Päddling in France

After a long sleep in in the middle of Geneva we continued to France and driven by the hunger for a french croissant and a coffee we left the highway at a random spot and found a nice bakery where we got a good coffee. Convinced by the nice view and the good reviews for the nearby camp ground we decided to stay for a night here in Aix-les-Bains. When we drove to a camp ground near the lake I had strong deja vu…. in fact it was so strong that I realised that I have been here before on my first ever trip with Rosi, back than with my sister and her boyfriend. The camp ground was pretty empty and really nice, especially because it had a washing machine and we really had to wash all our ski clothes what we did. At the same time we cleaned Rosi from the inside which was necessary as well. We had a few nice walks at the nearby lake and got some childhood flashbacks while walking over the small local fair. 

During all that time I was in contact with Pascal, who had visited us at the Kaunertaler glacier. Pascal is not only crazy for snow, he also enjoys the water in the liquid state while paddling through rivers. And while we were in Aix-les-Bains, he was close to the Ardeche at a small camp ground with a bigger crowd from his local paddling club. He invited us to join, because they planned to paddle a not so rough part of the Ardeche the next days and since it was pretty much on our way, we decided thankfully to follow that invite. The tiny camp ground Camping de la Digue was full of germans and clearly paddling was the main activity here, since there were boats everywhere. We got a nice spot next to group, which was mainly part of the paddling club Bonn (Verein für Kanusport Bonn, VKB). People from Bonn and in general from the Rhine area are know to be open and inviting and the VKB crowd was no exception. Everyone was really nice, open and friendly. We felt like in a big group camping vacation and after one of the guys were playing Danger Dan on the guitar, we knew that we are at the right spot. 

The next morning we left early to the Ardeche, where Pascal had organised some boats for us and a few other that did not have a boat with them. We got some big floaty canoes that felt very stable and were happy about that. I had no idea what to expect, but Pascal had always said that it will not be too heavy but pretty long…. so we were relaxed. All of us were wearing wetsuits since the day might become long and cold from the water and I am happy that we did so…. Some frenchies that passed us were only wear shorts and bikinis and I was freezing only looking at them. 

The nature of the valley was breathtaking and it included a huge arc that we paddled through, the pont d’arc. The river itself was really not too wild. Every now and than there were a few wilder passages, but our rental tankers just floated through without any problem. Some of the VKBlers with their tiny and way more unstable boats had more problems and every now and than someone capsized and fell in the water. But Pascal and a few others were really experienced in rescuing and each capsizing only followed a short water drainage for the boat and than we continued. After a long and beautiful day of paddling and a really cold ass (since I was sitting in water all the time) we arrived and were brought back to the start. In the evening we all ate pizza together at the camp ground. We are really grateful that Pascal invited us and we joined in on this nice adventure. We really liked the camp ground and stayed two days more, just to relax, join a canoe rescuing theoretical lesson, played table tennis and also some boule. The VKB crowd had their last evening and later we joined in on some drinks and more guitar music and singing and the next day most of the people left back home, while we drove to the little village of Les Vans that was recommended to us by the lovely camp ground lady. Thanks again to the KVB for the great hospitality.

In the village of Les Vans there was the weekly market which was attracting tourists and locals alike. The products looked all amazing and we left with some bread, a selection of cheese, sausages and creme de marron. 10 min outside of the village we found a nice parking spot and had an incredible tasty french brunch. You can say what you want about the french, but they know how to create the most amazing food for sure. 

Our next goal was Spain, but somehow we decided again really spontaneous, that we wanted to visit Carcassone. Maybe because the old village resided us of the middle age and we wanted the real middle age experience or just because Linda had played the Carcassone board game a lot as a child and finally had the chance to see the real place. We found a nice camper van spot in walking distance of the old town and went to bed early to explore the old castle the next day.

The next morning we made our way into the city and „collected“ some geo caches on the way. Carcassone is the name of the modern town, while the name of the medieval city is la cité. It is now a UNESCO world cutural heritage site and used to be a border town to the Aragon kingdom in the past. It was renovated in detail in the 19th century by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc. The pure size of this town is incredible and even for nowaday standards it is really impressive. It must have been breathtaking in medieval times. The condition of the town is really good and you can circumvent it completely on the walls. We booked a ticket for the castle and did the full tour. Different than Machu Pichu, you had some information plates with information about the functions of the different towers, walls and rooms and also some information about the different stages of the development of the fortified walls. I really liked it and think it was interesting and impressive what has been built such a long time ago. The city itself was very touristy but still it had a medieval charm to it and I am happy that we made the little detour before we continued to Spain the next morning.

All in all we loved our time in France this time. The infrastructure for camper vans is incredibly good and unlike our last experiences all the French people were really nice and friendly and many spoke English or German. We felt really bad with our non existing French language skills.