GR(R) DE PAYS DU PAYS NANTAIS

The communes to the north of the Loire are more hilly and wooded than those to the south, which are mainly devoted to market gardening and vineyards. From a geological point of view, the flatter area to the south has, over thousands of years, formed the Goulaine marshes and the Grand-Lieu lake; to the north, the more incised valleys are criss-crossed by small rivers, all of which flow into the Erdre, a major tributary of the Loire that divides the region in two. This major divide is reflected in the landscape and in the architecture of the buildings (for example, slate roofs in the north and tiled roofs in the south).