Friday 18 January 2008

The mighty river

With all the rain we've had lately the river Rhone has changed: from lazy, slow and mellow in summer it has become big, fast and powerful. For thousands of years the Rhone was a wild and unpredictable river. Huge works carried out between the fifties and the eighties have helped master the river's powerful energy by lining it with dams and locks. Despite all this, France's largest river, which is also the second largest river to feed into the Mediterranean after the Nile, remains fairly unpredictable and its notorious floods are far from over. This photo was taken at a dam just three kilometres upstream from Avignon. Quite an impressive sight when there's a lot of water like today.

Avec toute la pluie que nous avons connu ces derniers jours le Rhône a changé. Paresseux et tranquille cet été, son débit est devenu rapide et puissant. Pendant des millénaires le Rhône a été un fleuve sauvage et imprévisible. D'énormes travaux entrepris durant les trente glorieuses (des années cinquante aux années quatre-vingt) ont partiellement dompté le fleuve, le parsemant de barrages et d'écluses. Malgré cela, le plus grand fleuve de France (et le second en terme de débit à se jeter dans la Mediterranée après le Nil) reste un cours d'eau difficile à gérer et ses célèbres crues sont loin d'être terminées. On est ici sur un barrage à trois kilomètres en amont d'Avignon. En période de fort débit comme ici, le lâcher d'eau est impressionnant.

25 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hello,
Heureux d'avoir découvert cet endroit grâce à ton passage dans mon petit monde virtuel.
Habiter en Avignon, si c'est pas merveilleux ... et tu t'y prends trés bien pour faire découvrir ta région ...
Très bon WE à toi,

Gaëtan.

Peter said...

I remember that together with a friend we crossed the river with a row boat (at Bac de Baccarin, we had missed the last bac / ferry) - many years ago. We landed on the other side all right, but a bit more downstream than planned.

Anonymous said...

Evènement de la nature bien capté, bien vu et attention aux inondations. Bonne soirée.

Unknown said...

You really have captured the strength of the mighty river in your shot here. Very nice.

edwin s said...

hello nathalie!

guess what? I've just been tagged again. And I'm tagging you again too. This time it's a good one, with a great theme.

You don't have to do it but do come by and have a look, ok?

have a fantastic weekend :)

Sally said...

That's fantastic - and it's always interestingto be reminded of the power of water.

I thin I recall seeing a TV doco series some time ago about The Rhone - fascinating (though of curse can't remember details now).

Sydney is having a real old fashioned summer (probably one you didn't get to experience). El Nino has turned to La nina, and with it rain has come. So, under the influence of tropical cyclones further north we are getting weeks of rain....it has been steadily pouring for 2 days - with breaks. But it is hot and humid, so you can still get about in shorts and thongs.

You can practically see the grass and plants growing before your eyes. Which is great cos we did a huge prune just before Christmas.

It is ben's birthday on Monday and we were going to take him and friends to the outdoor water fun park at Jamberoo, but it looks like showers will persist all day...so now the hunt is on for an acceptable alternative!

Great catching up with your pics. As ever!

Maxime said...

Je suis sensibilisé, professionnellement, à la prévention du risque inondation, et je trouve ta photo bien plus parlante que les images d'eau étale que l'on montre d'ordinaire pour convaincre du danger. Il ne faut pas plus jouer avec l'eau que l'on ne joue avec le feu, et je pense à ces paroles (de l'ancien testament ?) qui s'appliquent si bien au rhone "...Car c'est un dieu jaloux et prompt à la colère... "

Bigouden Atao said...

Impressionnant !!!
Il ne doit pas faire bon habiter trop près du Rhône en ce moment, mais , notre monsieur météo, a annoncé, chez , une amélioration pour ce WE ;-)

Bon Week-End Nathalie.

Anonymous said...

Mémoire du fauve
Dans son carcan de béton
Rugit le Rhône

Anonymous said...

Just think, a few hours ago all that was up in my part of the woods (well not exactly Zurich, but Switzerland at least)

Water is extremely powerful, as anyone who has tried to cross even a small mountain stream in full flow will know. The picture captures this energy

Unknown said...

I have tagged you also b/c I love your blogs. You are linked from my Seguin page and I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoy your visits, comments and your photos. Have a wonderful weekend!

Squirrel said...

wow--this is so strong, look at all the white foam.
I like the light in this shot-

Anonymous said...

Hi Nathalie,
I am delighted to pass you the “You Make My Day” Award for your inspiring photo blogs and dedication to Photo Blogging! Please visit Auckland Daily Photo blog to receive the Award and pass it on!

Cheers!

Anonymous said...

"Impressive" is the word ! o__O

Anonymous said...

Yes, indeed, that is impressive. Such power.

Clueless in Boston said...

Your picture certainly does show the power of nature. Interesting facts about the Rhone, I didn't know it was such a big river.

Gaëlle said...

Je n'aimerais pas trop habiter dans une zone inondable moi en ce moment... ça fait un peut peur !
Bon et puis moi aussi j'ai reçu un petit "You make my day" award que je te transmets à mon tour avec grand plaisir.

Olivier said...

ta photo est impressionnante, j'espere que tu n'as pas risqué ton APN...du coté d'Evry rien a craindre, tout autour de la seine, il n'y a aucune construction importante (hors l'écluse). Mais conne miss Orange, je crois que j'angoisserais en habitant dans une zone innondable

Anonymous said...

ah, c est bon le mouvement ,les bouillons, tourbillons, la vie quand tout dort comme marmotte sous roche!

Cergie said...

En voilà une belle photo en B&W (un petit peu de bleu et or, mais si peu). J'aime bien le terme "fleuve" en français qui dit bien ce que cela veut dire et qu'on ne retrouve ni en allemand ni en anglais.
Les lâchers de barrage, soudains, me font penser aux mascarets attendus pas les surfeurs, mais qui demandent de grdes marées alors pas de risque avec les fleuves se jetant en Méditerranée !

Tu es comme mon Patrick, lui a toujours les yeux vers la Loire et toi vers le Rhône, deux fleuves différents mais qu'il faut respecter sinon gare....

Anonymous said...

Gaetan, welcome!

Peter your story looks like quite an adventure, I can relate to that!

Edwin you're a sweety!

Sally yes I can remember having a summer like this one, at Xmas 2002 - the girls never wanted to go the beach, complained the weather wasn't nice enough...

Maxime, ayant vécu sur une péniche sur le Rhone pendant plus de dix ans, j'ai appris à connaitre ses crues et à les respecter.

Anonymous, beautiful haiku, thank you. I would have loved to have your name

Richard you are right, the Rhone takes its source in Switzerland!!!

To all of you for your comments and awards, many many thanks. You make my day by showing up here regularly and I appreciate it very much.

hpy said...

On oublie facilement que l'eau peut être très dangereuse.

Jilly said...

Wow, that's raging. Great shot. We had those same rains so have roads closed with fallen rocks, boulders about to tumble. The autoroute was cut above me for two days - the railway lines at Eze, near Nice. Still not all back to normal but getting there. Fierce weather, eh?

Juneau Alaska Photos said...

Now those are some white caps. It reminds me of the Lynn Canal near Juneau. Thanks for sharing your incredible photography.
Gwyn
juneaudailyphoto.blogspot.com

Caronebraska said...

Magnifique !!!
...et impressionnant ! J'ose déjà à peine m'approcher du barrage de Vallabrègues en tant normal, alors là....

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