Monday 20 January 2014

Green River Canoes: Ardeche & Tarn

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12 Days Canoeing in the South of France

This is a fully guided Inn-to-Inn canoe trip on several rivers in the Ardeche and Tarn regions.

On this trip we canoe on the Gardon, the Ceze, the Chassezac and the Ardeche in the Ardeche region and on the Tarn in the Tarn region of south-east France. We shall explore the Gorges and Mountains of both the Ardeche and the Cevennes which are still relatively remote, even to this day.

Have a look at the full day-to-day schedule and the places we stay.

This trip is also described in an online brochure (also downloadable).

The rivers in the Ardeche flow eastwards towards the Rhone river which itself then flows south to the Mediterranean. The Chassezac is a tributary of the Ardeche. Each of these rivers in the Ardeche flow through deep and dramatic gorges in limestone country.

The Gardon, Ceze and Chassezac are calm rivers with easy paddling through beautiful scenery. The Ardeche provides a little more excitement with Class 2 and 3 rapids. These rapids are short however and the river provides plenty of easy water between them.

When we cross over to the Tarn we canoe in a river which flows westwards towards the Atlantic. The Tarn also flows through a dramatic limestone gorge and is famously known for its beautifully clear and green waters. The first two days on this river provide easy paddling whilst the third day provides more excitement with some rapids to contend with.

In-between the canoeing days we shall hike on the parts of the long-distance trail known as the GR70 - the famous Robert Louis Stevenson Trail. The author walked this way more than 100 years ago to see for himself how the Hugenots (Protestants) survived in a largely Catholic country. The walk is renowned for the difficulty he experienced in dealing with his donkey 'Modestine'.

We shall also walk through the peculiar region called the 'Chaos of Montpelier', which has been eroded into many curious geological shapes.

Of course throughout we shall stay at remote and beautiful places and enjoy the regional cuisine and the local wines.





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