Life on the Lot

It’s the beginning of spring in Southwest France. Armed with shopping bags crowded with fresh bread, seasonal cheese, and local wine from the nearby village of Douelle we awaited our Le Boat briefing among the boats moored neatly along the dock. Purple, white, and yellow wildflowers filled the banks of the river and the sun was glistening off the water. We were ready to explore the Lot River waterway via canal boat, our new home for the next seven days.
Sourced from the mountains near Bleymard, the Lot River runs west just under 500 kilometres before joining the Garonne River, and together they meander their way to the Atlantic.
The Lot waterway has a colourful history with a recorded past reaching back to Roman times. Remains from antiquity, forgotten English strongholds from the Hundred Years’ War, and Gallic castle remnants can still be seen near the river today.

While planning our trip, we were drawn to the Lot by its dramatic landscape, picturesque châteaux, and its calm local appeal. There is a real artisan focus that exists in the villages of the Lot, such as the celebrated white wheels of Rocamadour cheese and the rich Malbec wine from Cahors, the village where the Malbec grape came to prominence over 2000 years ago. There is meaningful history in the food and wine of this region, and we couldn’t wait to experience it.

Horizon 4

Le Boat has a wide range of boats in their fleet to suit both small and large groups. We chose the Horizon 4, a purpose-built 44ft vessel ideally suited to navigate the Lot River. Designed to accommodate up to nine people it suited our party of eight adults and a baby with ease.
The main saloon is an open plan set-up offering plenty of natural light from the surrounding windows and a complete kitchen along the starboard side. The boat was equipped with two fridges, and we found this to be the perfect balance with one for everyday use and the other filled with local cheese, cured meats, and beer and wine we sourced along the way. The Horizon 4 is equipped with four cabins, each complete with ensuite bathrooms, and there is a convertible settee in the saloon to accommodate an extra guest, which was me in this instance as we had a baby cot set up in one of the cabins with my wife. There are steering wheels on the lower and upper deck and the boat is equipped with bow and stern thrusters for easy handling. The upper deck was our favourite place to enjoy the surrounding scenery. Offering commanding views, the upper deck has a sunbathing area positioned towards the foredeck, a family style built-in table with seating towards the stern, and a BBQ hotplate for good times on the water. A perfect setting for enjoying the long, late sunsets of spring.

Liberté

Although the boats may seem large, they are easy to drive and no license is required. The Le Boat team gave us a comprehensive run-down of the boat and its systems followed by a practical lesson before we began our trip.
No experience is necessary. We were provided an itinerary along with a thick binder packed with helpful navigation material and a guide for the local patisseries, châteaux, and restaurants to visit along the waterway.
As the skipper of your own boat the itinerary is optional, and you are free to explore the villages and sights at your own pace. A late morning stroll through the village of Vers to view the remains of an ancient Roman aqueduct on the way to the local patisserie for coffee and a croissant? No problem. A midday visit to a 13th century château in Mercuès? Easy. Dinner at 9pm in time for the sunset on the top of Saint-Cirq Lapopie, why not? We had the flexibility to decide where and when to stop for a glass of wine at a local château and we could choose which village to visit on our own schedule. We made a plan to navigate up the Lot River to Saint-Cirq Lapopie and back to Douelle over the following seven days, visiting the various villages as we meandered along. All of this and more awaited us but first, let’s discuss the locks of the Lot.

Egalité

Navigating the Lot River from Douelle to Saint-Cirq Lapopie and back requires passage through a series of manually operated locks except for one which was automated and activated with a supplied key. The locks act as a type of water elevator leveraging water displacement in small chambers for the boats, with gates at either end.

The locks of the Lot have evolved over hundreds of years to enable boats to navigate beyond the weirs built during the 15th and 16th centuries to power local water mills. Over the course of seven days, we negotiated 13 different locks and discovered the real key to opening the passage of the locks is the crew.
We took turns opening and closing gates and sluices, skippering the boat, and holding lines. After the second lock we made each lock passage into a competition, measuring who could open their sluice box first, which team could open and close gates the fastest, or which skipper could guide the boat with the most ease. We all quickly became comfortable with navigating the locks and skippering the boat even though it was the first time any of us had skippered a canal boat. We all had an equal share in navigating the Lot River and looked forward to each new day of cruising.
Our cruising time was never boring; there was always something to do or a new sight to see as the river changed from lush tree lined forests to cascading limestone cliffs gilded with wild iris and red poppies. In Cahors we found a true gem: Le Pont Valentré is one of the most famous fortified bridges in the country and among the most impressive locks on the Lot. Legend holds that the architect of the bridge sold his soul to the Devil to complete it on time and in the end, he tricked the Devil out of honouring his end of the bargain. To this day on the top middle tower, a small demon can be seen attempting in vain to dismantle the stones of the bridge.

