Description:
Family Adventures Summer 2010

Introduction
Ardeche Adventures offers families the opportunity to have fun and create lasting memories together.

Our multi-activity holiday package offers five days of fully guided and instructed activities such as canoeing, kayaking, climbing, caving and high ropes.

We aim to give you the time and space to enjoy being together whilst challenging yourselves as individuals. No experience is necessary for any of our activities and you have the choice to make your holiday as active or as relaxing as you like.

With over twenty years experience of organizing and running trips in the Ardeche, we are well equipped to lead you and your family safely through a whirlwind of exciting adventures guaranteed to leave you with a lifetime of special memories!

Ardeche Adventures is located in the stunning Chassezac Gorge in the Cevenne’s region, mere minutes from its rivers secluded beaches and crystal waters.

The friendly campsite is family owned and well looked after, with a restaurant and bar on site as well as a beachside Pizzeria a short walk away. /www.lestournayres.ea26.com

Families are accommodated in fully equipped, spacious modern chalets each with a terrace for relaxing in the Ardeche sunshine.

There are several picturesque Medieval towns nearby; Banne, Joyeuse, Les Vans, Balazuc (an absolute must see and listed as one of the most beautiful villages in France). The tranquil Valgorge is just a 30 minute drive up the spectacular roads running along the Chassezac river.

Our adventure holidays are offered as self-catering and sampling fresh local food is a must.

There are lots of local market days to choose from, so plenty of opportunity to soak up the aromas and ambiance and to fill your basket with fresh produce, cheeses, saussison and perhaps a bottle of Ardeche wine! There is a fine selection of patisseries close by offering you an abundance of pastries that are the perfect accompaniment to a morning in the café, watching the world go by.
All the local towns have supermarkets, so it's easy to stock up your chalet with essential goodies.

We run our family holidays with a maximum of six families per week; this keeps it much more personal and fun for everybody and allows the bonus of meeting likeminded, adventurous families. We always photograph the weeks excitement and send you all of the images free of cost (Mike is also a professional photographer), so you get to treasure the memories forever.

We look forward to meeting you and your family
Kind Regards Mike, Phil, Tammy and Elvis

TYPICAL ITINERARY
Saturday
When you arrive at the Ardeche Adventure site, you will be greeted by us and guided you to your chalet. We understand that traveling can be exhausting, so after a short introduction you will have the day to relax and enjoy the sites many facilities! Bask by the pool with a cocktail, or perhaps a game of Petanque? We also offer guided walks most evenings in the stunning Chassezac Gorge, a lovely way to burn off the supper!

Sunday
You start the day by visiting our local morning market in Lablachere, a perfect way to meet the locals and get a feel for the area. The rest of the day is up to you, you could go on a trek which we will organise for you or otherwise just make the most of the river and spend the day swimming and sunbathing. If you fancy a kayak lesson down by the river we can arrange this too, maybe you would like to master the Eskimo Roll!

Monday
This is the first day of canoeing and is designed to prepare you for the full descent. You will complete a mini descent of 7 km in which you'll learn basic river safety and boat control whilst taking many opportunities to swim and rock jump along the way. The first day takes you through some of the rivers most exhilarating rapids and to top it all off you'll be paddling through the simply spectacular Pont D'Arc. On the way home you can visit the beautiful town of Vallon and sample some of its delights; ice cream stalls with a massive variety of flavors, shops tucked away in winding cobbled streets or simply visit one of the many bars and cafés and sip on a cold drink on the terrace. When we return to the campsite you'll be issued with your dry sacks and we’ll show you how to pack them with all you need. We recommend an early night in preparation for the 27 km decent of the Gorge!

