Trip to Ceou and Campagne in France

I've just got back from a nice relaxing holiday in south-west France! My other half, Emily, booked it and the main purpose was to eat, sleep and sunbathe. That said, I couldn't resist popping to two nearby crags and seeing what they had to offer.

The first place we visited was Ceou – more information available here. There is also some information in French here (or you can try the Google translation) The camp site shop sells a full topo guide for seven euros. We wandered up to the crag and were able to identify the climbs easily enough, in fact most had the route name painted on at the start in red ink! The standard looked pretty tough with only a few climbs available at F4 – F5.

The second place we went to was Canpagne – more information in French here (or try the Google translation). Finding the crag from the car park (located opposite the camp site) was very straightforward as it was signposted all the way! There was a beginners area with plenty of short climbs (about 15ft) all in the range F4 – F5. I managed to get up a couple of those without too much difficulty. The main crag itself is harder. I got half way up the easiest looking route before backing off. The main crag is significantly higher at about 30ft – 50ft.

On another day we went kayaking on the Dordogne. We hired two kayaks from Conoe Detente located at Port d'Enveaux. They took us by minibus 28km upstream and then we paddled back downstream at a leisurely pace. There were numerous places along the way where we could pull over to have a drink and/or snack. It was a really enjoyable day out and I would recommend it to anyone.

I will definitely make a return visit to Ceou and Campagne (after some training). The camp site at Ceou looked like a lovely place to stay (and included a swimming pool). Furthermore, a cheap Ryanair flight in to Bergerac combined with approx 1.5 hours drive in a hire car should make the trip doable as a long weekend!