- Gironde estuary
The Gironde is a navigable
estuary (often falsely referred to as ariver ), in southwestFrance and is formed from the meeting of the rivers Dordogne andGaronne just below the centre ofBordeaux .The Gironde is approximately 65 km (38
mile s) long and 3–11 km (2–7 miles) wide and the French "département"Gironde is named after it. The Gironde is subject to very strong tidal currents and great care is needed when navigating the river by any size or type of boat.World War II
The Gironde was the setting for
Operation Frankton , a British special forces operation during World War II tasked with the objective of destroying shipping moored at the docks in Bordeaux.Islands of the Gironde
Within the estuary between the
Pointe de la Grave at the seaward end andle bec d’Ambes are a series of small islands.The
Île de Patiras is 200 ha in size with a lighthouse to aid navigation in the estuary. Vines and maize are grown there.The
Île de Sans-Pain andÎle de Bouchaud are now virtually joined due to progressive silting and are referred to as the Ile Nouvelle. They total about 265 ha and are owned by the Conservatoire du Littoral and managed by the Department of the Gironde.The
Île du Fort Paté is about 13 ha and in 2006 was privately owned. The island has a historic fort built between 1685 and 1693 as part of the national fortification program masterminded byVauban . The building is oval in shape, about 12metre s high and was originally eqipped with about 30 cannon. Fort Paté together with Fort Médoc and theCitadelle of Blaye defended the estuary and Bordeaux. During the French Revolution the fort was used as a prison for priests.In 2006, the
Conseil General took the decision to make the island a ZPENS (zone de pre-emption espace naturel sensible). ZPENS status protects the island from development. If the owner wishes to sell the island then the Department has a pre-emptive right. After two months theConservatoire National du Littoral has the next pre-emptive right and then after another 2 months the town ofBlaye has a final pre-emptive right to acquire the island.The Île Verte,
Île du Nord andÎle Cazeau comprise about 800 ha and because of their natural state provide a fine stopping off place for migrating birds.The
Île Margaux is 25 ha and in 2005 had 14 ha devoted to vines and is part of the world famousMédoc wine region.References
*The information relating to the protected status of Île Paté and the general information relating to the other islands is public domain information which was summarised as part of an article in the regional 'Sud Ouest' newspaper dated 3 October 2006.
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