A New Adventure in France

We really enjoyed our time at locations along various rivers last year and being able to kayak, paddle board and go on boat trips. As part of our planning for this year we looked into getting our own boats – inflatables – that we could transport in the trailer whilst in transit and in the campervan for days out, without taking up too much space. First plans were for an inflatable kayak, but Joe has hankered after something with a small engine – must be the petrolhead in him – and even he had to admit trying to fit an outboard on a kayak was not really practical, as well as looking ridiculous. So plans changed to a small-ish inflatable dinghy with an outboard for Joe and a stand-up paddle board (SUP) for Claire, both to be shared of course. Neither had been tried out beyond the lounge to date.

The Haute-Vienne region seems to be teeming with small lakes and étangs, although the majority are either private, for fishing only or inaccessible. Joe has looked longingly at every one of them, hoping for an opportunity to launch his boat. Fortunately there are some larger lakes in this region, although some of those are restricted to electric motors only – Joe’s is a non-environmentally friendly petrol outboard. For our first outing we set off to Lac de Vassivière, a huge man-made reservoir covering about 10 square kilometres and with the border of the Haute-Vienne and Creuse regions running through the middle and sitting on the Plateau de Millevaches. The journey there took us through quite different scenery with excellent roads and densely wooded hills, not dissimilar to the Harz Mountains in East Germany. Most of the border of the reservoir is protected from any development but there are some small villages and sites that have been developed for what we would consider low-key tourism.

We decided on the area of Vauveix which had a small marina and an adjacent small ‘beach’ area and where we had read it was ok to launch motorised boats. One kiosk selling snacks and drinks, public toilets and that was it. Given that we’re in the height of the French holiday period it was remarkably uncrowded. We inflated the dinghy very quickly by a small slipway adjacent to the sailing school, Joe attached the outboard, a push away from shore and he was off – smiles all round. We’d decided the maiden voyage was probably better tested with just one person, but we then tested it successfully with both of us. Lunch on the edge of the water by the marina and then we were on the water again venturing further afield, but barely scratching more than a small corner of this beautiful lake. First impressions are that the boat lives up to expectations and is very well suited for our purposes – with a 2.5hp engine it probably goes at moderate running pace. Joe, of course, would love something bigger and probably with patio doors!

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The next day we decided to try another lake, nearer to the house, but this one doesn’t allow motorised boats. Lac de Saint-Pardoux is another beautiful artificial lake in the Haute-Vienne region covering approximately 300 hectares and one of the most visited destinations in the region. It has 3 locations where it is possible to access the lake and we chose Site de Chabannes which is focussed simply on nature activities. Another well set up, unspoiled and uncommercialised location with a small beach swimming area and sailing school. We installed ourselves under the shade of a large tree with direct access to the lake edge. From there we were able to inflate Joe’s dinghy and the paddle board. This time Joe used his boat with oars instead of the engine. The SUP also lived up to expectations and looks like it will provide lots of fun at other river locations we have planned.