Tuesday
After an early breakfast we return to the river to pick up from where we left off, now entering the gorge proper, fully equipped for the two-day descent. There’s no turning back from here and once on our way you really begin to appreciate the Magnitude and beauty of the Ardeche gorge. As well as negotiating the many rapids along the way we have time to swim and have lunch on the rivers edge.
By late afternoon we arrive at the bivouac site, prepare our sleeping area and light the BBQ. The site is fully equipped with a shower block and toilets, very civilsed! After eating and sharing a few river tales, its lights out when the sun drops; just the inky black sky and its millions of stars to gaze at as we slip off to sleep. We will provide tents and inflatable beds for anybody worried about an uncomfortable night, pure luxury!

Wednesday
After sleeping out under the stars we rise to the smell of hot chocolate and pancakes prepared by Mike and Phil.
Once we have loaded our dry sacks we set of for the final day of the descent ready to face more rapids and stunning scenery, oh, and nudists! (Thought it would be best to warn you.)
We arrive, exhausted, at the bottom of the gorge!
Over the three days we will have paddled 31 km of this amazing river, snoozing in the bus on the way back is tempting, but don't miss out on the wonderful views from the road, we will stop to take some snaps from the view points.

Thursday
A day at the high ropes course in Les Vans, this is a fantastic day of zip lines and high ropes challenges, see if you can get
through all five courses and keep up with the kids!

Friday
Climbing and Caving in the Chassezac Gorge. Our instructors will take you to the magnificent limestone cliffs and boulders in
Our local Gorge and get you climbing. In the afternoon we will also happily take you on a wonderful trek high above the river, with some family challenges on route.

Saturday
Departure day; hopefully a relaxed and sad farewell where we will see you on your way and hope to see you next year. Maybe you have caught the canoeing bug and will make it back later in the year for one of our adult kayak and adventure weeks!

Note: We can also organise alternative activities or excursions if you would like to try some other local sports such as canyoning, mountain biking, go carts or even a light aircraft flight over the Ardeche gorge. These additional activities will be charged at cost, let us know what you want to do and we will arrange it for you.

COSTS
Family Chalet package £1,750.00

Our Family Holidays are based on up to 5 persons sharing a chalet.
It includes 7 nights self-catering accommodation with all activities,
Canoeing, Kayaking, Climbing / Abseil, Caving, High ropes, and Guided treks. (Mountain bikes can be made available to hire)

Example: If you are a family of three, why not get another couple to join you? Just split the price!

What we do include:
Fully equipped chalets with sun terrace.
Instruction by fully qualified staff.
Five days of activities equipment and boat hire.
Shuttle bus travel from final day of Ardeche descent back to your vehicle.
Campsite facilities
Bivouac fees

What we do not include:
Travel to and from our site.
Travel between some activities (usually 30 minutes)
Insurance, (available on request).
Food and drink.

Alternative packages
Individual costs:
We don’t want to deter any size of family from experiencing our holidays, if you are a single parent, we can help you out and design an affordable package, just give us a call.

Adult price £495.00
Child price £395.00
Family tent package £1,500.00
Accommodation is in tents rather than chalets. Fitted with beds, lights and Fridge.
Family farmhouse package £2,200.00

Large family farmhouse, lovingly restored with four double bedrooms and set in ten acres of land with a swimming pool.

Getting Here
Travel by Road
From Calais we are 640 miles (using the French auto routes approx 12 hours drive).
Train Eurostar to Avignon, Momtelimar or Nimes
Flights Ryanair or Easyjet, to Nimes or Marseille respectively.

These destinations are within two hours of our site and car hire is available at all of the stations/airports. (Marseille Airport is two and a half hours) If you don’t have a vehicle and do not wish to hire one, just give us a call and we can arrange transfers, 0208 123 0076, Mike or Phil

Safety
We operate to the highest standards and conform to European National governing bodies codes of practice. We work to National Governing Body ratios (one qualified instructor to six participants).
We pride ourselves on our selection of staff as we hand pick and train our teams Personally. Our instructors are chosen ultimately for their maturity and professionalism, but we insist that they are blessed with a sense of adventure and fun. We operate a policy of transparency, and all staff/instructor details will be available to our guests upon request. All activities we provide, will be instructed and supervised by UK instructors.

