Saint Pardoux Revisited

Judy Swimming

Water is never far way in the Charente; allegedly over 16,000 lakes or ponds in the department. Of course, there are the rivers too - the Vienne & the Charente. The Vienne is dammed at Jousseau, just above Availe-Limouzine, to make a decent boating location which we have yet to test, and there are the Lacs de Haute Charente down toward  Dordogne. But, so far, Lac de Saint-Pardoux has been our go-to place when the weather is hot and cooling water is required.

This year, in early May temperatures have already crept well into the 30's so on Wednesday we packed the car with picnic grub, camp furniture, swimming gear, a canoe and a new battery-power cool-box; definitely a day for properly chilled white wine! Off we set for Saint-Pardoux.

Paul Cooling-off

It was fairly quick up to Bellac, even after a minor distraction via Confolens & Saint-Germain, but after that, the roads shrink; it takes another 25 kilometers or so tacking north and south through fabulous country-side sometimes blazing yellow from blooming broom. Eventually we reached the quaint village of Saint-Pardoux itself. We drifted on past more popular locations to a small car park close to one of the bridges across the lake. Perhaps not the most scenic places but by the time we dandered through the trees to the lakeside, the real world had retreated far enough to be forgotten about altogether.

Down by the shore, a wonderful breeze blew in from the lake to keep us cool and causing the water to lap, lap, lap on the granite stones. A perfect day for a silent sailing dingy drifting across the lake from side to side, leaning into the wind. Perhaps not too auspicious for the canoe, but out it came regardless. Sadly one of the main flotation chambers had a serious leak and it deflated quickly listing fearfully to one side. Trying to find the leak was a major exercise - trying to dunk a boat in search of escaping bubbles is not too easy. I was able to identify a slow leak in the bottom chamber but nothing in the main one. So the boat came out of the water and the valves released. It was then, unexpectedly, I could hear the air escaping and was able to hunt down a centimetre long rip close to one of the seams joining the side to the floor. Although a puncture repair kit was handy, I reckoned additional tools would be needed for a permanent repair. More canoeing will have to wait.

Splash!

There was plenty to do despite this. A few of us popped in the water for a swim. Then of course we had to test the temperature of the chilled wine - which was perfect - with the old faithful egg'n'onion samiches. The seats too were perfect for a post-prandial doze in the shade. I had taken quite a hit from the sun apparently while trying to trace the leak - it definitely was not the wine.

The only interruption to our idyll came when a few local youngsters walked part-way over the bridge and then - in some trepidation - jumped in to the water below bobbing up with squeals and laughter. Days like this are hard to beat.