Don't grab the branches!
On holiday c.1994 with my then boyfriend and his parents in France. We decided to hire twin kayaks and canoe down the Dordogne.
At that point The Dordogne is not very deep, fast flowing or hazardous.

We travelled merrily with the current, admiring the view and catching the rays, my boyfriend and I in one kayak and his parents in front in another.

At one point we drifted and were encountering quite a few low hanging branches, commenting to my boyfriend just lay back and don't grab any branches. Totally ignoring this comment (which may have been the start of the breakdown in our relationship!)he grabbed hold causing our kayak to continue with the current and leading us to capsize in the only part of the dordogne deep enough to swim (drown) in.
Resulting in slow motion capsizing and being dragged under by the current (much like it's always portrayed in films!) and eventually surfacing and managing to expel the tirade of swears and dordogne river water!

While this fun and games was going on his parents looked back to to see the furore that had enschewed. In a panic his mother decided it would be a good idea to grab the branches resulting in a repeat performance.

I'd like to point out that this was quite a busy part of the Dordogne and a sizable amount of people were on the banks of the river and we were now drawing quite a crowd (and at least one video camera, this was the 90s after all!).
Lot's of swearing, retrieving of objects and moaning (mostly by soon to be ex!) we managed to get ourselves sorted and were met with a round of applause!
I'd like to think we appeared on the french version of 'You've Been Framed'.

Outcomes: One bump to the head (me), one microscopic cut to toe (my soon to be ex). Lost: one sock. Gained: one small child's t-shirt!

tl:dr English people fall out of canoes may have appeared on french tv
(DangerFlange Chamone Mother Hubbard, Fri 2 Nov 2012, 10:55, 1 reply)

Done this too
My abiding memory is of being followed closely by a gorgeous Dutch girl who was canoeimg topless. I kept putting our canoe into a spin so I could ogle her. My (soon to be ex) girlfriend was not impressed
(Smale is stuffed, Fri 2 Nov 2012, 20:48, closed)