“The river makes us live just as it can kill us”

“What hell…” Théo Cousseins is optimistic by nature, but that’s a lot. At that time, Baine Island, in Chaniers, was more of a little corner of paradise. The river which cascades, at the end, the lock where you come to watch the boats pass by, the fishermen’s house museum and the hut, in the middle, which offers a bucolic setting for relaxing with family. It’s Tuesday May 7, 2024, and Charente is still salivating at the foot of the bar. The team is working to raise the equipment on concrete blocks. A headache, on this nevertheless auspicious bridge weekend.

“What hell…” Théo Cousseins is optimistic by nature, but that’s a lot. At that time, Baine Island, in Chaniers, was more of a little corner of paradise. The river which cascades, at the end, the lock where you come to watch the boats pass by, the fishermen’s house museum and the hut, in the middle, which offers a bucolic setting for relaxing with family. It’s Tuesday May 7, 2024, and Charente is still salivating at the foot of the bar. The team is working to raise the equipment on concrete blocks. A headache, on this nevertheless auspicious bridge weekend.

At the beginning of April, Théo Cousseins had started the big spring cleaning. Two days later, a new flood hit the island for the fourth time this season. It finally opened on Tuesday April 30. The chairs sank a little into the ground where the grass sometimes has the appearance of incipient baldness. “It makes you sweat, but it doesn’t matter. It’s part of the place, we clearly know that,” the manager reacted.

Muddy Bike Flow

“The river makes us live just as it can kill us. We are hyper dependent on our bed and climatic conditions. Hence the importance of having a plan B,” reasons his partner, Jérôme Dechambre, owner of the Moulin de Baine restaurant. They plan to tear down the hut, which is around thirty years old, to install a structure that can be completely dismantled and raised. There is no shortage of projects to meet a real appetite for this type of setting. “We expand a little every year. This year, we will have additional braziers. »

A little further on, the Chaniers campsite tavern has wet feet again. “I had planned an opening on May 12. We’re going to move to 15. The pitch is still wet. We’re ready to fire. The problem is that I cannot put a single camper van on the pitches,” observes Jean-Christophe Doreau. He bought the store in 2020 and invested in removable housing to avoid flooding.

“In 2023, the floods started on October 17. It’s a bit of a mess, the economic pattern is completely changing. We operated for six months, we go to four months. The problem is that we don’t have too much projection for the future. We will have to adapt our work tools. I’m going to ask elected officials for meetings to think about it.”

“It’s a bit of a mess, the economic pattern is completely changing. We operated for six months, we go to four months. The problem is that we don’t have too much projection for the future”

Jean-Christophe Doreau is worried about the consequences on Flow Vélo, which drives its attendance. “The grounds are muddy. I warn the customers, they are grateful. I had postponements in August and September. » The tavern will wait until the end of May, or even the beginning of June. “We’ll see depending on Madame la rivière…”

“Customers are impatient”

In Pons, the leisure area also started later than planned. “The last flood was on 1^er april. It wasn’t a fish,” jokes Jean-Dominique Giraud, who has been operating this very popular bank of the Seugne for eleven years. In summer, the staff increases to 18 people in the restaurant which attracts a family clientele with its snacks and free games. “In winter, we dismantle everything, dive it, the toilets… All that remains is the structure. The customers were impatient! We opened on April 26, instead of the 15th. We tour seven days a week until the third weekend in September. »

For pedal boats, you will have to wait until the Seugne calms down a little. The repeated floods have caused damage, the river needs care.

“Saintes, a laboratory”

For Pascal Duc, boss of “Palissy-III”, the period before the beginning of May constitutes a “bonus”. The Saintais sightseeing boat is stuck at the dock until May 10. He was able to postpone the reservations, but the situation should not continue. The entire tourist economy of a river impatiently waits for it to return to its minor bed, hoping that the multiple floods of winter 2023 remain “exceptional”.

At the Saintes campsite, Olivier Brousse integrates these developments into his model. He has just taken over management of the site under public service delegation for eighteen years with his company, Weco. “We should open at the beginning of June, a month later than planned. You have to wait for the ground to dry a little so that the material does not deteriorate. The facilities were designed to be flexible and resilient. » Olivier Brousse sent a team to the Netherlands to see how they got around the floods. ” There is no fatality. Since the 14th^e century, they are below sea level. It is not simple, but there are solutions. we must anticipate, design the equipment so as to no longer be dependent. Saintes can be a laboratory. »