What better way to spend a summery day than on the water? And I found a new activity so that we could do just that and tested it with the twins. At Obouées in Ceyras near Clermont-l’Hérault, you can rent individual rubber tubes with paddles to go tubing on the Lergue river. Lots of fun in a lush, green setting guaranteed!
Inflatable tubes
Like every summer, I set myself the goal of discovering new activities around the area. And hopefully this year, time won’t fly by in a flash. Therefore, I had already planned the first day trip with the twins at the start of their holidays. The weather has been consistently great, so I figured an activity involving water would be the best. We headed to Ceyras, a small village only 10 minutes from the Lac du Salagou and a short half-hour drive from Montpellier. Here, Obouées rents out inflatable tubes to anyone over 9 years old. To be sure, I had made a reservation online (24 euros for 13 years and older, 19 euros for 9 to 13 years old). Departure times are every half hour between 10h30 and 14h00. We first received a short explanation and then were driven to the start of the Route du Moulin course.
Whirling around
Arriving at the Moulin de Rabieux, we had to walk a couple of minutes to reach the river. Carrying our tubes was kind of a challenge, wearing a helmet, lifejacket, container and paddle. But it was only a short walk before we reached the magical setting of the 17th century mill along the Lergue river. The 4 kilometres ahead of us had an estimated time of 2.5 hours without lunch and swimming. As I had brought a picnic, the twins and I took our time and spent about 4 hours on and in the water. Floating along the river with an inflatable tube (a ‘bouée’ in French) felt different than a kayak. The pace is slower, and the movements are more flexible. Especially the rapids that we came across and that made us whirl around! Nothing too scary though, most of the time we lazily paddled through the relaxing and stunning landscape.
Highlights
As the Lergue river flows near the Lac du Salagou, you will see its characteristic red rocks along the river. On the way, there are more points of interest. The people from Obouées marked them on a map I left in the storage container, so I couldn’t check while on the water… However, the highlights were hard to miss, like the former railway bridge and the Roche Trouée (the rock with holes). To see the Caverne Ruisselante with its source dripping into the water, you have to go up a river branch. Only one part of the route scared me, namely the waterfall at the dam of ‘la Planque’. It’s not very high, but the last one coming down it gets stuck in the current. Only by pushing with your paddle can you free yourself. However, if you want, you can skip this part by descending the dry part of the dam.
