Kayaking on the Ardèche - Le Pont d'Arc

Hello dear sailors,

You probably already notice it, because I keep showing you here how much the water attracts me, but I'll write it to you again: I'm a water rat!

That's why I decided to take the 13km medium kayak tour on the Ardèche. Here, there is the opportunity to use 4 kayak slides and also to drive through the Pont d'Arc Ardèche at the end. A stone bridge that has been 'eaten' into the rock by the river over several years.

So get up early, have some cereal for breakfast, and off you go on a wild ride.

So first in the wrong direction, because I forgot to enter the house number in Google Maps. Luckily, I always have some buffer in my planning to compensate for such situations. So the detour of 20 minutes was still okay, and I made it to the organiser in time. However, what became clear to me on this detour was: Damn! It's going to be really crowded on this river. And what can I say, I was not mistaken. Of the approximately 25 kayak providers, every boat was booked on this Sunday. So, after getting my equipment, being taken 5 km upstream, and finally being on the water, I had only one goal - to get to a nice spot near the passage as quickly as possible, to leave the not-so-fit and somewhat lost souls on the river behind me and to have as much peace as possible.

That worked quite well on the river, but it was really crowded at all the meeting points. And if someone wants to learn what 'left' and 'right' mean in French, go kayaking. I rarely heard so much 'Excuse me!' 'To the left!' and 'To the right!'. It was chaos of boats and paddles. At each slide and rapid, there was a photographer who indicated with an approving nod and a thumbs-up how well one did it for a tourist and who made one feel special!

CAUTION TRAP!

But after taking a look back and watching the photographers during my break, I had to admit to myself that my athletic success was mediocre because the photographers are like bobbleheads, giving every tourist the feeling of being an extraordinary kayak talent. On the one hand, understandable because they want to sell their photos, and on the other hand, it diminishes the feeling when you take a look back. However, in retrospect, I was extremely satisfied with my kayaking experience and also mastered the sections without assistance.

But Happy Me also raised the paddle too late on one of the slides, hit myself in the head with the paddle, and even ripped off my hat. With an unbridled will to paddle, I fought against the current, moving like a duck in the water, and fished it out of the raging water. (A little bit of luck may have been involved too!)

I told you: raging waters.

Between relatively deep river sections, there were also not so deep sections where I was glad to be alone in a kayak, as my draft was just enough not to get stuck. Unlike the 2- and 3-seaters, which regularly blocked the river and the passages, and turned into a true disaster of standing/pushing people, paddles, and sitting tourists gesticulating wildly. On the other hand, it was also quite funny to watch this spectacle.

Before the passage, I treated myself to a short swimming and lunch break. I must say, I felt the 13km in my arms, and even a day later, I had a slight muscle soreness. It was important to paddle evenly but not too powerfully and deeply.

After that, I went through the stone arch. Someone was doing DWS here, and I was a bit envious because I would have liked to climb around here too. However, since I still had to paddle to the endpoint, I saved my strength and continued on my way.

I took the liberty of cropping all the tourists out of the photo (except for one head).

After completing the tour, I took a shuttle bus back to my vehicle(s) and then headed towards Avignon. I spent the midday heat in the car and later in the evening, I explored the city. But I will show you what I saw and experienced there in my next post.

Until then, ahoy river and have a good ride!

Yours, Britta