Canoeing on the Dordogne

We have had a lot of rainy days on this trip but today we were lucky. It was an absolutely beautiful fall day. We went canoeing 19 kilometers down the Dordogne River from the Grolejac Bridge to the Vézac bridge. The company we rented the canoe from was called Canoe sans Frontière.

This part of the Dordogne is peaceful with cliffs, woods, and fields
Getting ready to put the canoe in the river
The first bridge.

The river was high and flowing quite fast so we didn’t have to paddle much. We only saw one other canoe. It was a peaceful and relaxing trip. We saw three large chateaus towering over the river as we paddled by.

Chateau de Montfort
Another view of Chateau de Montfort
Most of the river seemed to be inhabited only by the birds.

About two hours into our trip we stopped to stretch and have a snack at La Roque Gageac, a village right next to the river.

La Roque Gageac
La Roque Gageac

The owner of the canoes told us to call him as we were leaving the village and he would meet us after the second bridge about thirty minutes later. the second chateau of the trip appeared as we went around the next curve in the river.

Château de Castelnaud

The final chateau was overlooking the spot where we took the canoe out of the water.

Chateau de Beynac

As the owner drove us back to the start in his van we got to practice our French as he told us when each chateau was built, how many fish are in the river and how high the water is because of all the rain.

The van going back to our car.
Our van driver and I think owner of the canoes.

Author: marionvermazen

I am a traveler, hiker, avid reader, Sun alumnus, computer geek, Spanish and French language student, knitter and genealogist. I am retired after working for almost 30 years in the Computer Industry. I live in Reno, Nevada with my husband Duke.

8 thoughts on “Canoeing on the Dordogne”

  3. That really looks like fun. So glad you had a beautiful day to canoe. Is this something you had arranged in advance? Are you able to communicate pretty well in French or some people able to speak English?

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    1. Duke read about it in Rick Steves. He emailed them the day before but that is all. I’m getting along in French. I’ve managed to make reservations for dinner by phone all in French a couple of times. But I’m still a very long way from Duke’s Spanish skills. Most people speak some English but I think they find it stressful to try. But we have managed.

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  4. A very cool time to take a trip on a canoe but with all your backroad trips, I thought you would paddle the backwaters as well ha ah. Well done Duke Lewis and Marion Clark.

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  6. Pingback: Bordeaux to Domme – Marion's Blog

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