Main content
Sorry, this episode is not currently available

With the Seine now officially declared too dangerous for a rowing boat, Charles Timoney continues his journey in a converted Parisian tourist boat.

Charles Timoney is an English writer, with a French wife, living in France.

After showing a group of friends the rowing boat he has spent the last six months building, Charles - possibly unwisely - accepts a challenge to travel the entire length of the River Seine from source to the sea, using the boat where he can, to discover the true France.

But it proves rather more difficult than he imagined. Not all of the Seine is navigable by rowing boat, so he sets sail into an unvarnished France on a variety of craft, hitching lifts in everything from a converted Parisian tourist boat to a sailing boat with no mast. He even tries out an amphibious vehicle.

Along the way he encounters St猫phane (a carp fisherman with a very strange habit), grapples with rapids and stubborn cattle, rescues a couple when their sailing dinghy capsizes, and discovers that rowing in the dark is more frightening than he first thought.

Written by Charles Timoney
Abridged by Libby Spurrier

Reader: Mark Heap
Producer: Joanna Green

A Pier Production for 麻豆社 Radio 4.

15 minutes

Credits

Role Contributor
Reader Mark Heap
Producer Joanna Green
Abridger Libby Spurrier
Writer Charles Timoney

Broadcasts

  • Wed 12 Jun 2013 09:45
  • Thu 13 Jun 2013 00:30
  • Wed 30 May 2018 14:45
  • Thu 31 May 2018 02:45

Listen to more Audio Books

Listen to more Audio Books

Including My Sister The Serial Killer, Queenie, The Flatshare and more.

Opening Lines

Opening Lines

John Yorke unpacks the themes behind the stories in Radio 4's weekend afternoon dramas.

Sample our books and authors Clip Collection

Interviews, previews and reviews

Subscribe to the Short stories podcast

Featuring the best stories from the UK's finest writers

How many of these 100 Novels have you read?

How many of these 100 Novels have you read?

After a passionate debate, our panel has come up with this surprising literary selection.

Finding Your Story

Finding Your Story

Ten remarkable novels about identity: Which one will help you discover yourself?

麻豆社 Arts: Books

Celebrating reading and the 100 novels that have shaped our world.