Current Position
48 48 07N
003 05 70W
Le Trieux River, Lezardrieux
We are continuing our passage along this region known as Cote D'Armor.
On our East coast cruise last September, we explored 12 rivers, including the River Thames, and absolutely loved it. So we are very keen to visit some of the rivers of France, Spain, Italy and Portugal. We started with the Trieux River and we were not disappointed.
We left Paimpol at midday, out through the lock at about an hour and a half before high water. Knowing the "ropes" on the lock procedure made for an easy and stress free exit. There wasn't a lot of wind so we motor sailed for a while and then the breeze kicked in so we got all the white stuff up and had a fabulous sail into the River Trieux. Dropped the sails and just took in our surroundings. A very wide and deep river, 25 metres deep in places and occasionally half a mile across, which reminded us very much of the River Dart. Lush deep green trees that came right down to the waters edge that made you feel like you could just walk on them with some truly beautiful properties scattered amongst them. It was simply lovely. We had spotted some deep water moorings and discussed the possibility of taking one instead of going into a marina again. Continuing up river we passed the marina which looked busy but kept going and in the distance loomed the suspension bridge. We know that the air draft of Stiletto is 16m and we knew the clearance under the bridge at high water is 18m so we had a bit to spare. All the same, it is a bit scary, as looking straight up as you go under, you simply cannot get any idea of distance but we were confident that we would be OK. Once we had passed under, the tide started to turn against us and we decided this was an exploration for the next day, with tide. So we turned around and headed back down river. We both agreed we would pick up a mooring buoy as we were feeling a bit " marina'd " out. We were so glad we did. The wind dropped, the water became like glass, the birds were singing in the trees (in particular a very vocal blackbird) and all was good in our world. A perfect place to sooth your soul. We checked out the charts and pilot book and discovered the river after the viaduct was uncharted with no marker buoys. We made the decision to bypass further exploration although we did discuss going up by dinghy but that would be hard work as there was still 12 miles of water ahead. So supper, coffee and a snifter in the cockpit, wrapped up in our patchwork quilts enjoying the ambience, followed by a lovely nights sleep.
Song for this post : Still waters run deep by The Four Tops
Thought for this post : Inner happiness is not hard to find
Highlight for this post: The peace and tranquillity this river offers and it cost us nothing