Dates
Please email or call for the full 2010 dates
If you are interested in alternative dates, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
Mike Smith & Phil Gasson
info@ardecheadventures.com or tel: 0208 123 0076

Testimonials
The Conway Family
When my teenage children coerced me into an activity holiday, canoeing down the Ardeche, it must be said that my reaction to my husband was, "That is my idea of hell." As a confirmed wimp, neurotic mother and altogether non-outdoorsy type, I was dreading this little adventure. However, due to the excellent tuition, unparalleled safety, good company and wonderful scenery, believe it or not, I'm queuing up to do it all again! A wonderful experience! – Maria Conway aged 46

The campsite is in an idyllic area, authentically French, and the standards of safety and tuition for the children and us were excellent. I would recommend Ardeche Adventures to anyone wishing to experience high quality canoeing and kayaking- Sean Conway.

It was really fun with great scenery and quality instructing. – Finian aged 14

Superb safety, talented instructors and inspirational scenery all combined to make this the activity holiday of a lifetime- Emma Conway aged 16

The Bett Family
Phil, Mike, Mark
First, a big thank you from the Bett Family. We thoroughly enjoyed the week. Judging by the stories being recounted to grandparents and friends etc, it was a big success. However, either my memory is playing tricks or there may be a bit of exaggeration going on…… did Nick really have to help Mike traverse the cliff face….was Marinella hurled down stream by torrents of white water…….did Maddy tombstone into the river from 30 metres …… but I shall continue to dispute that Eleanor tight-rope walked harness-free between the trees!
We really had a good time with just the right blend of risk and adventure for a young/inexperienced family. It was great to learn and experience something new together. We are reasonably gung-ho (at least Nick, Eleanor and myself) but this was different from the standard ball sports as it was not competitive and it was something we could all share.
I think these are some of the attributes which you should stress in your future marketing. BUT the thing that differentiates you from the other options is, quite rightly, your focus on safety. Your approach to safety (at all times) should be the basis on which you build all the other activities. We all learnt from you that the activities we did were safe but only if you did them properly and that there must not be any compromise.

Once again, thanks for all your efforts and for showing us such a good time.
Regards
Tim on behalf of Marinella, Eleanor, Maddy and Nick

The Pendleton Family
Dear Phil & Mike,
I'm just writing to say how much my kids and nephew enjoyed the holiday. Everything, and I do mean everything, was just brilliant!
The boys have such good, fun memories of the kayaking, Camping, Climbing and, dare I say it, the nudists!!!
The scenery and landscape, like your attention to detail and safety on the trip, were truly exceptional. I haven't stopped going on about what a great time we had to all my friends and family. Despite it being quite hard at times kayaking into the wind it did the boys a world of good.

Thanks a lot guys for such a brilliant holiday.
Best wishes,
Dave, George and Joe Pendleton & Matthew

Gentilli Family
Nick here
Delighted!
“Whilst trawling the internet for a possible adventure I stumbled across Ardeche adventures. Well they looked an interesting group and I must say for once my fears about blind internet dates were never even remotely realized. They were a tremendous team full of good cheer and professionalism even when dealing with our teenage children and their ambitions, diplomatic and friendly - they gave us a wonderful descent of the Ardeche river and never were we in the slightest concerned as we felt really well looked after. Their off piste excursions were the delight of any teenage boy or girl of which we had four and we were able to stay in their farmhouse as well. All in all I would thoroughly recommend them to all and sundry if you are looking for that little bit of spice mixed in with an easy nature, service minded approach and a real sense of professionalism – they get my vote.”
Nicholas Gentilli
And I mean it…..

Kirkpatrick Family
Our time with you guys was voted by Sarah and the kids as our best holiday ever. Competing with Orlando, Caribbean, skiing etc.
For the kids it was down to the activities but also in great part how they were treated as grown ups by your team..
Regards
Willie Kirkpatrick August 2008