Very close to our French villa there’s canoe hire and boat rental at Chateau Rogé and marina. Turn right on the D661 Villeneuve road by the sign to La Grace [the leisure site sign is actually facing the other direction!] and follow the road as far as you can go
www.ville-villeneuve-sur-lot.fr/base-de-roge.php
Chateau de Rogé has basket ball, golf, archery and canoeing for 10-16 year olds in the weekday school holidays
Even if you don’t enrol, it’s a good place to have an ice cream on a hot day and watch all the boating nonsense. Or just walk round the beautiful grounds
If you do rent a boat, you can get up and downstream for about 45 minutes; downstream through the 13 meter deep Villeneuve hydro electric power station lock; or upstream through the ecluse de Lustrac – a lock and mill in the middle of the river. You can also hire boats from Port de Penne by the hour, half day, day
Both locks are worth a visit by car if you don’t have a boat. Take one of the lefts on the road to Villeneuve past LeClerc to find Villeneuve lock and hydroelectric station. Drive down to the river from the village of Trentels on the Fumel road to find the Ecluse de Lustrac
There’s another canoe place a little further upstream on the Lot @ Puy l’Evique – but the Dordogne is much better for canoeing
