Allier (France)On this page you will find an impression of our canoe trip on the lower course of the Allier in the summer of 1999. The Allier is one of the last rivers in Europe, that's able to flow free through the landscape. The banks of the river are mainly pebbles or sand. Due to its natural character its banks are hardly cultivated. Even the water quality on this part of the river is nice enough to have a swim. We paddled the river
from Billy, near Vichy, to the junction with the Loire.
We ended our trip in la Charité, from were we took the
train and bus back to our car in Billy. We divided the
trip in 5 pieces, with two nights over in Chatel de
Neuvre and Moulins.
Home page / Map / Further reading / Close photo album
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| Our
first camp was on the camping of Chatel de Neuvre. A very
nice German couple administered the campsite since the
year before. From here we took our canoe to Billy, starting point of the first stage of our tour. This ended of course at this campsite. |
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| A typical view on the banks of the Allier. |
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| On the campsite of Moulins our canoe needed to be washed and shined. |
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| The barrage of Moulins, pulling the canoe wit the luggage down the steps. |
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| The big
trees on the banks are evidence of the enormous power the river can develop. Again you can see the hardly cultivated banks of the river. |
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| One of our camps on the riverbank; We enjoy dinner in the late evening sun. |
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| After dinner a small campfire. |
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| In France there is the possibility of two waterways crossing each other. Here is the view from the aqua duct of the "canal lateral". It was quite a job to pull the canoe over the rotten trunks raising out of the water below the aqua duct. After hard work, a nice beach and a nice environment to explore. |
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| The junction of the
Allier with the Loire. The river flows between enormous sandbanks. Time to take a deep breath and admire the enormous open space. |
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| Back to Billy by train and bus. Before driving our car back to the tent, we paid a visit to the castle ruins. |
© Dirk de Boer 2002-2006