Parallel Worlds: The Land of Rénamont

If you read my last blog post (thank you), you may be surprised by today’s title. What? No reference to our cycle ride along the Dordogne extension of the Flow Vélo?

There’s a reason for that.

With a 5-day bank holiday weekend ahead of us, we’d decided to do the return cycle ride of 220km from Thiviers to Sarlat and back, which worked out at a reasonable 50km per day. The weather forecast was perfect, our camping equipment was packed and our bikes jumped eagerly onto their new bike carrier. We set off on Wednesday morning in our car for the Perigord Vert…

… And were swept into a parallel world.

Let me explain. Some places and people are irresistible, so when we were invited to help clean, repair and improve one such place during the long weekend, we were keen to participate, albeit for a few hours. It was in the Dordogne, near Brantôme. We would make a short detour and pop in on our way to Thiviers.

This magical place is one we discovered on a bike ride in 2020: La Guinguette de Rénamont. It’s a riverside bar, restaurant and campsite, open only in the summer, where you can hire canoes, bathe in the Dronne river (no supervision) or laze on the beach, enjoy fortnightly concerts, play pétanque, volleyball or ping-pong – or simply chill out.

If that sounds idyllic, it gets better: set at the end of a long track, far from any houses, the environment is natural and there’s no mobile reception.

Instead of screen-scrolling, people actually talk to each other and kids play together, making for a convivial atmosphere. A parallel world, right?

For the last two years, friends of ours have been managing the family business: two sisters, Léa and Vanille, and their respective partners Olivier and Michel. The sisters fell into the Land of Rénamont when they were children – a little like Obélix and the magic potion – and spent their childhood summers there.

‘Time stands still at Rénamont,’ says Léa. And she’s right. Time stood so still for us that… well, I’ll explain later.

The guinguette was buzzing with activity when we arrived. Over fifty people were working hard in the sun: painting walls, replacing kitchen tiles, repairing gutters, weeding the pétanque court (by hand – no weedkiller here). The river had reclaimed the building during the winter, leaving mud and debris to be cleaned away ready for the June opening. Even a flock of sheep were doing their bit by munching away the long grass.

We began with a delicious meal – in true French style – prepared by Olivier. Having worked in London and Australia, he’s bilingual as well as being the guinguette cook.

The restaurant serves veggie meals as well as standard French cuisine.

Bar snacks, including local ice creams from La Ferme Texier-Pichot, are also available.

It sounds as if I’m advertising for Rénamont. Rest assured, I’m not – they don’t need it! It’s just that I love the glorious wildness and timeless atmosphere of this spot.

After helping clear the meal, I checked out the centre of operations: The Blackboard, where the list of jobs was to be found.

With fifty volunteers to manage, the clean-up exercise could have been a headache for Lea, Olivier, Vanille and Michel. But everything seemed to happen naturally. We chose a job that matched our skills, found someone to help us, did it and then crossed it out. Simple, eh?

There’s nothing like working together to catch up with friends and get to know new people. I won’t bore you with the details of everything the teams accomplished. But, come the evening, we still hadn’t caught up properly. There were beers to drink, anecdotes to share and another meal to eat.

It seemed a little pointless to leave after the meal. Why not start cycling the next day and do our 220km in four days instead of five?

We pitched our tent beside those of our friends and I fell asleep to frogsong, nightingales and laughter, snug in my sleeping bag.

The next morning, Thursday, we were greeted by sunshine. It was perfect weather for cycling…

… But also perfect for washing down canoes, hammering new posts into place, making new fences and weeding the beach. The blackboard seemed almost as full. And everyone was just as busy, including the children, who were living their best lives.

To be honest, we didn’t even consider leaving. Our bikes looked content, strapped to their carrier and watching the tractor, vans, people and wheelbarrows passing.

Besides, nothing obliged us to do the whole stretch of the Flow Vélo extension. We could do half of it. Or less. We could camp in Excideuil and cycle to Thiviers on Saturday, and then cycle from Excideuil towards Le Lardin on Sunday. This plan meant we’d be able to stay at Rénamont right until the end of the clean-up session on Friday afternoon.

Who would be silly enough to turn down an opportunity to stay for as long as possible in such a perfectly parallel world?

Not us.

There was some cycling involved in our long weekend but I’ll tell you about it next time. Meanwhile, if you’d like to discover La Guinguette de Rénamont, you’ll find it near Bourdeilles, between Ribérac and Brantôme, half an hour from Perigueux.

Here’s a list of things to bear in mind:

• Limited opening from 1st June: bar snacks only. Canoeing just possible at the weekends.
• Opening concert: Saturday 15th June. A single dish will be served. Campsite open.
• Fully open from 16th June, including the restaurant from midday.
• No payments by card; only cheques or cash.
• No motorhome services: only ‘wild’ van camping.
• No dogs at the guinguette (only on the campsite).
• Restaurant open from Tuesdays to Sundays (closed on Mondays). Vegetarian meals possible. Reservation advised.
• Campsite reservation advised between mid-July and mid-August.
• The beach is unsupervised: you’re responsible for your children (and yourselves).
• Events for 2024 include: open air cinema projection, onsite hairdresser, a performance. Check out the Rénamont Facebook page throughout the summer for more surprises.