Summer Holidays

This year i managed to convince the family that a holiday in the French Alps was a good idea!

We booked our main campsite, next to the Alp d'Heuz 21 hairpin Tour de France Climb. (Went up in the car - not crazy enough to cycle up!12 miles of constant up hill stuff)

The weather was good, hot during the day and cool at night, and then the alcohol was cheap. Perfect.

Then the rivers!

Fast moving, wide, powerful and "silty" (The milky colour is due to the deposits it picks up on the way down). I had just forgotten how cold they are......5degrees C or less.

We were not in the main French Alps paddling area, and neither was it the main paddling seasion out there (Mid May- 1st week in July), so it wasn't full of English tourists.......

The main river paddled was the Venon.....pictures attached - this is Alpine gd2 / 3. As i was on my own (Lance didn't paddle out there) , I teamed up with with some local instructors.

I was hoping to finish off the holiday with a grade 4/5 but unfortunately the section (below a hydro-dam) was unrunable until the day before we left, and on that day one of the instructors was celebrating his birthday.

If you wish to go out there let me know - they also do rafting, canyoning, climbing.....etc

Also out there did lots of walking, including 2 walks going from 700m (above sea level) to 1800m......very tiring, but great views!

On the way back it was demeed essential that we had a stop over in the Champagne region, were we did 2 cave tours on one day.....unfortunately i was driving (So debs had most of my champagne as well!)