Two Thousand Years Later: Canoeing Under the Pont du Gard
Can you imagine canoeing under an over 2000 year old Roman aquaduct? We couldn't either, but a chance to add another river to our "rivers paddled" list, especially since it is in France, was a must do and the fact that the Roman aquaduct, the Pont du Gard, a World Heritage site, was part of the experience made the whole thing that much more exciting!
We made reservations online before we left the United States. There are 3 canoeing companies in Collias, which is found in Languedoc, southern France. We used Le Tourbillion Canoeing. Le Tourbillion made it so easy: Just pull up, park, sign up and pay, walk a few hundred feet to the water, be assigned a plastic canoe which is pushed down the hill to the water. This canoeing company adds the additions which we would usually have to pay for in the states. Each canoe was provided with a "bidon" to secure your items from getting wet and personal flotation devices. We were asked if we wanted double paddles or single paddles. We chose our usual single paddle whereas everyone else on the water used the "double paddles".
During the summer, the water levels are so low on the Gardon River, that there are only these 8 km that are floatable. If you canoe in early spring, you can canoe a longer stretch of river from Pont Nicholas, which is also a really cool medieval bridge, and then through the Gorges du Gardon; just amazing scenery. We started at Collias and paddled approximately 2 kms past the Pont du Gard. Canoeing was on very clear water with a shallow pebbly bottom. Every so often there were pockets of deep water where people were seen jumping from the cliffs.
Usually, we navigate the canoe through deadfalls but with this river we navigated through waders, including a kid who called Doug "Pere Noel". The Gardon River was "plein" of people sunbathing, listening to music, walking and wading in the water besides the canoers. It seems like everyone in Provence comes to the banks of the Gardon to relax and enjoy the cool river. We felt like we were paddling on a public beach. Several times we were cut off by other canoes or accidently rammed. Yet the river was moving nicely and if you can look past the people, the scenery is beautiful interspersed with limestone cliffs. We even enjoyed going over a 1 foot cascade.
At the approach of the Pont du Gard, we chose a picnic site far from other bathers. Our picnic site was complete with a view of this world heritage site late in the afternoon with the sun shining on it, making for good photography and allowing us to take in its beauty. We couldn't imagine canoeing under this magnificent enormous edifice, yet for most bathers it is just part of the environment of a clear cool bathing spot.. There were even young men doing flips off the underside of the Pont du Gard into the deep water. I guess modern times call for new uses of this historical structure of over 2,000 years ago, built during the Roman empire.
The Pont du Gard, seen from the river. The best way to see this World Heritage Site.
We took out 2 km past the Pont du Gard, which became a bit boring because we were just paddling to finish. We were given 2 hours to canoe and could have used 3 to allow more time to enjoy swimming in the clear water or sitting in a canoe drawing the scenery. Pick up times at the end are every hour and a "luxury" bus takes you back to Collias. We didn't see any Romans around the Pont du Gard but here, over 2000 years later, their work still stands and is an amazing tribute to their engineering skill. This will always be one of the most memorable paddle trips we will have done!
