Seventeen years old but plenty of nerve. Four high school students from Nantes used their vacation to make a canoe trip between Paris and Nantes. A physical test, but also a chance for the young men to measure themselves against the business world by looking for sponsors, and against the administration.
It was Stan who had the idea. Before the vacation, he found at his sister's place an old, genuine Canadian canoe made of mahogany. The find clicked for him. A specialist in expeditions of all kinds (he had already done several by bike, on foot and by motorboat), he figured that this splendid craft would be better off on the water.
Three other school friends signed on. Olivier, Guillaume and Antoine joined him in the adventure. First task: find sponsors. "We didn't ask companies for money, but for help in kind": film, canoes, energy biscuits.
The last hurdle before departure was getting permission to navigate certain waterways closed to the public or reserved for anglers and hunters.
Ten hours of paddling and sixty-five kilometers a day
On August 22, the lines were cast off at Fontaine-le-Port. The canoes, loaded with supplies and camping tents, set out. The two crews went up the Seine to Saint-Mammès, then onto the Loing as far as Montargis, then took the Orléans canal. After that the four descended the Loire to Nantes, where they set down their paddles on August 31.
Careful: this was not a leisurely river trip. The students get annoyed when anyone plays down what they did. Stanislas makes the case most clearly: "It took us nine days to cover 585 km, stages of 65 km, when the normal average is 35. That meant rowing ten hours a day."
The days all followed the same pattern. Up at seven, off at eight. At midday the team stopped near a sizable town for a proper meal, then paddled on until evening. Then the tents went up. "It wasn't always pleasant," Guillaume goes on complaining. "Since we were on the water all day, the canvas and the sleeping bags were soaked through."
Arguments and a capsize
The four explorers have a pile of stories. The arguments with anglers on the Orléans canal, which without a permit is reserved for them. One canoe flipping in an eddy under a bridge on the Loire. The little cascades on the Loing.
The rowers didn't only work on the water. They also had to portage around closed locks, carrying the canoes and eighty kilos of gear on their backs. On the Orléans canal alone they got past fifty locks this way.
Plenty of cramps and back pain, but real satisfaction on the return. As Antoine puts it: "An adventure like this one makes you appreciate the small things in everyday life."
