refou : thoroughly insane

La Belle-Nivernaise is the name of a barge engaged in freighting lumber from Nivernais to Paris through the Nivernais canal and the rivers Yonne and Seine. Nivernais, formerly a duchy of considérable importance and adjoining that of Burgundy, lies in the east central part of France. Nevers, its chief city and former capital, lies in its southem part on the Loire at the mouth of the little river Nièvre. It was a large fortified town even before the conquest of Gaul by the Romans. La Belle-Nivernaise v/as published in 1886.