Grand Canyon du Verdon

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Geo: 43.6265, 6.22372

We had a lazy start to the day today, just walking around Aups and buying some supplies for our lunch.

Late morning we headed for Gorge Verdon. The Verdon Gorge (Gorges Verdon or du Grand Canyon du Verdon), in south-eastern France, is a river canyon that is often considered to be one of Europe's most beautiful. It is about 25 kilometres long and up to 700 metres deep. It was formed by the Verdon River, which is named after its turquoise-green colour, one of the canyon's most distinguishing characteristics. At the end of the canyon, the Verdon River flows into the artificial lake of Sainte-Croix-du-Verdon.

Kim and I hired a kayak to paddle the 2 kilometre gorge, and Darrol, Liz, Chloe and Ciara hired a paddle boat. I guess the photos look photo-shopped , however, the water really was that blue, leaching into the water from the limestone rock.

The mountains lining the narrow gorge rise steeply to around 1,000 metres above the water, and meander where the river had originally cut its way through the rock to create the gorge. There are two waterfalls along the gorge, and we paddled under the smaller of the two waterfalls to keep cool from the hot sun. I did most of the paddling and Kim took the photos.

We had lunch on the river bank half way up the gorge, and then continued on. Paddling the kayak became more difficult as we made our way up the gorge, due to the strong current from the river flowing into the gorge. After reaching the end of the gorge, we had a short break and then turned the kayak around. It was easier paddling downstream.

After paddling back to our kayak hire place, I dived in the lake for a swim. The water was warm and it was good to cool down after a three hour paddle.

On the way home we stopped off at a few lavender fields for the girls to get photos. We then drove back to our Hotel for a great dinner.

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Photos

Jim Paddling the Kayak
with the Lwins in the background.