South France July 24

We started planning our trip to France in March. The initial plan was to go to the Briancon area to paddle some of the easier sections in that area. Most of the people who came to France last year were up for another trip and had improved by paddling a lot since the last trip. Unfortunately due to injuries and job committments we had several people dropping out. News from the Briancon regarding very high water levels and the new make up of the group meant that we decided to move the trip from Briancon to the two white water courses near Lyon and some of the rivers south of Lyon. We were down to four of us from an initial group of eight. We had booked a very luxurious chalet, (hot tubs etc), in the Briancon area but had to cancel and camp instead!

We set off on the Friday shuttle crossing and drove south to Angres to stay in an Airbnb. Saturday was spent driving down to Isle de la Serre course just East of Lyon. We had visited the course last year and had enjoyed it. We camped at the course which is Grade 2-3. The next two days, (Sunday and Monday), were spent on the course. It has a fairly large drop half way down followed by a short section with several stoppers. Having consulted River App we decided to go to the Allier, which although low was paddleable. Most of the rivers in this area were low in contrast to the rivers in the Briancon area which are fed mainly by snow melt and were running at dangerously high levels. Several fatalities had occcured in the weeks beforehand.

We spent two days on the Allier. The first one was on the Prades to Chanteuges section, (Grade 2+). We had paddled this section last year but this time we managed to locate the correct get out on a free campsite. The section is very scenic and easy. It took us just under 3 hours to complete. After consulting the local rafting company about the river level we decided to do the harder section from Montisrol to Prades, (Grade 3-(3+)). They were running a trip down this section so there was sufficient water to paddle it. It was the same length as the previous day at 10km. However we did not know this section and we needed to scout a lot of sections as we could not see the lines from the river. As a result it took us an extra two hours to do the same distance! We had planned to drive Northwards to the other white water course near Lyon,(St Pierre de Bouef), that evening but were too tired to do so.

We drove to St Pierre de Bouef on Thursday morning. We arrived at midday and had a quick look at the course before getting on. I had paddled this a very long time ago and could only remember one feature, (a powerful stopper). I think it had changed a lot. It was very busy with rafts, hydrospeed, kayaks, playboats, rafts. It is a great course to practise on, (Grade 2-3). The start has a largish drop followed by some largeish waves. It is long enough to find a space to play on by surfing on waves or making slalom gates etc. You could draw out a run to about an hour by playing a lot or just run the lot in about 10 mins! Overall it is a great facility. Paddlers in Lyon are lucky to have two such courses in close proximity. They are also more river like than Lee Valley or CIWW with rocks rather than blue plastic drums. Jonathon and Jayne left on the Friday evening in order to get back early. Paddy and Tim paddled again on the Saturday and met up with Agathe, an old BCC member, who now lives in Lyon. She had given us ideas and local information about paddling nearby.

In summary, it was a shame that we had so many people dropping out of the trip but we had a great time. It was wise to move from the Briancon area as the rivers levels were too high. 2 days at each of the white water courses was ideal. The Allier and surrounding area is scenic and provided some good paddling.