Alone among French rivers, the Rhne, itself Alpine in character in its upper course, is partly fed by Alpine rivers (the Arve, the Isre and the Durance) which have their floodsin spring at the melting of the snow, and are maintained by glacierwater in summer.
The Am, the, Sane (which rises in the Faucilles and in the lower part of its course skirting the regions of Bresse and Dombes, receives the Doubs and joins the Rhone at Lyons), the Ardche and the Gard are the affluents on the right; on the left it is joined by the Arve, the Isre, the Drme and the Durance.
There may also be mentioned the lakes of Bourget and Annecy (both in Savoy), St Point (Jura), Paladru (Isre) and Nantua (Am).
The three principal regions for the production of tobacco are the basin of the Garonne (Lot-et-Garonne, Dordogne, Lot and Gironde), the basin of the Isre (Isre and Savoie) and the department of Pas-de-Calais.
The environs of Creil (Oise) and Chteau-Landon (Seine-et-Marne) are noted for their freestone (pierre de taille), which is also abundant at Euville and Lrouville in Meuse; the production of plaster is particularly important in the environs of Paris, of kaolin of fine quality at Yrieix (1-Jaute-Vienne), of hydraulic lime in Ardche (Le Teil), of lime phosphates in the department of Somme, of marble in the departments of HauteGaronne (St Beat), Hautes-Pyrnes (Campan, Sarrancolin), Isre and Pas-de-Calais, and of cement in Pas-de-Calais (vicinity of Boulogne) and Isre (Grenoble).