This is an open forest along the Allier river. On the foreground there is a thistle, Carlina vulgaris. The river Allier is known as a reference river in Western Europe. The river has still a very natural course between it's source and the place where it joins the Loire. It is still a natural dynamic ecosystem, with natural sandy and stony gravel river banks, seasonally flooded forests and graslands.The course of the river changes anually, due to the high dynamic of the river. Big trees close the the river banks sometimes fall into the water and finally land on the stony beaches. Some of the surroundings are semi-natural grazed landscapes. The pictures were taken in a nature reserve between Moulins and Vichy. Most of the pictures were made close to Chatel-de-Neuvre.