France June '09

After going to Val Sesia last summer, I decided this year to go back to the French Alps to see was the paddling as good as I'd remembered. I had previously paddled there four years ago, and had memories of sunshine, warm water, and fast fast rivers.
The first week there was rain most evenings, and fresh dustings of snow on the mountains out the window every morning, which meant that the middle and gorge sections on the Guil were too high for us to run, but there were plenty of other options to keep us going. I also got plenty of new rivers in, including the Gyr, the Claree and the Fournel. The UCC / WIT boatercross on the Fournel could become an annual event, well worth it if only for the look of horror on the spectators faces!

By the second week the weather had cleared up, giving good sunny days and plenty of meltwater in the rivers. We took the odd day off as the bones were starting to get weary, spending one day hiking up to the old fort at Briancon, watching a cycling race come through the town, and eating crepes and ice cream. All good - we even got to see a crash involving two of the cyclists and a motorbike, and of course we cheered for the one Irish racer (recognisable by the shamrocks on his bum!)

We also spent quite a few evenings at the slalom course in L'Argentierre. Sean who was with us is training for the Wildwater Racing world championships in the Autumn, so we all had a go of the wibbly wobbly wonder boat, and watched him tearing down the course.

A nice relaxing holiday overall, and I'll hopefully be back soon. I'm back at work three weeks now and given the choice I'd definitely rather still be in France!