Barging in on the South of France (October, 2014)

Well not exactly barging... but the boat trip of a lifetime. One of the many joys of living in France is exploring the lay of the land, and that includes her waterways. After a hectic summer of working in the "friendly skies" of United, and the trials and tribulations associated with commuting to London as a "space available" passenger on British Airways, a vacation that required no planes or time changes was a welcome respite, to wit trains, boats and automobiles were utilized for our requisite travel.

We started by taking the train from Paris to Cahors and then a taxi to Doelle where our adventure with Le Boat began.  We rented a 36-foot clipper that had two sleeping cabins, one forward and one aft, each with a small bathroom that included a shower. The galley was small but adequate for our gourmet chef Doug to create his magic for our nightly feasts.  We spent seven wonderful days on the river Lot, the sixth largest river in France. This waterway comes complete with banks lined with ancient chateaux, medieval cities, dramatic cliffs and a manually operated series of locks to enable boats of various sizes to travel up and down the ancient river.

Home away from home complete with bikes

If one were to look up the Lot River Valley on a map of France, you would find it just a tad south-east of Bordeaux, a couple of hours by train from the hustle and bustle of Paris. And yet what the map can’t convey is the impression of traveling back in time to a rural countryside with dramatic limestone cliffs, cathedral-centric villages encircled by narrow cobblestoned roads and riverbanks guarded by ancient castles.

After a short practice run with a professional boat captain, we were off and quickly came upon our first navigational hurdle... going under bridges. That was easy compared with our second hurdle...

... to steer our boat into our first lock (there are 17 on the part of the river on which we were cruising).

Once inside the lock itself, you close the sluice gates using large hand cranks that create an isolated box of water, a section of the river closed off by gates on either end to regulate the water level. Depending on which way we were traveling (up or down river) we either had to add or subtract water from the enclosed lock.

We each had our assigned tasks all coordinated by Doug, our dear friend and designated boat captain. After the first couple of locks we were experts. We went through the 17 locks in our travels east on the river, and then the same number coming back. Some times we had to wait our turn at the lock, but mostly we were by ourselves, adding to the sensation that we had gone back in time.

Is some cases the buildings had been there so long they morphed into the landscape making it hard to tell where the building began and the terrain ended.

The views were spectacular from the river.

Pont Valentré

The Valentré bridge spans the Lot river at Cahors, the capital of the Lot department in South West France, and a city almost entirely surrounded by water.  The fortress style bridge dates back to early 14th century. Legend has it that the builder had to make a pact with the devil in order to complete its construction. Extremely behind schedule, the builder agreed to trade his soul in return for the bridge's completion. When it came to laying the last stone, the builder played a trick on the devil by handing him a sieve with which to carry the water for the mortar. Consequently, the last stone was never set, thereby saving the builders soul as technically the bridge was never finished. Centuries later a devil statue was added to one of the towers in memory of the clever builder.

We spent our days cruising the river and watching the enchanting landscape go by. Once we pulled into to a docking space at any one of the number of towns that populate the river banks, we would shop at the local markets for dinner, and in most cases, ride the bikes around for further exploration. The evening's usually ended with home cooked food from the ship's galley and/or barbecue accompanied by wine from the local vineyards, enjoyed al fresco from our dining table located behind the helm of the boat.

At the medieval town of Saint-Cirq-Lapopie we turned around and headed west, back to Doelle for the boat return and the eventual end to our trip through time.

View of the Lot River from Saint-Cirq-Lapopie

We hope to return the Lot river valley sometime soon. We would recommend this trip to anyone wishing to explore a magical part of France, and if you don't want to pilot your own boat, you can hire a captain.

For more photos of our wonderful week click here.