Words: Eleri &
Greg Spencer
Photos: Paul Villecourt (https://villecourt.com)
Through the years of the Open Canoe Festival
Every year brings us new adventures and opportunities to add to our defining experiences, but through time, repeat visits can also transform our sense of home.
(Re)visiting (un)familiar haunts and the magic of belonging
Dropping off the Vercors Plateau at the Col de Rousset was stunning even on our very first visits to the Drôme. One moment we were in high Alpine meadows. The next, we were surrounded by towering cliffs and the world was dropping away at our feet towards rolling foothills. Somewhere down below was our destination, but we were captivated by a sense of having discovered a truly magical gateway, and we forgot about carrying on. The magic was in having found something special for the very first time.
On that first trip, the discovery never really ended. We started by attending our first Open Canoe Festival and falling in love with the emerald-green waters of Drôme. We continued the theme with our first visit to the Ardèche: at least as stunning as the Col de Rousset. We then got to run the ‘Jewel in the Crown’ of Massif Central rivers as we descended the Allier from Chapeauroux to Le Pont d’Alleyras. Even the shuttle was a magical: a train ride through a stunning landscape. That was all before encountering a majestic volcanic plug in Prades!
In the months following this trip to France, we got a bit carried away with discovering places for the very first time. One trip took in the Lahn from Diez to Koblenz. Another involved the Weser from Hann. Münden to Emmerthal (Hameln). That summer we managed both the Drau (Carinthia, southern Austria) and our first coastal canoe sailing at Tighnabruaich (across to Bute and down towards Arran). We also explored the Thames, lots of the Broads and bits in Cumbria. Discovery was great!
Becoming Old Hands
On our first visit to the Open Canoe Festival we’d made many new friends, and we returned in each of the years which followed. Of course, each year has been different. Even the river has been transformed by floods, with favourite spots disappearing. Staying on beyond the main festival, we have also managed to explore new sections well above those normally paddled during each festival – and several paddleable tributaries.
We have been back to the Col de Rousset pretty much every year, including in the snow. We’ve explored the paths over to the plateau (through woodland into high meadows) and messed around on the Via Ferrata de Chironne. We also have made annual pilgrimages to the town of Die and further up the valley. In 2015, we even found time to go rock climbing at La Graville and to explore the nearby village of Saou.
Each year, the landscape of the Drôme Valley becomes more meaningful for us. Even tributaries we’ve not yet paddled become familiar as we scout them out and read up on what we will find when we eventually get our opportunity. The local landscape even becomes more meaningful through the experience of friends, especially when we hear of their hikes and mountain bike rides – though we’re very conscious that all of our visits have been in spring, so we’re keen to get back one autumn!
Spiralling outwards
In the year of our second OCF, we retraced many of our steps from the previous year as we were guiding mum on her first visit. By the third year we were linking a few days at the Open Canoe Festival with a week based out of Roquebrun (near Beziers) on the River Orb. Since then, we’ve explored the Isère, the Rhône. We even had a memorable journey along the spectacular Route des Ecouges (not recommended in a van with large trailer).
By 2013, paddling connections formed at successive Open Canoe Festivals had led us northern Italy. We detoured a road trip to Austria in ways which took in the Swiss Alps, Lake Como and the Dolomites to join friends from the Open Canoe Festival for several days on the Ticino. Martin Strunge had flown in from Denmark. Raphael Kuner had driven across from Germany. We’d connected with a whole world of canoeists stretching across more than ten countries!
By 2014 we were running workshops called ‘Premiers coups de pagaie sur la Drôme’ or ‘Introduction to the Drôme.’ Initially, we mostly looked at the unique character of the river and at practical things like where to access the river. Now, we also help other people connect in other ways, and encourage an interest in everything from the flora and fauna and the local produce to the 12th-century Cathedral of Our Lady (Notre-Dame) just up the valley in Die.
Beyond Discovery
In 2018, after many other Open Canoe Festival visits, we introduced Nikki Royle to the Drôme. Sadly, our plan to hit the Col de Rousset at sunset fell apart and we arrived in the dark. This was not great for Nikki, and we promised to return in daylight – but somehow, for us, coming through the Col was still really special. We weren’t just relieved that we’d somehow got our spluttering car across the plateau. The moment was special because it meant we’d arrived back in a place which was really meaningful to us.
The next morning we started to introduce Nikki to places. Before long, we were paddling – and as Nikki was pretty much the same size, Eleri got the chance (for pretty much the first time ever) to be the stern paddler for tandem trips. We all had a ball, and came up with new names for different places on the river – like Woo Hoo Corner
Having Nikki around was great for lots of reasons, and inspired us. Her enthusiasm brought us back to the freshness of our first visits, and made sure our sense of discovery was not lost. Going back also helped us piece together our recollections of those earliest visits, and our sense of how everything fitted together.
Epilogue: Ardèche, 2019
Following our workshops in 2018 we were invited to run several days of workshops with Eschweiler Canoe Club at their annual Easter gathering on the banks of the Ardèche. We did this on our way to the 2019 Open Canoe Festival. We’d not been back to the Ardèche since our second OCF, when Eleri had been seven years old, so this was as much discovery as re-discovery. We came away having had a wonderful few days, but also having put many old memories and stories into fresh perspective.
Oh – and the 2019 Open Canoe Festival? Eleri will recall it as her first as a full OCF Instructor, working apart from Dad, but this was also the year of her first 24km ‘big descent’ solo in the little canoe we’d used together on our very first visit. This was the same canoe we had used on almost all of our early adventures, so it is now a bit of a sieve – but it added to the magic as it’s also associated with many of the memories, which mean so much each and every time we get out.
Finally, a blast up our first full via ferrata on our last full day of our 2019 visit was a reminder that being familiar with an area does not mean an end to the freshness that comes with exploring. That got us to Le Claps, we’ve still got so much that we’ve not yet had an opportunity to discover. What does that mean? Well, no matter what plans we develop to try something completely new elsewhere, we’ll be back at the Drôme for the 10th Anniversary Open Canoe Festival in the Spring of 2020!
OPEN CANOE FESTIVAL 2020
30th April to 3rd May
2020 registrations will open on January 1st. Don’t miss this 10th anniversary!
Registrations can only be done online (no registration at the festival). It’s the only way for them to plan the right t-shirt and meal quantities.
2020 rates (before March 31st):
- The entry fee is 90€ / person for the three days event (100€ after March 31st).
- 60€ for the kids (under 12) and the ‘non-paddling’ persons (70€ after March 31st).
- Free for the kids under five years old.
This price includes:
- Official Open Canoe Festival t-shirt.
- Goodies bag including poster, sticker, magazines.
- Thursday opening film.
- Friday night meal.
- Friday night concert.
- Saturday night meal.
- Saturday night big prize lottery.
- Sunday free local specialties picnic.
- Technique and safety clinics.
- Free shuttles.
Numerous workshops (workshops registrations will be done only at the festival),
Participation to the organisation costs (the real cost per person is about 135€, the difference is financed via our sponsors and partners).
When you register, we offer the possibility to order vegetarian meals (no meat, no fish). The picnic is not vegetarian. Food allergies are not managed.
The price doesn’t include the camping fee.
Camping reservations (tents) are not necessary (except for chalets and mobilhomes as availability is limited). Please contact: http://gervanne-camping.com
Possibility to get a breakfast service during the weekend: please ask the camping office when you arrive.
The price does not include canoe rental.
We are currently working on rental partnerships.
