France - part 2

On our second day, we hired a boat for a few hours. It was hard to take photos, so mostly we took memories - the coypu, a little wild deer, the small overgrown channels and the larger more open canal where we managed to get a good rowing rhythm going. When we had our guided trip, the guide used the traditional pole, more like a punt. And the traditional boats are quite like a punt too - very shallow bottomed. Originally they were used a lot for transporting cattle from one field to another, so they have a flat front where the animals could step on and off easily, and a curved stern. We just had paddles - and since we're more used to rows with rowlocks, it was a learning curve. But as a totally relaxing way of starting the holidays, it's hard to imagine anything better.

Our tent, seen as we rowed past

We brought a picnic lunch and tied the boat to one of the trees along the canal

Embarkation point on the camp-site, where we hired the boat

On the second evening we thought we'd go for another walk, along the canal starting at the bridge (photo in previous post). On the map, it looked shorter than the walk we did the first night, so we were hoping to get back reasonably early. It rained a little bit, and then brightened up. But we felt that the sketch map we were using was most definitely not drawn to scale. At the end, we were walking pretty much as fast as we could in order to get back before the on-site restaurant closed. Checking the route out on Google Maps afterwards, what we were expecting to have been about a 3 1/2 to 4 mile walk turned out to be well over 5 miles. But - we enjoyed the scenery and we got back in time to get something to eat. Away from the canals and channels it is very heavily agricultural, with field after field of wheat and other crops, and plenty of birds of prey soaring overhead.

the church in St-Hilaire-La-Palud