Kayaking on the River

Wednesday, June 25, 2014
Peyzac-le-Moustier, Aquitaine, France
Since the boulangerie in Le Moustier is closed on Wednesdays, Anne and I drove into nearby Saint-Leon-sur-Vezere to find our morning bread. We were there before 8:00am but the boulangerie there was closed also. So we drove a bit further to Thonac and arrived at the epicierie (grocery store) just as the bread was being delivered.

After breakfast, six of us squeezed into the minivan and drove back to Saint-Leon-sur-Vezere where the kayak rental place is located . Saint-Leon-sur-Vezere is one of "The Most Beautiful Villages of France" and it lives up to its reputation. All the buildings look centuries old and picture postcard perfect. Karen, Greg, Sally and I arranged for a single kayak each and Anne and Ted decided to spend a couple of hours exploring the village while we kayaked. The company drove us about 8 km upstream, unloaded the kayaks from the trailer and helped us get launched into the Vezere river.

The river was flowing at a steady pace so we didn't have to paddle much. We mostly just had to keep the kayaks pointing straight along the river. We passed several private châteaux perched on the edge of the cliffs and passed under two bridges. It was very tranquil and we arrived back at the starting place about two hours after we had left it. We met up with Ted and Anne who had had a wonderful time exploring all the alleyways and lanes in the village. We headed back to Le Manoir to get cleaned up and to pick up Darlene who had stayed back to try to catch up on some sleep .

We then returned to Saint-Leon-sur-Vezere for lunch and went to a self-serve restaurant right next to the river. We sat at a picnic table and then went inside to order our lunch. When it was ready, they called our names and we picked up our food on a tray. We had craft beer with our lunch. It was very pleasant.

We didn't have anything planned for the afternoon so it was a chance for all of us to relax a bit. Anne, Greg and I went into Montignac to stock up at the supermarket and to buy our tickets for the Lascaux caves for tomorrow afternoon.

After a dip in the pool, I was ready to drive the group to our restaurant for the evening in the nearby village of Sergeac.

This was an amazing experience. The restaurant was very remote but had quite a few tables. We ate outside and enjoyed a six-course dinner that lasted almost three hours. We had soup, two appetizers, main course, salad, cheese and desert with a focus on duck and goose. We got back to Le Manoir after 10pm after loosening our belts and retired to bed with very full stomachs!
Other Entries

Comments

Vickie & Paul
2014-06-25

It all looks and sounds so wonderful. Wish we were there too but everything here is working out well. Take possession of the condo tomorrow. Have a glass of wine (or 4) for us.

2025-02-17

Comment code: Ask author if the code is blank