Canoeing on the Dordogne

Why not going canoeing from an hour to several days on France's rivers

Philippe Maury is a very brave man. He lent me his canoe and also a crew.

Photo: The Château de Montfort towers above a bend in the River Dordogne

He runs a canoe rental business on the Dordogne at Groléjac, 12km south of Sarlat. Here canoeing is popular. I could also have rented one on the Vezère, Tarn, Rhone, Ariège, Aude or the Loire.

But, of all the canoe companies in all the World, I happened to walk into Philippe’s, Canoê sans Frontière.

It was a quiet Saturday in September. There was no-one on the river and I needed pictures. Taking photographs of myself in a canoe seemed a little vain and bound to end in a ducking. So Philippe called up his son and daughter Nicolas and Julie.

Downstream from Groléjac, the Dordogne is the gentlest of rivers and ideal for families. In canoeing terms, its most demanding upper reaches are graded as easy. Anywhere below Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne in the Correze is dismissed by real canoeists as very easy. It's here throughout the Lot and Dordogne Départements that every bridge seems to have a canoe company nearby.

Almost anyone can do this, but companies ask that their clients can swim and that children be at least six years’ old. What they really mean is that they want people to be at home in the water and not panic.

Much of the time the river is shallow. Anyone going over the side can often walk ashore. Captain Jack Sparrow would be out of place here with his epic rowing boat voyages.


Photo: This canoe came complete with crew, Nicolas and Julie



I once took my hyperactive five year old son down the Vezère for the time of his life. Kids love rivers.

It’s the kingfishers that do it. Walk along the riverbank and you'll see at best a quick flash of fluorescent blue. But they have little fear of boats. Drifting with the current there’ll be more than you can shake a stick at.

Quite why you’d want to shake a stick at kingfishers, I don’t know, but you’ll find one every few hundred metres or so. Kingfishers, that is, not sticks. They’ll probably ignore you as being no help in catching fish.

Then there are the water voles, quietly going about their business under the banks.

You can stop at any time, beach the canoe, have lunch, sunbathe or swim, then continue the journey later. The Canadian-type canoes are stable and largely indestructible.

With Nicolas and Julie I spend an hour and a half cruising, stopping only to photograph the Château de Montfort which looks like a château should while overhanging the river. Landing a kilometre or so further on, I call Philippe and ask him to collect us or he won’t see the kids again.

Many canoe renters offer a range of tariffs covering an hour or two up to several days. The joys of mobile phones mean that you can call to be picked up where and when you choose.

Photo: Philippe Maury, nerves of steel, lends his canoes even to me

Philippe arrives after about ten minutes and returns us to base. Of course he does this for all his clients. But then, most of them don’t kidnap his family.

Many canoe companies rent from an hour to several days, catering for single clients, families or multiple canoes for group bookings . Some offer accompanied trips with a professional guide. Canoê sans Frontière can be contacted at 0033 (0)5 53 59 99 78 or at the link below this article

Related links :

• http://www.canoe-kayak-dordogne.fr/