A trip on the River Charante

[joejo]

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A few pictures taken in October when we hired a Le Boat on the River Charante in France. It was the quietest river I have been on. During the week we only encountered 5 other boats and one rib.

The guys in the rib were dispersing a small oil slick and claimed they were working.

The scenery was lovely, bits of it not unlike the Thames. Moorings spots were good and some even had electric hook up provided by the local council,and most had water.

Lots of great places to visit and a really good selection of restaurants. A good trip

 

[DownWest]

Hi,
It is our local river and a delight. Even in the summer it is fairly quiet, while I expect you can walk across the Thames on the boats;-) The 'fast' areas are pretty well respected and the local ski club is popular. In theory it is navigable to Angouleme, but I hear the weed is a bit of a prob in later summer. Around here ( Saintes) it is around 5mtrs deep, with St Savinien being the tidal limit with the lock and barrage, before the tidal stretch of around 35km to the sea.

 

[Grehan]

The french waterways are, of course, delightful . . .

 

[joejo]

The french waterways are, of course, delightful . . .

I can only agree with the views from the 'Locals' and the river was truely a delight.

In view of the Thames being back on Reds, a few days before we went, and on and off during our trip their was an extarordinary amount of rain and the levels of the non tidal section did not go up at all.

Had it been similar conditions on the dear old Thames I am sure the levels would have gone up and the boards would have come out. Their was very little new housing development adjacent to the Charante and the meadows were large. I have no idea how the river is managed, but during the rain I never saw anyone attending a wier.

However it is all set up it seems to work a treat

 

[lenseman]

The name "River Charante" has an interesting meaning.

Its name originates from the same root as the British rivers, Darrant, Darrent, Trent, Tarrant and comes directly from the Anglo-Saxon meaning "a Trespasser" and in this context means, 'a river that floods'.

Consequently, it will be a meandering slow moving river and an absolute delight to travel along.


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