THE GARONNE-DORDOGNE
Let's return to France to discover another splendid river tree that embellishes our country, this tree with two trunks, the Garonne and the Dordogne, both of which meet in the wide Gironde estuary, a powerful trunk forming the transition to the Atlantic world. It is a large tree that casts its shadow over what is known in France as the South-West, a large territory made up of multiple regions: Périgord, Quercy, Armagnac, the Auch region, the Toulouse region, the Tulle region... All these names evoke idyllic images of traditional gastronomy with renowned dishes and spirits, medieval villages on cliff sides, and wood crafts.
All in all, the foliage of the Garonne-Dordogne tree is lush, thanks to the warm and sunny environment of the South-West, but sparsely populated. Apart from the two cities of Toulouse and Bordeaux, it is a very rural tree with a strong agro-pastoral tradition, for example in the Pyrenees (where the branches of the tree take on a fractal nature) or towards the peaks, heading towards the Massif Central. The rest of the tree is cultivated in places, but is still relatively wild, with a large wooded area.
If the Garonne Dordogne were a tree, it would perhaps be a black walnut tree: a tree that is very common in the catchment area of the two rivers, it has long been cultivated for the oil from its fruit, its fruit itself, and its wood, which is highly valued by the region's craftsmen. The walnut tree has acquired an important place in local culture with the Périgord walnut, a product with protected designation of origin, which was once traded by boat via the rivers of the watershed. Walnut trees also thrive on rich, deep alluvial soils, such as those found near rivers… It really is a perfect fit!