mers which connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic Ocean. The canal runs along the right bank of the Garonne, crosses the river in Agen via the Agen aqueduct, then continues along the"
"river Adour until Saubusse, where it turns west towards the Atlantic coast, and then south. It crosses the river Adour in Bayonne, and turns southwest. It passes along the ocean resorts Biarritz and Saint-Jean-de-Luz. It crosses the Spanish border between Hendaye and Irun, where the railway ends. France and Spain have different rail gauges (standard gauge and Iberian gauge, resp.), which requires change of trains. The section between Hendaye and Irun has tracks with both gauges. The main stations on the Bordeaux–Irun railway are: The railway was built by the Compagnie des Chemins de fer du Midi and its predecessor"
"France, about 80 kilometres east of Toulouse. Its strategic location between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea has been known since the neolithic era. The town's area is about , which is significantly larger than the numerous small towns in the department of Aude. The rivers Aude, Fresquel and the Canal du Midi flow through the town. The first signs of settlement in this region have been dated to about 3500 BC, but the hill site of ""Carsac"" – a Celtic place-name that has been retained at other sites in the south – became an important trading place in"
"arm infiltrated along today's continental margin of northwestern France. Consequently, Iberia, so far being positioned right below the Armorican Massif (Brittany), was wedged southward. This gave the Atlantic the chance to directly reach the Aquitaine Basin for the first time. In the wake of the southward drifting Iberia during the Lower Cretaceous, the Bay of Biscay opened up. The microcontinent Iberia underwent in addition to its southward drifting motion a counterclockwise rotational movement that eventually brought it in close contact with southern France (reflected in first tectonic movements in the Pyrenees during the Albian; also documented by metamorphism in the"
"developing, including new urban projects. In Bordeaux, the Garonne River is accessible to ocean liners. The right bank of the Garonne is a low-lying, often marshy plain. Bordeaux's climate is classified as an temperate oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification ""Cfb""), or in the Trewartha climate classification system as temperate oceanic or Do climate. Although summers are too cool and wet, Bordeaux however, lies close to the humid subtropical climate zone. Winters are cool because of the prevalence of westerly winds from the Atlantic. Summers are mild to warm and long due to the influence from the Bay of Biscay (surface"
"Gironde estuary) and their tributaries, as well as the wine-producing areas of Gascony including Béarn, and the Northern Basque Country. However, only areas closer to the Atlantic than to the Mediterranean are included in the region, with the city of Toulouse being situated roughly halfway between the South West wine region and the Languedoc-Roussillon wine region on the Mediterranean. The brandy-producing region Armagnac is situated within Gascony and the wine region of South West France, and some of its grapes are used to make Vin de Pays under the designation ""Vin de Pays de Côtes de Gascogne"" or mixed with"
"also forms part of the Canal des Deux Mers, linking the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. From the ocean, ships pass through the Gironde estuary up to the mouth of the Garonne (to the right of the Dordogne when sailing upstream). Ships continue on the tidal river Garonne up to the ""Pont de Pierre"" (stone bridge) in Bordeaux. Inland vessels continue upstream to Castets-en-Dorthe, where the Canal de Garonne joins the river. Prior to the building of the Canal lateral à la Garonne, between 1838 and 1856, shallow-draught boats used the Garonne itself as far as Toulouse. However, navigation"
"Biarritz Biarritz (; or """" ; Gascon ) is a city on the Bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the French Basque Country in Southwestern France. It is located from the border with Spain. It is a luxurious seaside tourist destination known for the Hôtel du Palais (originally built for the Empress Eugénie circa 1855), its casinos in front of the sea and its surfing culture. Biarritz is located in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region. It is adjacent to Bayonne and Anglet and from the border with Spain. It is in the"
"Bordeaux Bordeaux (; Gascon ) is a port city on the Garonne in the Gironde department in Southwestern France. The municipality (commune) of Bordeaux proper has a population of 246,586 (2014). Together with its suburbs and satellite towns, Bordeaux is the centre of the Bordeaux Métropole. With 1,195,335 in the metropolitan area, it is the sixth largest in France, after Paris, Marseille, Lyon, Toulouse and Lille. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture of the Gironde department. Its inhabitants are called """"Bordelais"""" (for men) or """"Bordelaises"""" (women). The term ""Bordelais"" may also refer to"
"a Spanish squadron on 2 July 1799, and of the final surrender of Napoleon Bonaparte on HMS ""Bellerophon"" on 15 July 1815. It was also the site of the British naval victory over a French fleet at the 1809 Battle of Basque Roads. Basque Roads Basque Roads, sometimes referred to as ""Aix Roads"", is a roadstead (a sheltered bay) on the Biscay shore of the Charente-Maritime département of France, bounded by the Île d'Oléron to the west and the Île de Ré to the north. The port of La Rochelle stands at the northeast corner of the roads, and the"
"in France from the North Sea in the north to the Jura Mountains in the south and from the Somme River in the west to the Moselle River in the east. During the Hundred Years War, the Burgundians allied themselves with England against the French crown. Indeed, the Burgundians were responsible for the capture of Joan of Arc and her execution on 31 May 1431. In 1429, young Louis found himself at Loches in the presence of Joan of Arc, fresh from her first victory over the English at the Siege of Orléans, which initiated a turning point for the"
"is crossed by several coastal rivers that originated in the southern foothills of the Massif Central to jump into the Mediterranean Sea after a course of general north-south orientation relatively short and high altitude. the main ones are from east to west the Vidourle, which marks the limit with the Gard department, the Lesz which crosses notably Montpellier, the Hérault, which gave its name to the department, and the Orb which waters Béziers.To the west, the Aude Valley, a 224 km river from the Pyrenees, whose course is oriented west-east, forms the limit with the department of the same name."
"regarded as a much more significant part of the agglomeration. Hendaye currently has two twin towns: Hendaye Hendaye (Basque: ""Hendaia"") is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department and Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of southwestern France. The town, France's most southwesterly and a popular seaside tourist resort, stands on the right bank of the River Bidassoa – which marks the Franco-Spanish border – at the point where it empties into the Atlantic Ocean in the French Basque Country. Hendaye has three distinguishable parts: ""la ville"" (the town), which stretches from Saint Vincent's church to the area around the SNCF railway station and the"
"Canal du Midi The (, meaning ""canal of the two seas"") is a long canal in Southern France (). Originally named the ""Canal royal en Languedoc"" (Royal Canal in Languedoc) and renamed by French revolutionaries to ""Canal du Midi"" in 1789, the canal was at the time considered one of the greatest construction works of the 17th century. The canal connects the Garonne to the on the Mediterranean and along with the long Canal de Garonne forms the Canal des Deux Mers, joining the Atlantic to the Mediterranean. The canal runs from the city of Toulouse down to the Étang"