Loire Valley In 2000, UNESCO added the central part of the Loire River valley to its list of World Heritage Sites. The valley includes historic towns such as Amboise, Angers, Blois, Chinon, Montsoreau, Orléans, Saumur, and Tours. The climate is favorable most of the year, the river often acting as a line of demarcation in France's weather between the northern climate and the southern. The river has a significant effect on the mesoclimate of the region, adding a few degrees of temperature. The climate can be cool with springtime frost while wine harvest months may have rain. Summers are hot; however, influences
Loire Turner, Gustave Courbet, Auguste Rodin, Félix Edouard Vallotton, Jacques Villon, Jean-Max Albert, , , and Jean Chabot. Garrett, Martin, The Loire: a Cultural History. 2010, Signal Books. "Pays de la Loire, waterways guide No. 10", Editions du Breil. pp 8–27, for the navigable section (guide in English, French and German) Loire The Loire (; ; ) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains an area of , or more than a fifth of France's land area, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhône.