Quercy is a former province of France but is now considered as one of its departments. It is situated in the southwest portion of France. Perigord and Agenis surround this place on the west, on the north by Limousin, on the south by Languedoc and Gascony as well as on the east by Auvergne and Rouergue.  

Quercy is a former country and region and SW France is now separated from Lot as well as the Tran-et-Garone deparments.  Charos is its the main city. A large portion of this land contains arid limestone plateaus cut by fertile valleys of the Averryon, Lot and Dorgone River.  Sheep racing is the main activity in Causses. The popular Rocamadour cheese, which is popular in thid department, is made from sheep milk. From the Gallo-Roman origin, Quercy becomes a fief of the counts of Toulouse. It was savagely challenged throughout the Hundred Years War.  After the war, it was united with the French crown and the Guienne province.

History

Vendee is a French territory that is originally called Bas-Poitou. It is part of the earlier province of Poitou. In the south-east corner, the Nieul-sur-l’Autise village is supposed to be the birthplace of the famous Eleanor of Aquitaine. Richard 1 of England based himself in Talmont and she is a son of Eleanor. The Hundred Year War in Vendee turned much into a battleground.

Since Vendee held a large number of powerful Protestants controlled by Jeanne d’Albert, the region is really crushed by the French’s Regional Wars which made them penniless in the year 1562 and continued up until the year 1589. Finally King Henri IV released the “Edict of Nantes” and the wars finally came in the end. During the year 1685 the Edict of Nantes is revoked and it caused a lot of Huguenots to escape from Vendee.

Rhone possesses one of the main rivers of Europe that runs throughout France and Switzerland.  Lyon is the wonderful capital city of both Rhone and the Rhone-Aples region.
Rhone acts as a significant road during the Roman times. Up until the 19th century, passengers traveled in “coches d’eau” by means of horses or under sail. Most travelers sail around Rhone with a tinted cross covered as a religious sign for protection against the hazards of the journey.

The trade on the upper river used the “bargues du Rhone” sailing barges. This sailing barge measures 30 meters by 3.5 meters with a 75-tonne capacity. As many as 80 horses were even employed in order to haul trains of 7 craft up streams.
Hence, the first untried steam boat was constructed at the place of Lyon by Jouffroy d’Abbans in the year 1783. The passengers of steam vessels are about 90 to 100 meters long and run at a speed of 25 kilometers per hour.