Candes-Saint-Martin, while best known today for the Collégiale church of St Martin, owed much of its prosperity in times past to its position at the confluence of the River Vienne and the River Loire. The Vienne is 363 km long and the Loire - the longest river in France - is 1012km long, so between them they provide water access to a large part of France.
In the middle of this image is a spit of sand - the water in front is the Vienne and that at the back is the Loire. The boat - a traditional Loire valley design - is just about to make the transition.
