\paperw4260 \margr0\margl0 \plain \qj\li105\ri195 \f1 \b The marsh of Poitou\par
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\b0 The marsh of Poitou covers 80,000 hectares (200,000 acres) between Niort and the Atlan
tic coast. Pieces of drained land lie alongside others traversed by innumerable canals, along which people travel on flat-bottomed boats. Here everything is a symphony of green, with the different shades of the foliage of poplars and beeches, of meadows
and gardens, of water lilies and the surface of the water itself. Its many vegetable and truck gardens produce onions of an extraordinary size.\par