Villages

Fables of trickery aside, it was the straightforward and honest nature of the Lot and its communities that we came to love.

One afternoon we paid a visit to Vincent, an independent winemaker at Domaine Dols in Saint Géry. There was no reservation required, no line to wait in, and no fees for taste testing. Instead, we found ourselves in a beautiful stone building accented with wooden beams weathered by the centuries. Fresh from the vineyard, Vincent greeted us with a cheeky smile as he dusted off his working clothes and began to pour the fruits of his labours.

Vincent and his family have been making wine here for five generations and it showed in the quality of the wine he produced. In this bucolic setting with Vincent’s guidance, we enjoyed tasting seven different wines from Chenin Blanc to Malbec, while discussing the wines with the principal winemaker himself. The word artisan is thrown around lightly these days but here in the Lot the artisanal culture is alive and well. In each village we visited we found local goods created by independent generational producers without the premium price tag. There was a real equity and respect for independence that we felt in the Lot and you could see the passion the producers placed in their work.

Fraternité

After our first patisserie visit, we gave up on the shopping bag and used the largest backpack we had to work on our daily patisserie run.  Each morning, we gathered around the table to enjoy a full spread of freshly baked flaky butter croissants, traditional baguettes, and fluffy brioche goodies while we discussed the day ahead.

In a typical day we would spend just over three and a half hours of cruising to our next destination. There was nothing rushed or fast paced about the way we enjoyed our trip, and this allowed us to take in our surroundings and notice the details. We saw otters, jumping trout, and gadwall ducks as we cruised along. In the trees and brush lining the waterway we could often hear the bird calls of chaffinches, wagtails, and serins chattering away. The birds shared the sky with cottonwood seeds floating through the air, like ethereal white snow, eventually settling down and taking their place among the vibrant wildflowers that lined the banks of the river.
With the relaxed pace and our flexible schedule, we found little use for our phones and enjoyed conversations over cheese and white wine. We took the boat trip with family and close friends but as always, we were blown away with the community that is consistently found and enjoyed in boating. In Vers we met a group of Germans visiting from Bavaria, and they shared their favourite Bavarian craft beer with us which they had flown in from home for the trip. If other boaters felt you needed help with a lock or a mooring, ready hands were there to assist. After the lock of Bouziès we helped save a drowned drone and returned it to fellow boaters from Austria. We looked forward to catching up with the other boaters to discuss villages to visit, favourite places to eat, and sights to see. We met a family from Lyon, France who had taken five different canal boat trips and another group who enjoyed the canal boat trips so much that the Lot River was their tenth trip with Le Boat. They had experienced canal boat trips across Europe from France to Scotland and they were already dreaming of a trip to Canada for their next adventure.

Fine dining

On our final day we treated ourselves to a Michelin Star-rated three course dining experience in a 13th century château overlooking the river valley and the vineyards below. The menu was the size of a large letter focussed on fresh seasonal plates. Next came the wine menu, a 33-page booklet listing the region’s finest wine by year. The priorities were clear and despite the Michelin Star-rated food, the wine was the star of the show.
The freedom to skipper our own boat and to explore this incredible waterway for ourselves, at our own chosen pace and route, was unlike any other trip our well-travelled group had experienced. We looked forward to navigating the Lot River together each day and taking in the stunning scenery and surrounding community of the region as it unfolded beyond each river bend. Life felt a little simpler and a lot less complicated. Wherever we went we felt welcome, and in a small way we felt a part of this beautiful place. The remarkable architecture we saw, the thoughtful food we enjoyed, and the artisan wine we drank brought a refreshed perspective to notice the finer details.
Celebrated artist Pablo Picasso, who drew inspiration from the South of France, summed up our experience succinctly: “The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls”. A helpful reminder that perhaps art is not something restricted to a canvas but is instead a mindset to appreciate the little things that bring us joy every day.

The author was a guest of Le Boat.

Photos by Hannah Webb, Daniel Small, Peter Webb and Suzy Bekkedahl