Vallon Pont d’Arc France and the Arde?che River

Vallon Pont d’Arc France and the Arde?che River for swimming, canoeing and relaxing fun! Summer 2011 in the les gorges de l’Ardèche region! Le Belvedere Hotel – We stayed at a lovely hotel, just a KM or so from the Arc itself and the Arde?che River called Le Belvedere Hotel (Thank you for fitting us in this summer of 2011!): www.le-belvedere-hotel.com For more info on Vallon-Pont-d’Arc see: www.vallon-pont-darc.com Vallon Pont d’Arc France and the Arde?che River!
Video Rating: 5 / 5

In this episode of the video series about barging through France, host Richard Goodwin visits Ardeche. Ardeche, lies on the west bank of the Rhone about halfway down the river. It is a very wild woolly place perched mostly on the side of hills. In a forgotten valley I meet Raul whose family have owned the water rights and the mill for 400 years. Raul told me about his mill and he said he could mill chestnuts, wheat and barley for animals. Millers mill anything but flour millers only mill flour. He told me that anyone who had water rights before the French Revolution (1789) had them in perpetuity. I asked him how he coped with rats. He said he’d solved his problem by mixing barley with poison and Pastis which is a favourite French aperitif. Terracing was the only way the peasants could eek out a living off the land. They were often paid for their day’s work in earth which they put on their terrace. I went to see the beautiful Agnes who has formed an eco museum to preserve the art of terracing. She runs courses for building dry stone walls. She says that building dry stone walls is a complex three dimensional puzzle. It is so absorbing it stops you thinking about anything else and therefore very therapeutic. I went to watch Christian and Jack build a serious wall nearby. Jack took me to an unusual café on the first floor of an old noble’s house where the woman who runs the establishment has a pourer’s dead eye. She lives in her kitchen just off her café. Jean Paul is a …
Video Rating: 5 / 5