Paris Plages: with canoeing, sliding and fun guaranteed on the Ourcq canal

We are not at the Sea Forest in Tokyo Bay, and yet the activities offered are very similar with a few differences.

In a row of onions, on the pontoon of the nautical base of the Bassin de la Villette, six people are dressed in a life jacket and hold a paddle in one of their hands.

In a few seconds, they embark aboard a canoe or a kayak for a 45-minute session supervised by a teacher.

This is one of the water activities offered by Paris Plages until the end of the summer.

About fifty amateurs of all ages take the plunge every day.

Find your direction

Before embarking on navigation, some basic explanations are necessary.

The first on the position to adopt.

Alia and Adèle, canoeists for a day, coming from the Paris region, will have to be seated, knees bent.

One will row on the left, the other on the right.

Alia, placed on the aft deck, takes the controls and steers the boat.

For kayakers, another instruction: Corinne must have her legs stretched out in this unsinkable boat.

She will have to paddle alternately to the left then to the right to advance.

“At the beginning, the hardest part, for both of them, is finding your direction,” explains Tristan, the manager of the group that follows the participants in a zodiac.

The wind that accompanies the participants on this day and the algae that proliferate in the depths of the basin add an additional difficulty.

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Tristan grabs Alia and Adele's zigzagging canoe to keep them from drifting too close to the edge.

He gives them some keys: "If the boat drifts to the left, you row twice to the left to keep the course".

Canoeing is above all about anticipation, as the young teacher repeats to each student: “It does not integrate directly from the first attempts.

It takes several sessions, maybe seven or eight times of practice.

The second rule is synchronization, teamwork.

"

Unity is strength

Twenty-five minutes and a hundred meters further, the young girls realize that communication is an essential element to be in symbiosis on the water: “We talked a lot and listened to each other. 'other so that our movements are coherent. That's when we got there best ”assures one of the two at the end of the course. Alone, kayaking is not easier and requires more intense physical effort.

Corinne, who is exercising for the second time, puts her foot on the ground and is already starting to stretch: “Of course, gestures are not forgotten, it is rather we who forget that we have muscles in our arms and in the back ”, amuses himself to say the young woman of 30, who takes the kayaking lessons at the Bassin de la Villette to progress:“ You can test yourself without danger ”.

Next stop for Corinne, get out of Paris, and embark on a river trip a little longer and a bit wilder.

Convenient

What ?

The nautical base provides a lot of equipment, including canoes, kayaks, oars and paddles.

All activities are supervised by a state graduate.

Where ?

At the Bassin de la Villette, at the end of the Ourcq canal, Quai de la Loire side, at the nautical base, to the right of the Pavillon des Canaux restaurant.

When ?

Every day from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. until August 22.

How many ?

Free.

Reservation not compulsory but recommended.