The Eyre is a coastal

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

that flows through the Landes of Gascony, in

Aquitaine Aquitaine ( , , ; oc, Aquitània ; eu, Akitania; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Aguiéne''), archaic Guyenne or Guienne ( oc, Guiana), is a historical region of southwestern France and a former administrative region of the country. Since 1 January ...

, southwest

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. The river is generally presented as the confluence of: * the Grande Leyre (''Large Leyre''), its principal course, upstream from Moustey * the Petite Leyre (''Small Leyre''), its main tributary The combined watercourse Eyre-Grande Leyre is long.

Name

''Eyre'' is an Aquitanian

hydronym A hydronym (from el, ὕδρω, , "water" and , , "name") is a type of toponym that designates a proper name of a body of water. Hydronyms include the proper names of rivers and streams, lakes and ponds, swamps and marshes, seas and oceans. As a ...

. It can be found in such names as '' Eyres-Moncube'', Landes, or the ' (''Eyron ditch'') in

Lacanau Lacanau (; oc, label= Gascon, La Canau, ) is a commune in the Gironde department, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. Lacanau is a surfing area. Lacanau is a member of the Community of Municipalities Médoc's Lakes which includes the mu ...

, Gironde. Note that ''Leyre'' is a variant of the name ''Eyre'', affected by an agglutination of the Romance article.

Geography

The basin of the Eyre in included in the parc régional des Landes de Gascogne (''National Park of the Moors of Gascony''). The river takes form in the ''Plantiet Marsh'', in ''Grande Lande'' near

Sabres A sabre is a type of sword. Sabre, Sabres, saber, or SABRE may also refer to: Weapons and weapon systems * Sabre (fencing), a sporting sword * Sabre (tank), a modern British armoured reconnaissance vehicle * Chinese sabre or ''dao'', a variety ...

, Landes. It flows north into the

Bassin d'Arcachon Arcachon Basin or alternatively Arcachon Bay ( French: ''Bassin d'Arcachon'') is a bay of the Atlantic Ocean on the southwest coast of France, situated in Pays de Buch between the Côte d'Argent and the Côte des Landes, in the region of Aquita ...

, a large bay on the Atlantic coast, in the

Pays de Buch Pays de Buch (, literally ''Land of Buch'') is one of several areas that make up the Landes forest in France. It extends across seventeen towns around the Arcachon Bay and the valley of the Eyre River. The village of Porge is at the north end a ...

Gironde Gironde ( US usually, , ; oc, Gironda, ) is the largest department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of Southwestern France. Named after the Gironde estuary, a major waterway, its prefecture is Bordeaux. In 2019, it had a population of 1,62 ...

. Its

delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), a letter of the Greek alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * D ( NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta") * Delta Air Lines, US * Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 Delta may also ...

of contains the

Le Teich Le Teich () is a commune in the Gironde department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. In this commune, there is a park created in order to observe birds without putting them in danger. Population See also *Communes of the Gironde d ...

ornithological park. The Eyre flows through a preserved environment. Its banks are bordered by a broad-leaved forest. Branches join over the river, forming a

gallery forest A gallery forest is one formed as a corridor along rivers or wetlands, projecting into landscapes that are otherwise only sparsely treed such as savannas, grasslands, or deserts. The gallery forest maintains a more temperate microclimate above th ...

, that contrasts with the

Landes forest The Landes forest (; La forêt des Landes in French) in the Landes de Gascogne (las Lanas de Gasconha in the Gascon language), in the historic Gascony natural region of southwestern France now known as Aquitaine, is the largest man-made woodlan ...

, planted with

maritime pine ''Pinus pinaster'', the maritime pine or cluster pine, is a pine native to the south Atlantic Europe region and parts of the western Mediterranean. It is a hard, fast growing pine bearing small seeds with large wings. Description ''Pinus pinast ...

Départements and towns

The Eyre flows through the following ''départements'' and towns: * Landes:

Pissos Pissos (; oc, Pissòs) is a commune in the Landes department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in south-western France. Population See also *Communes of the Landes department *Parc naturel régional des Landes de Gascogne Landes de Gascogne Region ...

Belin-Béliet Belin-Béliet (; oc-gsc, Belin e Beliet) is a commune in the Gironde department in southwestern France. It was created in 1974 by the merger of the former communes Belin and Béliet. Population The population data given in the table below for ...

, Salles,

Mios Mios (; oc-gsc, Miòs) is a commune in the Gironde department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. Population Its inhabitants are called ''Miossais''. Sights The Saint Brice chapel has a bell dating from 1700 classed as a '' monumen ...

Tributaries

The main

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage ...

of the Eyre is the ''Petite-Leyre''. It rises between

Luxey Luxey (; oc, Lucsèir) is a commune in the Landes department, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Southwestern France. See also *Communes of the Landes department *Parc naturel régional des Landes de Gascogne Landes de Gascogne Regional Natural Park (Fr ...

and

Retjons Retjons () is a commune in the Landes department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. Population See also *Communes of the Landes department The following is a list of the 327 communes of the Landes department of France ...

, in Landes, and flows northwest to join the ''Grande Leyre'' downstream from

. * (R) Petite Leyre ''N.B. : (R) = right tributary; (L) = left tributary''

Historical sidenote

During the establishment of the French ''départements'' in 1790, the creation of a large ''département'' corresponding to the

natural region A natural region (landscape unit) is a basic geographic unit. Usually, it is a region which is distinguished by its common natural features of geography, geology, and climate. From the ecology, ecological point of view, the naturally occurring fl ...

of the Landes of Gascony – that is to say, today's Landes forest (then still unplanted) – was suggested. The name of this ''département'' would have been the ''Eyre''.

Activities

Canoeing Canoeing is an activity which involves paddling a canoe with a single-bladed paddle. Common meanings of the term are limited to when the canoeing is the central purpose of the activity. Broader meanings include when it is combined with other acti ...

(canoes rentals)

References

{{Authority control 0Leyre Ramsar sites in Metropolitan France Rivers of France Rivers of Gironde Rivers of Landes (department) Rivers of Nouvelle-Aquitaine