Argenton Sur Creuse is a small town in the South of the Centre-Val-de-Loire. Some have compared this adorable rural town to Italy's Venice, due its picturesque placement along the banks of the River Creuse. Its winding cobbled lanes around its thriving marketplace make this town livelier than many expect from the heart of rural France. The town's old medieval houses have been well preserved.

As Argenton Sur Creuse is surrounded by green hills it's a perfect place to take a relaxing break or a satisfying retirement. The area is great for those who enjoy outdoor pursuits

The nearest airport is in Limoges, which operates direct flights from the UK Although Poitiers and Tours Airport are not to far away either and so there is plenty of scope for those looking for the cheapest flights. The Brenne of 1,000 lakes

The Brenne has in fact have over one-thousand lakes and ponds just between Lancosme Forest to the east, La Claise and the Preuilly forest to the north, and the Creuse River to the south. They drain the surrounding land, provide a supply of water and improve the yield of the poor land by permitting fish farming. The ponds are not natural, but they have created an exceptionally interesting and complementary natural environment that hosts an abundance of plant and animal life.

The Creuse Valley

The 56 km stretch of the Creuse breaks up the landscape south and west of central Brenne. It winds from Saint-Gaultier to Nions, through wood and sunny limestone hills and ajoining cliffs. Several castles from the Middle Ages, abbeys, and especially many windmills line the banks. But in the Creuse Valley, as in central Brenne, nature is king. In the spring the river surface dresses up in green and white water crowfoot. Still as a statue, the stocky grey and white night heron waits for a fish unlucky enough to catch its eye. The calopteryx, a stunning dragonfly, weaves elegant arabesques while the kingfisher breaks the surface of the water. In the underbrush, the bilobate daffodil covers the moss in blue. More rare, the martagon lily has taken up residence in the heart of the forest on the limestone hills. The grain fields, which neighbour the goat farms, near Pouligny-Saint-Pierre, are the playground of the eagle owl, stone curlew and Montagu's harrier

Pond Flora and Fauna.

Floating vegetation has taken over the pond surface: paspalum, yarrow and pond-weed vie with water lily pads and limnanthaceas. This biotope is rich. Ducks take advantage of it, particularly during their reproductive cycle. Great crested and black necked grebes, black terns and whiskered terns nest here The reed beds and willow stands ring the ponds with a thick girdle of reeds, reedmace, club rushes, bull rushes, sedges and willows. They provide cover for teal nests while mallards and pochards love to swim through them; they provide nesting areas for the bittern, as well as the reed warbler, the marsh-harrier, the purple heron, the reed bunting, the tufted duck and many others. The willow stands around the reed beds are an impenetrable wall that protect the nesting heron colonies. The mud flats, visible when the water level drops in summer or when the ponds are emptied to harvest the fish, feed thousands of tiny swamp creatures. The plovers, godwits, peewits, sandpipers, and snipes gorge themselves on worms, molluscs and crustaceans. The prairies and fields, drenched in spring and autumn, and dry in summer, play host to such prestigious migratory guests as cranes and wild geese. In the spring, there is a diversity of flora, with over 50 species, including the ragged robin, rock-rose and many orchids provide a brilliant touch of colour. Finally, the heaths, scrubs, woods, hedgerows and forests provide other ecosystems near the ponds, over which the "buttons", 10-m high sandstone outcrops seem to stand guard.

The Chirine nature preserve.

Just 2 km from Saint-Michel-en-Brenne, the Chirine nature preserve, on 144 ha, of which 40 are covered by water, reproduces the diversity of the wildlife in the la Brenne including ponds, prairies, heaths, woods and willow bogs. Its ponds harbour several types of endangered herons as well as ducks, harriers, reeds, frogs, dragonflies, etc. Its copses and forests harbour boar and deer, sparrows and birds of prey. Introduction of native horses from Camargue and wild oxen, also called Castas, maintain the land of the preserve and make it more hospitable for some plant species, such as orchids. The preserve is also a wonderful place to observe the European pond tortoise.

The Beauregard learning trail.

It borders the Beauregard pond. Signposts guide the strollers and teach them about the different species of plant and animal life. A walk over a heath covered with different varieties of heather leads to the pond enclosed by its reed beds. It is easy to distinguish the cat's-tail because of its brown tapered fruit and the phragmite reeds that put up tall round stalks that can reach 2.50 m in length, to see black-headed gulls, reed-harriers, ducks, herons ...

MiziHres-en-Brenne.

The traditional capital of the Brenne of the ponds is built on the banks of the Claise. The round tower which now houses the fish-farming museum and the local history museum is the last vestige of the feudal castle mentioned in a 10th century charter. The Church of Saint-Marie-Madeleine from the 16th and 17th centuries still has the original stained glass windows from the 16th century. Nearby Bellebouch pond (125 ha) is known for its water sports activities.

The La Haute-Touche animal park.

Owned by the National Museum of Natural History, the park has a scientific mission and performs high-level experiments to safeguard endangered species. The public can safely observe over one-thousand animals in semi-liberty, including: wallabies, lemurs, zebras, antelopes, Canadian timber wolves and an unrivalled herd of deer.