Deutsch
English
Mission "What's 981.7km?" or "Good schedule: just in time (JIT)" - Lyon - July 2004
Arrival with the usual delays and loading problems (where is this and that): Start 6 p.m.
And then the unbelievable: the Sharan is there, and no one in front of it, and even on schedule (3 a.m.). So we check the space and sleep (like a Gordian knot in a car) until 8am.
The reservation somehow didn't work out satisfactorily (3 emails without a reply) and on the second call finally someone who speaks almost no English (no German either, but great French). So fuck reservations, emails, TUC, rainriders, etc. and just "12 people from tomorrow up to sunday: camping and canoeing? OK ??". The answer was "oui",.... hmmm, well, never mind, off we go.
Then checked in around 8:30, still nobody there (O.K. Umbachs weren't allowed to leave until 2am, Lisa still had a party to attend), but Marcus is missing. Oh wonder, the cell phone rings. I immediately guessed out loud to Anja and Sanne: "It's Marcus and he wants to know where Lyon or Isle de la serre is". Guess who it was and where the problem was. Well, after Marcus had circumnavigated Lyon once from west to east (he can now describe well how to get to the other stretch of white water), we had already paddled the route once and Anja had immediately crumbled HD's old (then quite expensive) carbon paddle. Then the rest slowly arrived (Marcus even before Umbachs) and after the tents were unpacked, of course it had to pour.
But then everything was in its place, the route paddled again, but where was the spaghetti? Once they had been found, we were able to get going with fillers such as canned beer, Radler and Lambrusko from Germany and whatever else the provisions box had to offer. We had to hold out for another day with the desire for panachee.
The next day it rained again briefly, but the principle was clear: WW under swimming pool conditions, but massive sun exposure. The campsite wasn't too full either, Sat and Sun were also great.
Friday evening around 8 p.m. we were finally able to drive the Landy (which we had brought with us because France is an off-road paradise; OK, I didn't see or understand any signs that we had disregarded) with Marcus, Lisa and HD EINKAUFEN ;o)), the destination was the 710 meter high mountain opposite. According to the map we had just bought, we went there on normal roads but also on 2-way and 1-way dotted roads. On the GPS we were then able to understand what the dashes meant: 2-way (as the GPS says there and back, 1-way probably there and recovered by helicopter. There were a few situations in the "very fascinating" category:
1. while scouting, Lisa manages to get out safely (in the back), but almost falls into the abyss by the passenger door.
2. driving through the bushes is like diving, only the water has been replaced by an infinite number of green leaves.
3) Marcus drives on the slope according to the principle "my ass is the closest to me", so the abyss is on the right when going uphill and both co-drivers are afraid of heights, while downhill their concern is more "just don't let anything hang out, it will be shaved off the slope".
On Saturday, Sanne, Lisa and Doris had to swim the course with hydrospeeds, it was just warm. And Michael now has a black eye, although the course is safe and you can make sure of this at "water off", there is probably a point in the curve "last roller before the middle exit" where you shouldn't put your head in the water without some aluminum frame from Zölzer on your helmet.
You can also hire paddles there for 2 euros or 1 euro per day depending on the employee (OK, they are horrible, but better than with shoes on your hands; and webbed feet don't grow so quickly either). Various pigs were slayed, either by broadening our horizons, copying the locals or simply being brave. And, of course, the foundations were laid for the next weekend trip:
There is still room for improvement or new things to try out.
What's 981.7 km anyway?