Tarn and Aveyron are the finest rivers in France. In order to better understand the place, let’s start of with Tarn River.

Tarn River

Tarn River or Tarnis in Latin is a river that measures 375 kilometers or 235 miles. It is located on the southern portion of France and on the right of the Garonne tributary. The hypothetical meaning of this river is “walled in or rapid”. This river is also the boundary of France’s two regions namely Midi-Pyrenees and Languedoc-Roussillon. The origin of the Tarn River is located at Cevennes, the mouth is located at Garonne and the Basin countries are situated in France.

Here are the major specifications of Tarn River:

• Source Elevation - 1,550 meters
• Basin Data – 15,700 sq. kilometers 
• Average Discharge – 200 cubic meters per second

The river swiftly runs over the western direction from its altitude of 1,550 meters on the Mount Lozere in the mountainous area of Cevennes which is also a part of the Massif Central. It also runs through the cavernous canyons and gorges of Gorges du Tarn. This so-called Gorges du Tarn cuts through Causse du Larzac up to Moissac that is located in Tarn-et-Garonne. From Moissac, the Tarn River joins the Garronne River. It is about 4 kilometers or 2.5 miles downstream the heart of the town.

The basin of this river covers around 12,000 sq. kilometers and its mean flows an estimated 140 cubic meters per second. The Viaduct of Millau spans the River Valley of Tarn near the city of Millau. Now, it is one of the most populated city attractions in the area.

Tributaries

The main tributaries of Tarn include the following:

• Alrance
• Agout (located at Saint-Sulpice)
• Tescou
• Dourbie (located at Millau)
• Aveyron which is near Montauban
• Tarnon (situated in Florac)
• Dourdou de Camares
• Muze
• Rance
• Cernon
• Lemboulas
• Jonte which is located at le Rozier

The Tarn River separates the Aquitaine and Narbonne basins.

Cities and Departments

Listed below are the towns or cities and departments that the Tarn River passes through:

• Aveyron in the town of Millau
• Tarn-et-Garonne in  Montauban 
• Moissac Tarn in Gaillac, Albi, Rabastens and Lisle-sur-Tarn
• Lozère in Sainte-Enimie and Le Pont-de-Montvert
• Haute-Garonne in Villemur-sur-Tarn

The Viaduct of Millau is considered as the highest bridge in the whole world. It carries the “A 75 Auto route” diagonally from the Tarn Gorge in the Millau vicinity. This bridge opened in 2004.

The Tarn River is well-known for the brutal flooding that it causes. The flooding is considered as the most dangerous in the whole continent of Europe together with the River of Danube.

The widely-renowned flooding occurred on March 1930. The Tarn River rose to more than 56 feet or 17 meters which is way above the normal level in the city of Montauban in a matter of 24 hours. This flooding had a discharge of 7,000 cubic meters per second. The Mississippi River’s average discharge is 16,200 cubic meters per second; the Rhine River is about 2,200 cubic meters per second while the Nile River’s discharge is 8,500 cubic meters per second during the annual flooding prior when the Aswan Dam was built. More than 1/3 of the department of Tarn-et-Garonne was flooded and an estimated 300 people had died. In addition to that, thousands of properties were destroyed as well as the whole Montauban district and the Moissac town was almost completely destroyed.

Aveyron

Avaeyron is one of the departments in France. It is named after the Aveyron River. It is also the 12th out of the 26 departments in the whole country of France.

This French territory belongs to the region of Midi-Pyrenees. Listed below are some of the quick facts.

• Department number – twelve
• President of the General Council – Jean-Claude Luche
• Subprefectures –Villefranche-de-Rouergue and Millau
• Prefecture – Rodez
• Region – Midi-Pyrénées
• Arrondissements – 3
• Cantons – 46
• Communes – 304

The department of Aveyron is ranked as the 78th in terms of its population. During the 1999 Census, the population of this area is 263,808. Its population density is 30 per sq. kilometers. The total land area of Aveyron is 8735 sq. kilometers.

Demographics

The people that live in this French territory are known as the “Aveyronnais”. On the other hand, the people that live in Rodez are known as “Ruthenois”. The term for the inhabitants of Rodez came from the Roman’s first settlers called “rutenii”.

Geography

As mentioned above, this department is considered as one of the current region in Midi-Pyrenees. Aveyron is surrounded by quite a number of departments such as Lot, Cantal, Tarn, Gard, Herault, Lozere and Tarn-et-Garonne. This department is also composed of the three major plateaus namely Larzac, Aubrac and Levezou.

The Plateau of Aubrac has the highest point which is in the summit of Mailhebuau. Thjs summit measures about 1,469 meters. 

Tourism

The National Park of Cevennes contains a little part of Aveyron. The two main and very famous tourist hotspots are in the Castle of Najac and the Loc-Dieu Abbey. The Najac Castle is somewhat like a medieval ruin that is perched high on a mountain or hill while the Loc-Dieu Abbey is situated near the region of Martiel that has a lot of dolmens. The typical city of Millau is the site of the worlds tallest ever bridge. This so-called “viaduct is opened by its then president, Chirac in 2004.

Some of the activities in this area include fishing, swimming in Lacs de Levezou, camping, hiking and horseback riding. This whole area is packed with a lot of craftsmen that is why it has many exporters. The department of Saint-Sernin-Rance is the commune site where “Victor of Averyon was found during the 19th century.

History

This French territory is actually one of the eighty-three original departments that were created in the French Revolution on the 19th day of March, 1790.

Band

The name “Aveyron” is also a name of a small mediocre band that started on producing and recording songs during the month of August year 2007.