In between the protecting cliffs

by Ella Hewitt (United Kingdom (Great Britain))

A leap into the unknown France

Being a normal girl with a background that is not so normally financially stable, it was unbearably exciting for me when I traveled to the south of France with my school back in 2017. More specifically; canoeing River Ardeche. Beautiful sites, specifically with lakes and water, are something I love and appreciate, and I was not let down by the sites of this particular place. I have never experienced anything like it. I had never seen water so clear. While canoeing, I could see the bottom of the riverbank and I could also see the fish swimming without a care that we were there. Bass were swimming the opposite way we were going and it was very strange seeing so many bass go past one by one. I could not believe how clear the water was. It blew my mind completely and I was admiring the water for the whole time that we were there. The water was not blue, or grey or any other colour. The river was just colourless and see through, but it was glistening from the reflection from the sun, and I had never seen a lake like that in person. On both sides of the river throughout the whole two day paddle, there were towering, Eiffel tower-sized cliffs. These white cliffs seemed like they were protecting the river because they were so tall and high. Because of these cliffs, there was a sense of security and protection for me. I felt protected by the cliffs, whatever they were protecting me from, I don’t know, but I felt safe. Not only did I like the cliffs, but the towns folk also seemed to like the cliffs. I liked them for the sense of feeling safe, however, the locals liked the cliffs to climb up. Every single person I saw climb up the cliffs were not wearing any protective gear and that worried me. No rope, no helmets, no safety at all. The only thing that was keeping the people up against the cliff walls were themselves, and they alone were keeping themselves up against the walls. A lot of people climbed themselves, but a lot of people climbed with another person, but mostly they climbed solo. While canoeing, I was quite worried that one of the locals would fall, and judging how high they were on the cliffs, they could have reached a dark end, however, every local I saw climbing did not fall. So although I had a sense of security for myself from the cliffs, I also was worried for the security of the climbing locals. During my journey canoeing with my school, the sun got hot. Extremely hot. Since it was late June, the sun was glowing towards us and it did get unbearable at some points, being 40 to 50 degrees. Because it was hot, we had gone cliff jumping, but we cliff jumped from a random rock that was about 20 metres high. It was not too high, because we were all children at the time and under supervision. I didn’t blame our teachers for not wanting a trip to the hospital. I have a fear of falling, so this experience was very scary for me. I still went though with jumping off the rock, and I felt very proud that I was able to jump. Although I hesitated and I did get scared for my safety, I still managed to jump and I did not regret it. Throughout our travels for these two days, we had the most wonderful time. We all talked about the scenery, who had suncream and how bulky our arms would get from paddling so much. The whole time we travelled was very peaceful. Nobody said anything rude and everyone just enjoyed the scenery and the moment. We lived in the moment and loved it. To me, canoeing the Ardeche River is a moment I hold very close to me. The experience and place was breathtaking, and I loved it and took in every lasting moment I could.