They are in the front row when the Vilaine rises. In Guichen, 20 km south of Rennes, at a place called Le Gravier, we live daily with the vagaries of the river. The ten or so properties which border the towpath are the first to be flooded in the event of floods. This has been the case since Wednesday, January 8, 2025. Already on yellow alert by Vigicrues, the median Vilaine turned orange in the evening.
On Wednesday, some residents of Gravier could no longer access their homes with their car. However, nothing to worry about for those Guichenais who are used to winter floods. “The towpath and gardens are under water at least once a year. We are not going to complain, look at the serious floods that there have been in the North of France. For us, it’s okay,” puts Louisette, who has lived here for 40 years, into perspective.
“I park my car at the neighbor’s house”
For her and her husband Jacky, it was impossible to get the car into the garden, under water. The pond at the bottom of his vast property has transformed into a small lake. So to get home, you have to take a specially designed passage through the garden of your neighbor Arlette. She did the same at the other end of her land for her other neighbor, Guénaëlle.
“We all get along very well here and there is great solidarity,” adds Louisette. If a basement is flooded, we will help. We’re not here to bicker.” “The postman came by this morning but had to turn back. A neighbor goes to collect mail for everyone at La Poste,” adds Arlette.
When the water rises, Guénaëlle has the key to the Arlette gate. “When I can no longer access my house, I park my car higher up, or in the garden. » For her, there is no question of being alarmed either. “We are philosophers. Basements are sometimes flooded, but we are used to it, the boiler was installed elsewhere, like the household appliances.” For them, there is no question of going to live elsewhere, and it is not the floods that will change anything. “Come here in the summer, it’s the good life.”
Up to 3.44 m in Pont-Réan
In winter, you have to deal with the vagaries of the weather. And winter 2025 should be a little tougher than usual. Vigicrues estimated that the waters of the Vilaine could rise up to 3.44 m for Thursday in Pont-Réan. Quite far from the record of 2001 however, when it rose to 4.75 m. An episode still vivid in the memory of the inhabitants of Gravier. “We had 1.30 m in the garage,” remembers Guénaëlle. Our fence had been knocked down by the pressure of the water and we had numerous pieces of dead wood in the garden. We had to park the cars on the other side of the railway line. We crossed the tracks with the kids to access the houses. It’s forbidden, but we had no choice. »
At the start of 2025, the inhabitants of Gravier will still have to cope. With philosophy. “Man is adaptable, it no longer freaks us out at all. »
France
