The Ardèche is a beautiful area in France where I have been quite a few times as a child. The area is good for hiking, but as well for Kayaking and swimming in the beautiful river.
A bit earlier this summer, I bought an inflatable kayak for some fun adventures on the water and this day was a perfect day to put some air in and see how it works out. It came with a pump and the paddles included. I found a parking as near to the river as possible and within a few minutes, the kayak was bloated and ready to go!
Before and after. I put the air in on the parking lot and could carry the paddles in my roll-top bag.
I was carrying it awkwardly and a man stopped and offered me a ride as he was heading to the campsite located directly at the river! Always nice to encounter nice strangers!
I threw my ship in the water and was surprised how comfortable it went! I peddled downstream but aware that I had to peddled back as well, therefore I didn't go to far. It felt so nice and so good to be out at the water! I felt like getting a kayak is a good choice and lots cheaper than renting all the time.
I put the kayak back on land to have a break before heading back. I put my feet out in the water and relaxed
Being out there made me feel like I wanted to take the long kayak tour, deflate it at the end and take the bus home with my kayak in a shopping bag but I couldn't as I left to late and my aim was to just see if it at least floats well. Besides, they predicted thunder and heavy rainfall so heading home too late did not sound wise. The next day I had to work again so doing it the next day wasn't possible as well, and I had to head down the next destination to meet Samuel, but I know I have a reason to come back here together with my awesome kayak!
After I while I arrived at a point where I could get my kayak at some "dead point" of the river in the shade, where it wouldn't drift away. I enjoyed the shade and just layed down for a while, with the kayak just going with the movement of the water*
When I looked up the sky, I saw beautiful birds flying over, on the hunt for some mouse or other snack. There are quite a lot of those birds here in France
After I returned at the starting point I felt burning hot, which makes it even nicer to jump in the water! The water was cold but nice and refreshing. I also talked with some family at the beach. They started to speak in Dutch about my kayak, that it looks so comfortable, not knowing that I was Dutch as well (even though I look so Dutch following most people).
After a really nice, relaxing day at the river, I went back to my campervan and drove to the parking lot of the Lidl supermarket, since it was free parking and unlike the river parking, it had good internet connection. Vanlife is good but not always beautiful like in social media, but sometimes I am happy to just enjoy some ugly supermarket parking lot. And it are the days like this one on the river which make it so worth it!
Thank you for reading my blog!
Regards,
Sascha