Travelling down the seine on an inflatable stand up paddle

At the end of the 5th day I camp just after Nogent-Sur-Seine. This is an important stage because I come across the first barges that will be part of my experience as far as Paris. I have to deal with the waves they generate. After a short period of adjustment, I find it pretty fun when the barges pass by. I adopt the same technique as skiing downhill through moguls, with my knees well flexed, and everything goes smoothly.~I make better progress after Nogent. The Seine is still relatively wild even if it is much wider and deeper than when I started. The current is stronger as well. I progress more slowly than I had originally planned. I often have to deal with headwind that is so strong it literally stops me from moving at all in some places. Light boats are not permitted to pass through the locks and so I lose precious time carrying all my equipment (about 40 kg) and finding somewhere suitable for getting back on the water. I stay as determined as ever though. I continue to paddle for more than 10 hours a day.~Every time I have to take the board out of the water and set up my trolley, I have to detach my watertight bags . I pull my board along on the trolley for several hundred metres. I put the board back on the water and re-attach all the equipment. Even the shortest distance over which I have to carry everything takes at least thirty minutes and requires lots of energy. ~  ~At the end of the 6th day, I have to face the fact that I am running too much behind schedule to complete my journey in the allocated time. I put a brave face on things and decide to go for a pick & drop in the car to make up for lost time. I am unable to allocate the necessary time to extending this trip for various reasons.~The first is that I have not got the necessary authorisation for crossing Paris. Priority is given to commercial navigation, and the authorities are unlikely to grant me authorisation, even as a one-off. So I will cross Paris with my board and equipment, but I’ll be on a motor boat from Alfortville to Puteaux. It would have been lovely if it hadn’t been absolutely tipping down in a way that only happens rarely… And I set off again.

After Paris and from day 7 to day 12, the sun comes back out. It still isn’t very warm, but is much more tolerable. The only downside is that in the bends of the Seine, I often have to deal with a strong headwind. I progress much more quickly than in the first week, but these strong gusts of wind still take a lot of my strength and energy. Instead of covering around forty kilometres a day, I am now up to nearly fifty. The Seine is wide and deep. I no longer have to get off the board at all unless I need to carry it. In fact, the physical effort required is not the same and my body, or more precisely my arms, have to adapt to this daily rhythm again.~Luckily I am sleeping well at night and I continue to really make the most of these moments in nature. The weather carries on improving little by little. It hardly rains at all now. The landscapes change with medieval towns such as Vernon or Les Andélys following on from each other and adding a cultural touch to my journey. I’ll have to come back to enjoy a bit of real tourism!~ ~As I get close to Rouen and right up to the Pont de Normandie, the novelty I am confronted with is the presence of much larger boats, container ships, cruise ships and tankers, which generate such enormous waves that sometimes I have to kneel down on my board to avoid falling. Paddling in a kneeling position is also the technique I use to progress against the headwind on some sections of the river. In this way, I reduce my exposure to the wind and wear myself out a bit less, despite the uncomfortable position. Slowly but surely, I become aware of my accumulated fatigue and my breaks get longer and longer, in spite of myself.~ 

I haven’t given up collecting litter. I have noticed that the amount of litter and the range of discarded objects has increased since Paris. The most obvious are the incalculable numbers of condoms and sanitary towels. Again, this is really upsetting. It is a consolation of sorts to observe how diverse and abundant the fauna is: herons, ducks, swans, egrets and coypu can all be spotted over the entire journey. This is reassuring. It would be lovely to be able to observe without them being surrounded by plastic bags. Despite the fact that my litter collection is a minute gesture, I carry on. I think that even the small amount I am able to collect is helpful and if it inspires a maximum number of people to do the same, we will all contribute to protecting our immediate surroundings. When I reach Rouen, I have covered more than 450 kilometres using just the strength in my arms to travel through magnificent landscapes. I arrive in the city right at the end of the day, the 11th day since my departure. In theory I have another 125 km to cover, which is too much to do in just one day. So I accept that I will have to resort to a second pick & drop, as the shooting commitments for the film of my adventure mean that I have to complete my journey the following day. I camp for the last time on the banks of the Seine, a river which I now feel that I know intimately. It has given me so many wonderful things. In my head I can clearly see the landscapes and I know that sometimes the river pushed me to reveal my inner strength, once again taking me beyond my limits to continue to make progress. It was also the source of some wonderful chance encounters, such as the incredibly welcoming couple who put me up for the night during the Maisons-Laffitte stage of the journey. And also all the river dwellers who gave me the benefit of their advice and experience. I spent time talking to impromptu supporters who found out about my adventure on the spot. With the exception of a few lock-keepers and barrage managers who don’t view small craft kindly, I have always been made to feel welcome and received encouragement. ~ 

Friday 5th July, a few weeks after the end of my trip on the Seine and I had been looking forward to this day with impatience. Early in the day, I join the Itiwit teams on the premises of the Decathlon Watersports Center in Hendaye to tell them all about my adventure and share my feedback with the equipment designers. I am greeted by Jérôme, the Ambassador Manager for the brand with whom I have been in close contact since I started preparing for my trip. Itiwit’s idea is toimprove equipment on the basis of user feedback on their product in use in extreme conditions, and the idea for me is to come up with potential new adventures as part of this partnership. The team makes me feel really welcome. I understand straight away that these are people who are passionate about what they do. With about sixty photos to help illustrate, I tell them all about my trip. The discussion is enriched with loads of questions, all of which are precise and relevant, and take place in a friendly atmosphere. I can see that they absorb all the details that will enable them to develop new ideas. The end of the morning is spent visiting the site. Jérôme explains how they operate in detail. I gain a better understanding of how they manage to produce high-quality equipment at an affordable price.  I subjected the equipment to severe testing over the course of my 12-day trip on the Seine and overall, everything survived the shock. The watertight bags enabled me to keep my clothes dry despite the endless capsizing at the beginning of the trip. The board has suffered some scratches, some of which are deep, but didn't prevent me from progressing. There’s no doubt about it, it’s really solid stuff. On the site, the teams have their offices, of course, but they also have several workshops where they can build prototypes from A to Z. They can then test the equipment immediately. Their premises are ideally located next to the sea. They design, they test immediately, they adapt, they test again, it all happens really quickly... For each piece of equipment, a product manager, an engineer and a a designer work together as a close team. At the beginning of the afternoon I talk to Antoine and Adrien, the two team leaders. In terms of the new touring board that Itiwit is launching next year, I explain what I would change in comparison with the board I used. Nearly all of my suggestions had already been implemented thanks to feedback from other Itiwit ambassadors. These discussions between product designers and creators and product users are very definitely extraordinary moments of sharing. This day of sharing and discussing with an ultra dynamic team filled me with enthusiasm. Now I’ve got loads of ideas for preparing my next adventure with the support of the Itiwit by Decathlon teams. Working in direct contact with this team undeniably opens up the field of opportunity. I’m filled with a burning desire to head back out onto the water!