Canoeing along the Eure

The Eure is a left-bank tributary of the Seine, and it's the main river that flows around where we're staying, in Fontaine-sous-Jouy.

So yesterday, we decided to rent a canoe and see the river up close. There's a canoe rental place not five minutes from here, and the fellow was super helpful and nice. He drove us to Ménilles, and got us launched. From there, we were on our own.

The route took us past Vaux-sur-Eur and Chambray, and gave us a glimpse of some really beautiful houses. Unfortunately, the camera was in a water-tight bin, strapped down to the canoe, and I couldn't access it until we portaged. Probably a good thing, as we got very wet. In fact, by the end, we were thoroughly soaked!

We saw lots of wildlife: herons, ducks, geese, swans, and little creatures that looked like small river otters. We were also treated to the wonderful sounds of the local birds all along the way.

We passed under bridges (one so low that we had to lie down in the canoe grope along the underside of the bridge with our hands -- but to be fair, that wasn't really on the route because we were the tiniest bit lost at that point), along picturesque riverbank foliage, under low-hanging weeping willow branches, and (to our horror) through a little stretch of rapids.

Returning to the rental place involved positioning ourselves at the mouth of a narrow (only slightly wider than canoe width) concrete chute, pulling our paddles onboard, and hurtling down it like we were on a waterslide. Yes, that part was verging on what one might call "too much of an adventure."

But all's well that ends well, and we had a great time!