Kayak Across France

Sea-to-sea kayaking adventures on the French canals and rivers, by tandem kayak. For a little contrast, and so you can laugh a little at others' misfortunes, Foster has included stories from his 1978 journey across France from the English Channel to the Mediterranean. This crazy spur of the moment escapade, in late winter, inspired the second. The main story is about crossing France in balmy late summer, through wine country, from the oyster farms of the Mediterranean to the oyster markets of the Atlantic Ocean.Imagine floating, shaded from the September sunshine by an avenue of plane trees that arch overhead. Reflections of breeze-tickled-leaves, and pale dappled bark, flicker on the water. Here is a waterside café for coffee and croissants. Nearby, an open market for fresh produce. Located enticingly close beside the canal: vineyards, and wineries, and chateaux offering wine tasting. Cafes and restaurants serve local cassoulets and flans. French cheeses and fresh-baked baguettes are just a stroll away. As the evening light mellows, there is time to find a cozy camping spot right beside the water before the sun sets, glowing between the trees. The warm creamy sandstone of the canal architecture glows. Soon, owls call from the trees beneath a fat moon.The Canal du Midi, built in the 1660s, follows an ancient overland route, later paved by the Romans as the Via Domitia and Via Aquitaine. The area oozes history, from Phoenician to Roman, from the Medieval crusade against the Cathars to the punitive chevauchées of the English Black Prince. There are cities too: the medieval fortified town of Carcassonne, the rose city of Toulouse, and the pearl of Aquitaine, Bordeaux. Join Nigel Foster and Kristin Nelson as they climb, lock by lock, from the Mediterranean to the parting of the waters and descend to the Atlantic, in an adventure both charming and insightful.

"A staple for paddlers.... [The Packraft Handbook has] now become the bible for outdoor recreators taking their inflatable rafts into the backcountry." ― Anchorage Daily News 2021 National Outdoor Book Award Winner in Outdoor Adventure Guides 2022 Banff Mountain Book Competition Guidebook Winner Alaska-based author is a leading expert on wilderness travel Emphasis on skill progression and safety applies to wide range of outdoor water recreation Vibrant illustrations and photos inform and inspire The Packraft Handbook is a comprehensive guide to packrafting, with a strong emphasis on skill progression and safety. Readers will learn to maneuver through river features and open water, mitigate risk with trip planning and boat control, and how to react when things go wrong. Beginners will find everything they need to know to get started--from packraft care to proper paddling position as well as what to wear and how to communicate. Illustrated for visual learners and featuring stunning photography, The Packraft Handbook has something to offer all packrafters and other whitewater sports enthusiasts.

This is the second edition of the popular paddling guidebook, "White Water Massif Central" - newly researched, completely updated, and given a more focussed, title. It is written for the recreational canoeist, kayaker, or stand up paddle boarder going on holiday to the South of France. Rivers include the famous Gorges du Tarn, Gorges de l'Ardeche, Dordogne and Lot, besides some lesser known jewels such as the Allier, Herault, Orb, Vezere and Cele. The Massif Central is renowned for its canoeing and the rivers in this guidebook are some of the best in the world for canoe-camping. This guide book targets those rivers that have easy white water and assured water levels in the summer months of July and August, when most families have to take their holidays. New dams, reservoirs, and guaranteed water releases means that canoe tourism is now huge in the Massif Central and this guide covers over 800km of class 1-3, with all the details needed for a fabulous and truly escapist, holiday. There are two new rivers, 22 detailed colour maps, updated river descriptions, recommended campsites and lots of inspiring photographs.

In this beautifully illustrated guide to travelling across France by bike you will discover hidden lanes, stunning gorges, amazing places to eat and stay, plus the best of French cycling culture.

