25 05 27 Day 3 La Malene – Pas du Souci (10km) grade 1 by Anthony

After spending a relaxing night at camping “Le Gabitou”, a new campsite a mile or so upstream from La Malène, we packed up our canoes and headed off downstream to the first weir. Martin got out and acted as safety; some of the more adventurous slid down a steep rocky ramp on the river left, others carried around. After regrouping, we drifted off to the bridge at La Malène.

It was an enjoyable paddle and we marvelled at the local guides who were guiding tourists in the punts (lightweight aluminium skiffs with a small petrol motor on the back). The guidebook describes these craft as “Les Bateliers du Malene”. For over a hundred and thirty years, these small boats have been taking tourists down the most beautiful part of the “Gorges Du Tarn”. The boatmen (and women) have poled their way down shallow rapids in the area. Nowadays, they use a small outboard to motor the deeps to get as many trips in as possible. There are crane hosts to lift the boats out at the end and transport them back to the start. Well, if they could drift down the shallows with 6 or 7 people on board, then we should be ok.

We drifted down through some fantastic scenery. After a few kilometres, the valley narrows and both sides tower up high all around us. The guide calls this the heart of the gorge – “Les Detroit’s” or narrows. We had several elevenses stops on the many white limestone beaches in the gorge and enjoyed the sun and views in a very quiet and special place. The best was at the “Mushroom Rock”. This had a steep cliff with a rope hanging down. Nikki and then Keith tried to scale the overhanging wall. Neither got very far before falling back into the warm, clear water of the Tarn.