An ode to paddling trips

Exploring the Loire without any constraints is no easy task. Even a grain of sand, which we imagine to be completely free, must come to a halt at the whim of the low water. Forming those delightful little dunes encountered, whether as ripples in the hollow bed of an old channel or as veritable little deserts of the Loire. There’s cycling along the Loire à Vélo route, the ‘traditional’ boats – which are currently virtually confined to their reaches – and day-long canoe trips in ‘season’, often in groups.

You can also, quite simply, walk down the Loire. And then there’s paddling trips.

An eco-friendly means of travel, along the river, close to the water, between its banks – this is what true freedom feels like. It is peaceful, with no set rhythm or time constraints; in short, the ultimate modern-day luxury.

Paddling trips, whatever the type of boat you use, are a great way to completely switch off after at least two nights. Spending the night on an island on the Loire is known as ‘‘bivouacking’ – a term that is not as strictly defined under the law as ‘camping’. It’s a name that tends to conjure up images of adventure, freedom and almost a sense of rebellion, with no numbered pitch on which to set up camp.

The Loire as seen from the river

Canoeing along the Loire is less of a hassle than in a Canadian national park! There’s no need to carry your own firewood, and the campsite isn’t declared to the authorities at the start of the outing…

Setting off on a canoe trip along the Loire for several days means experiencing, with each dip of your paddle, the ‘wilderness’ of the river, which many dismiss, claiming that, because ‘there are two large dams further upstream, the Loire is not a wild river’. If you’re still in any doubt, you should go on a winter kayaking trip down a mighty river, with its unrecognisable scenery, teeming with cubic metres of water, islands, islets and reopened channels. The Loire offers plenty of choice – ‘Which branch shall we take, the one on the left?’ – on wobbly watercraft, which tend to be overly colourful admittedly, but whose predecessors were probably the first identified floating objects on the river…

Jean-François Souchard
Loire photographer and founder of Canoë company