La Belle France

I've done it. I've booked my crossing - Dover to Dunkirk £38 return (how cheap is that?). My lad is taking his own car so that we can carry more gear and just as important, we can go and do our own thing should the urge be felt.

We are leaving on the last few days of September for two weeks and are heading for the south of France and the river Lot.

Neil spent four of the coldest weeks of last winter living in his bivvy whilst doing a work experience on a Kent gravel pit. As you can see, he is made of stern stuff and can do two weeks in a tent without breaking sweat. Me, well I'm getting soft in my old age and the thought of two weeks without a fridge or shower is beyond me. So the plan is to bivvy up and fish my pants off for three or four days then, leaving Neil to it if he wants, I head off to my gite just a few hundred yards away. There I can get myself sorted, relax for a day as necessary, and fish as much as I like. Now that's the sort of roughing it I can handle.

Why the Lot? Well I have been doing my homework on the French rivers as well as the climate. It seems that October is usually warm with low rain fall in that region (fingers crossed but I'll take a coat just in case). The river holds plenty of carp that, according to a mate that's fished there, are obliging and feed during the day. There's also stacks of barbel and, for those night session, bleeding great big catfish. Also, unlike most of France, there are extensive reaches of the river where you can legally night fish.

The preparation is well underway. I've bought us a spod rod each to use on the cats. I know that a shorter uptide job would probably be better but the spod rod will get used on the pits in the future. As well as tackle I've bought some walkie talkies that can be charged up in the car. If you have never used them walkie talkies are a great help when you are fishing with a mate. Phone charges are quite high abroad so there will be no need to make calls or texts and for the drive down, especially around Paris, I think that they will easily pay for themselves.

There is much more to arrange and much more to buy but the plans are well in place. To say that we are both looking forward to it is something of an understatement and I shall no doubt be talking about it more in the future.