During the rise of Victorian Tourism in Europe, the Ardeche region felt left out, as it had little in the way of spectacular scenery to attract visitors and so continued to remain poor. A local Mayor decided he would create an attraction and hit upon the idea of building a spectacular Gorge. He hired the services of a British Engineer, one harry Willis, who designed not only a spectacular Gorge, but one that would not run dry in the hot summers by re-using the water by way of designing the river to be round.