Where is it?

[Boomshanka]

Just returned from a week here - it's our favorite part of a particular country - not in the UK. Just uploaded some more photos of the marina. I'll give you a clue... it's in France. Any ideas where though?

 

[Wunja]

If it weren't for the bridge being in the wrong place and no grubby fishing vessels, I would have suggested Colijnsplaat in the Netherlands.

 

[kirielad]

Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie ?

 

[Boomshanka]

Nope... another clue?... it's fresh rather than salt water!

 

[geoid96]

I can understand what makes it your favorite part of the country!
It's Lac du Der-Chantecoq in the Champagne region.

 

[Boomshanka]

Yep, the Lac du Der... Parisians were fed up with flooding and so the French found a suitable place 200 miles to the East to engineer a huge buffer on the river Marne... the off shoot is a fabulous lake for use by all. They drain it down during the Summer and then it fills during Winter. More here:http://www.lacduder.com/

 

[geoid96]

They drain it down during the Summer and then it fills during Winter.

That must be why the pontoons are set up to allow for a significant rise and fall.
The Chantecoq part of the name refers to the village that was drowned when the reservoir was created.

 

[Boomshanka]

That must be why the pontoons are set up to allow for a significant rise and fall.
The Chantecoq part of the name refers to the village that was drowned when the reservoir was created.

Yep, there's a good museum there that explains the whole history of the place. It's the largest freshwater lake in France (and maybe Europe?) with half a dozen sandy beaches, sailing, water skiing, kayaking, fishing, etc. I believe that the cranes (as in big birds) cause quite a stir amongst the twitchers. The other thing I like about the French... they do these electric boats that you can hire. Over here I can imagine the health and safety paperwork... there, give a name and address, pay your twenty euros for an hour and the guy shows you a forward and reverse switch, slips the lines and pushes you off the pontoon! The same goes for renting a small dinghy, only you don't have to give name and address for that!

It's also weird to drive past a Beneteau agent and boat yard 200 miles from the coast in deepest agricultural French countryside.