The Eyre is a coastal river that flows through the

Landes of Gascony The Landes de Gascogne (in Gascon, classic spelling ''las Lanas de Gasconha'', Fébusienne spelling ''leus Lanes de Gascougne''), or Gascony Moors, is a natural region of France of nearly . It extends over three departments: Gironde, Landes and ...

, in Aquitaine, southwest France. The river is generally presented as the confluence of: * the Grande Leyre (''Large Leyre''), its principal course, upstream from

Moustey Moustey (; oc, Mostèirs e Viganon) is a commune in the Landes department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. Population Gallery Moustey Biganon mairie.jpg, Town hall Moustey 2 églises.jpg, Churches File:Moustey SM porte cagot ...

* the Petite Leyre (''Small Leyre''), its main tributary The combined watercourse Eyre-Grande Leyre is long.

Name

''Eyre'' is an Aquitanian hydronym. It can be found in such names as ''

Eyres-Moncube Eyres-Moncube (; oc, Èiras e Montcube) 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 d ...

'', Landes, or the ' (''Eyron ditch'') in Lacanau, 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,

Landes ''Landes'', or ''Lanas'' in Gascon, means moorland or heath. ''Landes'' and ''Lanas'' come from the Latin ''plānus'' meaning “‘flat, even, level, plain’”. They are therefore cognate with the English plain (and plane), the Spanish word '' ...

. 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 of contains the Le Teich 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, that contrasts with the Landes forest, planted with maritime pines.

Départements and towns

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

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 ...

, Le Teich

Tributaries

The main tributary 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 of the

– 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