The Arc Bridge

The main objective of this trip to the Ardèche is to go canoeing. And to achieve this, the best destination to put on the GPS is the Pont d'Arc, which is one of the meeting places of canoeists.

Arriving by the tourist road, we couldn't go to the Pont d'Arc without stopping for a few minutes on the arranged areas, to enjoy the different views that the region offers us. The views on the gorges are breathtaking.

A few minutes of driving later we arrived on the spot, at the foot of the Pont d'Arc. I keep saying it, we always feel very small and humble when the elements of nature are so imposing and massive.

The sight of this arch overcomes us. We leave in search of a rental agency to practice canoeing in our turn. You will have no difficulty to find a rental agency on the spot because of their number. I must admit that it is not easy to select one or to avoid another. The time to compare the prices and the activities proposed by each rental company, and we embarked in a vehicle which transported us a few kilometers upstream of the Ardèche.

We unloaded our canoes from the trailer, put on our life jackets, put our stuff in a waterproof container, and started our long awaited descent. It's hard to describe the feeling at that moment. We are on a mixture of pride, tiredness bound to the journey, reward, a feeling of humility and at the same time of intense joy. It is a big cocktail of emotions that accompanies the first strokes of the paddle. We take very quickly our cruising rhythm.

What we did not anticipate when we started our activity was that there would be dams all along the river. And to pass them, only one solution: to use the toboggans directly in canoe. You didn't know? Neither did we.

Another thing we didn't anticipate when we started our descent was that despite the almost constant calm of the river, there were going to be some passages that were a little more "sporty" shall we say. Be careful, I'm not talking about an Olympic descent either, but simply passages where the current implies a good control of the person in charge of guiding the boat to avoid exploding against small rocks, at the risk of tasting the water.

On the other hand, there were also some passages where the water was running out, which did not allow us to stay in the canoe. We had to put our feet on the ground and lift the canoe slightly until there was enough water to float properly.

During the descent, you will certainly be photographed by photographers scattered all along the river. Unlucky for us, at the arrival we didn't find the pictures of us. As for me, I preferred to keep the camera warm in its airtight can. Bad luck and river are rarely good for electronic devices.

The arrival is not far from the Pont d'Arc, in a landing zone dedicated to our rental agency. In reality, the agencies are spread out on the different gravel beaches to facilitate the recovery of their equipment. We do not escape the rule, and return our stuff in our turn, memories full the head.

If I had to summarize this descent, I would say that it was intense in emotions. As much by the elements as by the different steps we went through. The only "problem", and this article will not contribute to it, is that this activity is very touristic, and very requested. So to be "alone" it is missed. You will meet a lot of people on the river, although the departures are spaced.

However, it is to be done again, without hesitation!