Didier, president of the Canoe-Kayak de Montataire

Each month, we invite you to discover the Creil Sud Oise area in a different way through the portrait of 12 Tourism Ambassadors who act daily for tourism in the south of the Oise!

Didier Firon

President of the Montataire Canoe-Kayak Club

When you think of Canoeing, you immediately think of the Ardèche and its rapids. And yet, it is in the Oise region that we meet DidierPresident of the Montataire Canoe-Kayak Club. This gardener by trade, a former marathon runner (-3h!) reconverted to Canoe-Kayak, has taken his whole family into this discipline: his wife and children are also part of the adventure. Between white water slalom and riverbank maintenance, Didier has made kayaking his passion for 15 years!

The Therain as a playground (we dared)

You don't have to travel 700km to the Ardèche to go canoeing! In the Oise, 3 clubs offer descents on the Thérain rapidsA tributary of the Oise, which rises in Normandy and flows into the Oise at Saint-Leu-d'Esserent: one is in Beauvais, the other in Hermes and the last in Montataire.

The city of Montataire Canoe-Kayak Clubprovides boats for use the general public for half-day or full-day discovery walksfrom Mello to Montataire (15 km). This is where their premises and equipment are located. These unusual walksunaccompanied, will allow you to discover a green landscape through forests and meadows.

And if you have been convinced by the walk, why not make canoeing your weekly sport? The club meets with its sixty or so members, aged from 7 to 60, every Tuesday evenings and Saturday afternoons for runs or competition training. Thanks to the town of Montataire, which supports the club's projects, a slalom courses has been set up on the Thérain and courses are given in the pool. These courses (from September to April), which are very much appreciated by novices, allow them to immerse themselves (we dared to do it again!) completely in this sport, to discover the boat, the paddle, the skirt and to understand more easily the falls in the water They are more likely to learn to turn around or to pull themselves out of the skirt (eskimo roll) in a calm environment such as the pool, rather than in the middle of rapids! And once in the rapids, the fall is no longer scary!

You can make a half-day trialor you register throughout the year for 3 to 12 monthsaccording to your wishes. You can also to meet the club at the Forum des associations of the city of Montatairewhich takes place every year in September.

If you are interested in a simple walk, please call 06 17 54 83 09. Please note: the club has 3 volunteer instructors who take care of the discovery trips in their free time. It is possible that they will not respond immediately to your request, so please be patient and understanding!

An unrecognised role

If you can imagine the instructors welcoming us, presenting the boats, the equipment and the rudiments of canoeing, there is a role that we probably don't imagine: the maintenance of the banks.

This is a little-known and not very obvious role that the club's members take on in order to guarantee the passage of boats on the river. Regularly, and in particular before each discovery trip offered to the general public, Members travelled along the Thérain and cut up the collapsed wood across the bank to clear access.

The club also participates in a major river clean-up They practice, in partnership with the city of Montataire and other associations: each year, many garbage bags are filled with waste that is recovered and taken care of by the city.