• Podcast: download the MP3
  
• Gallery: see Dom in action

  You rotters. Having sent our man for a gentle scenic dip north of the border for his first challenge, you delivered a near-unanimous verdict to up the ante in week two: 87% of you voted to send him hydrospeeding in the Pyrenees.

  The setting for his Spanish splashdown was deceptively lovely — a glistening ribbon of river swaddled in soft Catalan hills, 120 miles north of Barcelona. But the Parc Olimpic del Segre, with the Pyrenees brooding in the background, was a little less gentle at close quarters, providing swirling, churning, frothing rapids that tested kayakers in the Olympic Games. “The white water here is the whitest I’ve ever seen,” said Dom on first view. “In fact, its whiter than white.”

  Having recced the route in an inflatable kayak, he climbed onto an extra-buoyant foam board for one of the wilder rides of his life. Without any experience — or, let’s be honest, skill — he was simply going to go with the flow. “I’ve no idea what I’m doing,” he said. “But apparently that doesn’t matter.”

  After a first run, where his blue helmet ripped through the torrent like a fast-moving fishing float, he declared the experience: “Insane — you go down like a rocket... you just don’t have any control.”

  Undeterred, he went back for a second shot — and survived. “Expect to see me in Beijing in the UK hydrospeeding team.”

  After that it was cigars, cognac and the middle-distance stare of a man who has looked destiny in the face — and lived to tell the tale.

  Follow in Dom’s footsteps

  To hydrospeed in Dom’s wake, visit Spain’s eastern Pyrenees, which are renowned for their churning rivers. La Seu d’Urgell is home to the Parc Olimpic del Segre (used in the 1992 Olympics; 00 34-973 36 00 92, www.parcolimpic.com).

  An introductory hydrospeeding session costs £23pp, rafting £18pp, and kayaking £19pp. All use the Olympic whitewater course and include instructor, equipment and insurance.
  
  Dom had a ripping first night on the armagnac at family-run El Castell Hotel in Seu d’Urgell (973 351 041 www.hotelelcastell.com
  
  He also stayed at the family-run Can Boix (973 47 02 66, www.canboix.cat), in Peramola, which has B&B doubles from £73.
  
  The Parc Olimpic is about 120 miles from Barcelona or Gerona, served by flights from 17 UK airports, plus Dublin, Cork and Shannon. Airlines include British Airways (0870 850 9850, www.ba.com), Iberia (0870 609 0500, www.iberia.com), EasyJet (www.easyjet.com), Ryanair (0871 246 0000, www.ryanair.com), Jet2 (0871 226 1737, www.jet2.com) and, in Ireland, Aer Lingus (0818 365000, www.aerlingus.com). Holiday Autos (0870 400 4461, www.holidayautos.co.uk) offers three days’ inclusive car hire from £60.
  

• For more information, visit www.spain.info.

  Week three: Dom gets cultural in Paris

  THIS WEEK’S challenge looks like being the toughest yet: to convince people he’s a city sophisticate.

  The destination switches to Paris, where our luckless chancer will get a crash course in the cultural niceties of Europe’s most civilised capital. Forget canyoning, forget hydrospeeding... whichever challenge wins your vote, Dom’s going in at the deep end.

  CHALLENGE 1: The sommelier

  Choose this, and Dom will check in to the City of Light’s most luminous hotel, the Four Seasons George V, for a crash course in fine wine with the exacting head sommelier, Thierry Hamon. Pouring, nosing, tasting — Dom will apply his ham-fist to all of them. Then he’ll be put to the test amid the triple-Michelin opulence of the hotel’s restaurant, Le Cinq. Don’t expect too many bouquets.

  CHALLENGE 2: The artist

  As the arch prankster of Trigger Happy TV, Dom was adept at dressing up in daft outfits in public places. But this is a bit different: a full day attempting to pass himself off in smock and beret in the artists’ quarter, Montmartre, where high-speed, flattering brushwork is the plat du jour. Our man will be tooled up with easel and palette, then left on the roistering Place du Tertre to set about drawing attention to himself. Can his masterpieces convince the masses?

  CHALLENGE 3: The bar hound

  Dom is a confirmed friend to drink, frequently seen boozing his way round the world as presenter of the Sky One travel programme Dom Joly’s Happy Hour. But on a brasserie bender in Paris, he’ll need to hold his own with the Gauloise-toting, black-polo-neck- wearing, Sartre-reading intelligentsia. Top of the menu is Bofinger, the iconic art-nouveau hangout in the Bastille. Best switch your mobile off, Dom...

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