CSCC Reports 2013: French Alps - July 2013

 Fiona wanted to go back to the French Alps. It was about ten years since the last CSCC trip there. And reliable rivers, sun and fine food would be a Good Thing. Mark, Martin and Stephen were persuaded. None of us felt confident to lead the group, so we decided to hire a guide. After a few emails to different companies, Lowri from Flowfree was the most enthusiastic and grammatically sound.

Friday and Saturday: We decided we were too mature and responsible to drive through the night, and wanted to arrive in Briancon unstressed and in plenty of time for shopping. So we took a Friday morning ferry, and stayed the night somewhere in Burgundy, then drove on to Briancon. This plan would have been brilliant if someone hadn’t closed the road for a bike race – the Marmotte. As a result, we arrived with 30 minutes in the hypermarche to buy 2 days’ supplies, 15 of which were spent with the store manager shouting at us to go to the till.

Sunday: We met our guide, the famous Lowri Davies, who was still buzzing from being on CBBC on Saturday. She assessed our paddling needs and promptly took us to paddle a local swimming pool. To get there we had to make our way down the Lower Guil (G3-) and some Durance, and through a slalom course full of pointy boats. We then got off the water, had lunch, and put into the pool. The pool had a hole in it, down which we paddled and along a canal to get to the start of the slalom course. Here we played in some waves until the river filled with children in pointy boats and we left.


Dinner was Fi and Mark’s famous tuna pasta bake. Lowri joined us for dinner, so we didn’t have to put up with just each other’s conversation.

Monday: Woke up bright and early. Then back to sleep until 8. Today we paddled the Upper Guisane, which is grade 3 with one difficult bit. Martin and Stephen spent some time lizard-spotting while Fi and Mark memorised the S-bend rapid. Highlight for me was a beaming Japanese couple waving back enthusiastically from their balcony as we sped through the village afterwards. Lunch then a gentle bimble down the Durance from Briancon.


Dinner was lots and lots of cheese, in fondue form. The evening’s entertainment was to watch a gene17 kayaking DVD, so we all learnt to be Dynamic, and to keep stopping so that someone could colour in bits of the river to make them clearer.

Tuesday: A non paddling day. Instead we climbed for miles to Lumillouse, admired the scenery, drank coffee and beer, walked through clouds of flies, played poohsticks and threw a snowball, watched marmots and got soaked in the rain.


For dinner we abandoned our barbecue hopes, and grilled the sausages and burgers. Entertainment was some French culture, namely watching “Amelie” until we fell asleep.

Wednesday: A gentle paddle after all the walking. Down the Durance from the slalom course to Embrun. Bouncy grade 2/3 water, plus the Rabioux wave. We were 25% fine, 50% rolling, 25% self rescuing. We spent lunch watching people throw themselves through the wave on floats. We then paddled through a mountain thunderstorm for the rest of the river.


Dinner was Stephen’s star spag bog, using up some of the pasta we’d bought too much of. After Fi made everyone play taboo, including Lowri.

Thursday: A scenic paddle of the Upper Guil gorge, grade 3+. This was the best paddling, with lots of twisting round, over and through rocks. A man with a big beard and an inflatable boat made it look easy, though. We had a lovely finish at chateau Q with ice cream. We took a look at the Chateau Q gorge (G4+) but decided to leave it till next year.


Dinner was eating up the leftovers, followed by chocolate fondue. Entertainment was finishing Amelie from the point Mark had gone to bed.

Friday: All went our separate ways. Stephen got lost on the mountainside. Fi and Mark had a walk by the Onde. Martin did nothing until the afternoon when he and Stephen went for a look around Briancon fort.


Dinner was a slow-cooked pork casserole with the contents of the fridge thrown in, then the rest of the fondue. Entertainment was mostly packing, plus an episode of Yes Minister.

Saturday: We drove home. All the roads were clear, so we got an early train and got home in daylight.