Alps White Water Holiday – France 2026 – Tuesday Day 04 Middle Durance

2026 08 04 Middle Durance (Campsite to Saint-Crépin Airfield)

We dropped some cars off at the airport ready for the shuttle and returned to the campsite to get on. We missed Nick and Noah who passed on the road, then missed them again at the top of the slalom course. Fortunately, they managed to catch us up partway down the river, so we were two groups making 13 paddlers on the water.

Clara was showing Poppy the river signals that we use, and starting to lead the groups down. Many small wave trains formed for a bouncy run despite the low water with drought conditions over most of Europe. First came the Campsite rapid, then the Railway bridge rapid, the excellent Grade II rapids at La Roche-de-Rame, the island at the cement works and the final rapid on the bend by the quarry on the hillside (river right).

We finished with some rolling under the bridge at Saint-Crépin Airfield before returning to the campsite for lunch. Our friends from Penrith had gone down to do the sunshine run while we played on the white water course at the campsite, paddleboarded on the lake and enjoyed a relaxing afternoon. You should always remember to put some foam in the SUP paddles that are supplied with boards. We had some fun retrieving one paddle from the bottom of the lake.

In the evening, some went to the bar by the lake and enjoyed a thunderstorm just as we were making our way back to the campsite.