2 Muse - Monnaie à Usage Solidaire et Écologique gabares sur la Loire

The Muse is a local complementary currency launched in the Creuse and Corrèze departments of the French Massif Central, designed explicitly to keep spending within a defined regional network of producers and traders committed to ecological and social criteria. Complementary currencies of this type operate legally in France under a framework that distinguishes them from legal tender — they cannot be used to pay taxes or debts, and participating businesses agree not to convert them back to euros beyond a capped rate.

The gabares referenced on this note are the flat-bottomed cargo boats that worked the Loire for centuries, a pointed piece of local memory for a currency whose whole purpose is rootedness.