"You paddled across the Atlantic?" Exclaimed a French villager upon learning that this young American couple had just paddled up the raging Rhone River. This was a typical encounter for J. Stannard Baker (Stan) and his wife Fran. It was 1931, and they were on a four-month-long paddling adventure through eight countries in depression-era Europe. They paddled their Canadian canoe through France and Switzerland. For most French it was their first encounter with a canoe, and they thought these Americans were crazy. When the canoe was accidentally destroyed, they bought a German folding kayak and joined Germans in their kayaking adventures. They then continued padding through Austria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Holland, and Belgium. This book recounts their adventures in fascinating detail--leisurely canal paddling, hitching tows behind horse-drawn barges, enduring terrifying whitewater and having a nearly fatal steamboat encounter. They camped on river or canal banks, in farmers' fields, stayed in German canoe club hostels, and explored villages and cities. All provided humorous encounters with locals so richly described here. Baker and his wife captured stunning photographs and took copious notes. They recorded every fact, figure, and engaging encounter. This remarkable and historically important first-person account, takes you back in time and deep into the hearts of the peoples of Europe before transatlantic encounters were common. It is now available to the public for the first time.

Bradt’s Paddling France is the first practical guidebook to explore the whole country by SUP (stand-up paddleboard), canoe and kayak – waterborne activities enjoying a popularity boom. Experienced paddleboarder, travel writer and local resident Anna Richards has toured the country’s rivers, lakes and coasts to handpick 40 outstanding itineraries for water-based exploration that suit all abilities from novice to expert, enabling readers to experience Metropolitan France as never before! Suggested routes extend from Brittany to the Spanish and Italian borders, and encompass some of France’s best-known tourist attractions – from the châteaux of the Loire Valley and Mont Saint-Michel to the Pont du Gard and Dune du Pilat – as well as less familiar destinations such as Der-Chantecoq Lake, Txingudi Bay and the Glénan Islands. Itineraries occupy dramatically varied landscapes: choose between paddling past coastal cliffs, small islands and steepling gorges, across twinkling lakes and down sparkling rivers, through wine regions, and even around urban surprises such as Lille’s five-point citadelle. Compared to the UK, paddleboarding is in its infancy in France, but hundreds of paddleboard clubs have opened in recent years. Join its members in experiencing a new take on France. Enjoy spectacular views of some of the country’s grandest châteaux; spot seals, beavers and griffon vultures from the water; and choose between paddling a lake in a red landscape that will make you feel you have landed on Mars, or gawping upwards at chalky-white cliff arches. Whatever your level of confidence on the waterways, there are suggestions for you: from free paddles without a fixed route, to short routes and routes taking a full day. Routes are marked on maps and illustrated by photos, and complemented by cultural, historical and geographical titbits. Accompanying information and advice is geared towards the independent traveller, covering travel logistics, equipment rental, accommodation options and food, plus handy vocabulary and need-to-know sections. Building on the intense commercial and critical success of Bradt’s Paddling Britain, this brand-new guidebook to Paddling France is a unique almanac that equips any watersports enthusiast travelling to or around France with all the practical knowledge necessary to plan their adventure.

What makes travel special? Perhaps the chill realization that a polar bear's eyes are fixed on you. Maybe it is the chance meeting with a man who buries sharks in a beach, only to dig them up months later, not out of morbid curiosity, but for food. Perhaps it is the undulating wing-beat of a dark shell-less gastropod in the canal of a 17th Century French sea port, or the criminal history of a rusting ship with a tree growing from its hold.Encounters in a Kayak brings the reader along on the magical experiences that surround sea kayaking. It’s about the animals, people, and special places around the globe that have grabbed the attention of renowned kayaker and writer Nigel Foster. His irrepressible curiosity drives him to tease out the unexpected stories hidden behind his subjects. These nuggets from around the world are bound together by water and a centuries-old form of sea travel: kayak. The result is a book of broad appeal for those interested in kayaking, traveling, and adventure.

Temagami, located in northern Ontario (five hours north of Toronto by car) is a world-renowned canoe tripping destination featuring over 4,000 square miles of canoe country. The waterways of the Temagami region are particularly attractive since many of the routes form convenient trip loops. Hap Wilson compiles more than 25 canoe route descriptions, including hiking trails that cater to wilderness paddlers from beginner to expert. Climb Maple Mountain, camp at Centre Falls, listen to the wolves howl, or fish its fabled deep waters -- Temagami has it all.