Thrill Seeking in Normandy!

Posted by Rosie

One of the things we most pride ourselves on here at Eco-Gites of Lenault is offering our guests peace and quite, time to relax and get away from it all for a while.  We have no immediate neighbours (if you don't count the animals) and the nearest road is 300m away .... and it is incredibly quiet anyway!

But what if you are looking for something a bit more exciting?  What if you want to get your heart racing?  Fear not, we can oblige.  Well, not us personally but around and about there is plenty to do that will get the adrenalin pumping thorough your veins.

Horse riding 

There are 2 local riding stables where you can walk, trot or canter round the local footpaths or why not head up to the beach at Ouistreham where you'll get to gallop along the beaches?  Guests last year said it was the most invigorating ride they had ever had!

Photo from Calvados Tourism

Mountain biking 

Bring your own bike or you can hire them in Clécy and enjoy the ups and downs of our beautiful Normandy countryside.

Kayaking and Canoeing 

If water sports is your thing you can canoe or kayak on both rivers and lakes locally.  For children under 8 you can take the more gentle route of pédalos, rowing or even electric boats! 

Rock climbing

On the cliffs above Clécy there are a number of marked ascents you can do - bring your ropes etc and up you go!

Via Ferrata cliff walk and zip wire 

If you don't have your own climbing gear then why not do the cliff-side walk also at Clécy - climb up narrow ladders set into the cliff and then across the cliff face on a series of rope and plank walk getting back to ground level via a 250m zip wire.  It sets my heart racing just thinking about it but the boys, friends and Simon all had a go last Summer and said it was fantastic!

Tree top walks 

For more high walking what about a treetop walk?  There are various locations locally where routes have been set high up in the tops of the trees and those a bit lower down for younger children, so you can to feel like our ancestors up in the tree tops (with the added benefit of ropes to clip you safely on!).  A great family outing for those who like heights!

Viaduct de Souleuvre 

Here things are a bit more serious!  For everyone there is a giant toboggan run - 1km long where you can reach speeds of up to 42kms per hour.  For the more daring souls what about the 2 giant swings over 60m above the ground where you can swing from 0-120 km/phr in 3.5 seconds?  However possibly the biggest attraction at Souleuvre is bungee jumping.  For those foolish brave enough you can throw yourself off the Viaduct down to the river blow with nothing more than a giant piece of knicker elastic to save you! Would you do it?

Photo from AJ Hackett

Paragliding

Or what about what may be the ultimate thrill and what one of our guests this weekend did - paragliding at Saint Omer!  This is possibly the world's most appallingly edited video but I think you'll get an idea of what you could be doing if you had a go.  Are you brave enough to try?

If thrill seeking is what you are after then there is plenty to do in Normandy.  Some of these activities have age restrictions and others are for adults only but a lot (riding, biking, tree top walks, boating and the giant toboggan) are possible even with very young children.

Do you enjoy thrill seeking?  Have you set your heart racing doing any of these activities?  Please do let us know!  

And to book a holiday at Eco-Gites of Lenault head over to our Gite website right now!! http://www.eco-gites.eu/