The Eyre is a coastal

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

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 14000 km². It extends over three departments: Gironde, ...

, in

Aquitaine Aquitaine (, ; ; ; ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Aguiéne''), archaic Guyenne or Guienne (), is a historical region of southwestern France and a former Regions of France, administrative region. Since 1 January 2016 it has been part of the administ ...

, southwest

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

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

Moustey Moustey (; ) 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 cagots.jpg, Former door for ...

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

Name

''Eyre'' is an

Aquitanian Aquitanian may refer to: *Aquitanian (stage), a geological age, the first stage of the Miocene Epoch *Aquitanian language, an ancient language spoken in the region later known as Gascony *Aquitani (or Aquitanians), were a people living in what is n ...

hydronym A hydronym (from , , "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 subset of top ...

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

Lacanau Lacanau (; , ) 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 municipalities of Lacanau, Ca ...

, 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 Landes de Gascogne Regional Natural Park. 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 variet ...

, Landes. It flows north into the Bassin d'Arcachon, a large bay on the Atlantic coast, in the Pays de Buch,

Gironde Gironde ( , US usually , ; , ) is the largest department in the southwestern French region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Named after the Gironde estuary, a major waterway, its prefecture is Bordeaux. In 2019, it had a population of 1,623,749.

. Its

delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet * D (NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta"), the fourth letter in the Latin alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * Delta Air Lines, a major US carrier ...

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 Twin towns – sister cities * B ...

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 (; ) 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 Regional Natural ...

Belin-Béliet Belin-Béliet (; ) 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 1968 and earlier refer ...

, Salles,

Mios Mios (; ) 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 '' monument historique' ...

Tributaries

The main

tributary A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream (''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 into which they ...

of the Eyre is the ''Petite-Leyre''. It rises between Luxey and Retjons, 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 ecological point of view, the naturally occurring flora and ...

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. In some parts of Europe, canoeing refers to both canoeing and kayaking, with a canoe being called an 'open canoe' or Canadian. A few of the recreational ...

(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