Kayaking, In the footsteps of Murat

Born in Normandy to a military father from the Var and a mother from Lorraine, Florence Cariou recalls Djibouti as her very first memory of real contact with the sea: "I arrived there at the age of 7 and learned to swim. A year and a half later, the family moved to the Eure where, she says "I often went wandering in the forest. Nature has always been my refuge".

The young girl passed her baccalaureate and joined the geology school in Nancy where she met her husband.

I have always been passionate about rocks... Minerals, first, discovered inthe volcanic territory of Djibouti, then, the fossils that I was going to collect on my return to Normandy.

During her BTStraining as a geologist-prospector, she went on field training courses : "It corresponded exactly to my state of mind: close contact with nature and discovery of a region " . The professional reality brings her back to the laboratory of a large mining group. "I was in charge of the enrichment of ores. But this lab life did not suit me. After 10 years, Florence resigned and began training in naturopathy in Paris. "I started to be interested in it for myself, to understand this other way of managing health and then I made it my profession".

The couple, who got married in 1985, adopted a little boy in Bulgaria in 1995. They spent 35 years in the Paris suburbs. "First in a new town, but fortunately on the edge of a forest, then in the Chevreuse Valley where I got back in touch with nature. It confirmed to me that I should not move away from it! In 2010, while the couple was in the Var to attend the funeral of Florence's father, her husband suffered a serious stroke. Her family hosted Florence in Toulon, and, to take her mind off things, took her for a walk at Anse Magaud.

And there, she says, the memory intact: I was hooked! It was obvious, I said to myself "This is it! ".

From operations to periods of convalescence and re-education, it will take six years for the couple to concretize a common project. "We decided to give up everything to come and live in Pradet in 2016".

As she has always done, "because it is the best way to know the place where we live ," she is involved in associations and the life of the town : the local interest committee, the hiking club, the Museum of the mine of Cap Garonne.

Then I took up kayaking and joined the club in Le Pradet. A corner so exceptional, insists Florence, that one immediately wants to protect it!

Today she is a member of the club's board and is in charge of links with the Port-Cros National Park, where she has just joined the board of directors.

Within the kayak club, we are aware of the need to respect theenvironment and we are committed to a different kind of tourism, so it was logical to apply for the Esprit Parc Nationallabel for two of our discovery outings: "By kayak, In the footsteps of Murat", a trip from the Garonne to Toulon, and "By kayak, Towards the Bau Rouge", a trip from the Garonne to the mine. In both cases, we give to discover natural sites often inaccessible by land, by evoking their history, their natural wealth and the famous people who are attached to them... Experiences that are lived as a privilege, because to have traveled, I can say that this place is really extraordinary, on par with the most beautiful places on the planet!"