We first heard about CanvasChic (French name, “Mille Etioles”, meaning Thousand Stars) through another member, Claire. One look at their website, www.canvaschic.com , convinced me that this is my style of camping! Dates were set straight away, and I counted down the months til we were to go.
On Friday, Sarah and Vaun (another couple), and Gary and I flew to Lyon and hired a car, stopping in a medium-sized town for a lovely pub-dinner and to stock up on some food and drinks. It was quite late by the time we found CanvasChic, after driving round some mountain roads the wrong way. We finally got some directions from an extremely merry group who wanted us to stay for some wine, but we needed to get to our accommodation and relax. Upon arrival, Alison showed us to our yurts… large, round tents on raised wooden platforms, containing a double bed with mosquito netting, canvas wardrobe, camp bed, chairs and bedside tables. Solar-powered portable lamps are supplied, plus a lovely candle-lit, suspended leadlight lantern. Outside, there was a small table with chairs on the platform… and hammocks strung between the trees!! I immediately got into one to test it out… fantastic.
Yurt interior - Photo by Gary Box
The bathroom block was quite close to our yurt. I expected the usual row of showers and row of toilets, but not so! There were half a dozen individual bathrooms in there, each with an incredibly powerful, hot shower (why can't we get pressure like that in London if the French can do it in the middle of nowhere??), toilet, sink, mirror and bamboo bench-seat… beautifully decorated, and not at all what I expected at a campsite. I wanted to take one home.
After a quick drink, I escaped to my Mexican-style hammock. Sinking into one of these is instant relaxation, and I enjoyed gently rocking and gazing up at the full moon in a perfectly clear sky through the trees surrounding our yurt. I could cheerfully have slept out there, but thought I may get a bit chilly… and Gary wouldn't have appreciated being abandoned!
In the morning, we went up to the al-fresco dining area for our continental breakfast of croissants, fruit, cereal and coffee. We decided to drive south to Nîmes to do some sightseeing today, as there are a few well-preserved Roman buildings there. First up, we went to Les Arènes, which is almost as large as the Coliseum in Rome , but in better condition. We had quite a good look around this arena, which is still used for concerts today. It was a fairly warm day and we wanted to grab a quick lunch somewhere… not possible in France of course! We gave in to a relaxed lunch at an outdoor café instead, then headed off around town to view a bit more of the local architecture including Maison Carée, a temple built around 5AD.
We then set off to Pont du Gard, an enormous Roman aqueduct thought to have been built around the middle of the 1 st century AD. It was part of a 50km long canal, transporting water from springs near Uzès to the city of Nîmes , and is an awe-inspiring example of Roman construction. The sheer size of it is astounding, some of the individual blocks weighing about 6 tons, which are all held together with iron clamps and no mortar. We ventured a short way further up a track on the far side of it to find a geocache too.. my first in France.
On our return to CanvasChic, we enjoyed a bbq dinner, using the site's cooking tents (that contain fridges, gas cookers and all the utensils needed) and bbq's, followed by a few drinks with our fellow campers and host. After a while, I ‘escaped' again to my hammock… well, I did come here to relax!!
After our lovely breakfast on Sunday, we set off to nearby Vallon Pont d'Arc to hire canoes for a trip down the Ardeche River . We put picnic food and all our gear in waterproof barrels and set off downstream. I kept spotting groups of tasty-looking, foot-long fish, which made me long for a fishing rod, or even just a net… they were near the surface, begging to be eaten! We paddled along quietly through the Ardeche Gorge for a while, going through a few small rapids. About halfway to our lunch spot, we hit some larger rapids and before we knew what was happening, Gary and I had capsized our canoe in fast-running water. Both our pairs of shoes (the only things we left out of the barrel) and I were swept downstream for a bit until I managed to run into a large rocky area in the middle of the river and rescue a couple of shoes, including someone else's. This part of the river was swarming with capsizees, a couple of whom helped Gary turn the canoe over.
Not long after, we all (including our rescued shoes) paddled under Pont d'Arc, a natural rock arch over the river. This is an amazing natural wonder, having been slowly carved out of the limestone gorge by the river tens of thousands of years ago (or more, I'm not sure!). We stopped for lunch on the beach on the downstream side of Pont d'Arc, then enjoyed a swim.
Pont d'Arc - Photo by Gary Box
After a while, we decided it was time to continue our paddle through the gorgeous scenery to the end-point where the hire company was to collect us. We still had some daylight left, so had a look at a few small villages in the local area. All very picturesque, traditional villages surrounded by patches of grape vines. I could cheerfully live here I think… lovely climate, pretty villages, relaxed lifestyle, great food. Pity I speak no French.
That night, we pretty much repeated Saturday night's tough schedule… lovely, relaxed bbq, a few drinks, and then I did my disappearing act again to my hammock.
After our final breakfast on Monday morning, it was time to reluctantly pack up and say goodbye to our yurts and our friendly hosts. We drove along the road that follows the Ardeche Gorge and stopped for a different view of Pont d'Arc… this time from above, and envied the people we could see canoeing down the river. If I come to this area again, it'll definitely be a longer visit to completely relax in this beautiful place.
So if you think you'd enjoy ‘posh camping' in the lovely French countryside, I'd thoroughly recommend CanvasChic… check out the website!
Article submitted by Jen Harris
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Our accommodation for this weekend in Wales was
Rhiw Goch Lodge, chosen for it's close proximity to Coed y Brenin forest and the excellent mountain bike trails. After a late arrival on the Friday, we very briefly discussed the options available the following day before getting some much needed sleep.
On Saturday the group split into three. Rudy decided to hit the mountain bike trails, Jen led the majority on a hike up Cadair Idris via the Minffordd Path whilst I led a smaller group on an ambitious Rhinog Ridge walk. The Rhinog walk starts in the town of
Trawsfynydd and attempting this 20 mile hike in late September is perhaps not realistic. We found ourselves at the start later than we had hoped but set off over the footbridge, headed for the mountains.
Crossing Footbridge at start of Rhinog Walk - Photo by Chris Tillapaugh
We were making decent progress despite there not being an obvious path at times. The weather was also behaving itself, only one short shower to test us. It was already clear that we would not reach the end in Barmouth before dark so we did not rush our lunch stop as we evaluated where to end the walk. As luck would have it our accommodation was not too far from the main Rhinog peaks and we would be able to complete the most interesting part of the walk before turning left through a forest.
The afternoon was enjoyable, it was good to be out in the fresh air even though my body had not completely recovered from the Pennine Way in June. The light began to fade just as we entered the forest, some of us deciding to wear head torches. Since Jen's group had finished their hike we decided to call them to collect us from the track that appears as you exit the forest.
The Rhinogs as the light begins to fade - Photo by Chris Tillapaugh
Saturday evening was spent in the pub, virtually next door to the lodge. It seemed everyone had enjoyed their day as we tucked into our meals, followed by some well earned drinks.
Getting up Sunday morning was not easy! I could have easily enjoyed an extra hour in bed but it was not to be. The weather looked bleak, some decided to head back to London early, possibly stopping somewhere scenic on route. Rudy and Paul decided to tackle more mountain bike routes but quickly changed their mind when the heavens opened. Most of us decided to drive to Criccieth where we enjoyed cream teas and cakes before we too headed back home to London.
Article submitted by Gary Box
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