Since I last made an entry I have made my way from the South of France to the North. I’m now camping in the Forest Domain of Fontainebleau, a 25000 hector forest 60km South of Paris. For those who are not in the climbing circles, this is probably most beautiful bouldering location on the planet.Adrian and I set up camp in the Musardiere campsite near the town of Milly-La-Foret. The campsite was mostly deserted accept for a couple of climbers from Washington state, a couple of boulders from Calgary who interestingly know Alex and Dani whom I met on a climbing trip to Smith Rock in the spring of 2007 and a bunch of other Brits. After setting up our tents we had about an hour before the rain started and we retired early.
The weather had cleared slightly by morning and Adrian and I set out. Since this was my first time to Bleau Adrian offered to give me a quick tour of some of the closer Bouldering locations. We visited Rochers De Sabots, 95.2, 91.1, and Cul De Chien during the day doing on a few problems at each location before moving on. The combination of hiking and bouldering made for a tiring day. We probably hiked 6-7km moving from the campsite and between the different locations.
Picture: Me Climbing Bilboquet at Cul De ChienAdrian packed up that night as he was moving into a Formula 1 which is a cheap hotel that has location all around France. Formula 1 are these strange hotels that are made of prefabricated hotel room modules made of plastic and self cleaning. The module then get assembled on site to make a hotel. Think lots of Borg cubes all snapped together but white and made of plastic.
So this marked the first night on my own and the start of the transition of my trip to being on my own. I wondered over to join Eric and Erica from Calgary and the guys from Washington for some card games before retiring for the night.
The next day was Saturday April 25th and the weather was in fine form. Almost no clouds in the sky and the sun was shining. Adrian and I had discussed meeting up at the Rocher De Sabots that day with Audrey but I knew Adrian’s wake up schedule so I joined up with Calgarians and Washingtonians for the hike into the forest. We stopped at the first boulder on the trail from the parking lot. The book list this boulder as an off circuit boulder for 95.2 and it has some wicked overhanging problems on it. Eric was working one of them as his project and I got to work on a beautiful 6a+ and 5c there. Evan you would love the 5c as its has a short dyno which I had to do statically.
After getting through I moved on to the Rocher De Sabots so that I could meet up with Adrian and Audrey. Since Adrian wasn’t there when I arrived I started on the blue circuit (difficult circuit) and quickly made friends with a Parisian who was there working the same circuit. We climbed through the first 20 dry problems when Adrian turned up. He had mixed up the days and Audrey wasn’t coming till that night. I wished my partner in the blue circuit well and Adrian and I moved on to the upper part of 91.1 where we continued to play on the various orange and blue problems till we were exhausted.
I couldn’t stay too late since I was going to spend time at Couchsurfing with a couple in Melun that night and then going to do a hike they had organized for my visit. Adrian generously offered to give me a ride to Annick and Jerome’s house which would have been a mission to get to had he not. We went back to Musardiere where I cleaned up and picked up my sleeping back and a some nougat that I brought from South of France
I arrived at Annick and Jerome’s place around 7:00 and we talked none stop till 9:00. Jerome was a tour guide and travel organizer for many years and had great stories about his trips around Morocco and China. We made dinner together and they fed me quince and apple sauce they had made from fresh fruit from Annick’s parents farm.
The next morning we talked of some of how people have forgotten how to forge for their own food over toasted made bread and coffee. Headed over to Bois-Le-Roi the meeting point. We were joined by Cathrine, Rebecca, Lolita, and Marianne and our hike began. We followed the river Siene 8km to the town of Samois-Sur-Seine where we stopped for a picnic lunch and leisure time. I had a chance to get to know Catherine who is an amazing person. She is originally from the US but now lives part time in France and party time in Mexico. The rest of her time she spends guiding tourists from the US around various destinations in the world. I a truly fascinating life and how she came by is was a tale amazing as well; originally poised to go to Standford she took a summer job with an Italian wine maker and the summer changed her perspective on what was important.
Rebecca was another fascinating person. Quieter than the others at first but she warmed as the day went on. As I would later discover a dancing machine when the music is up and lights low. She was originally from Wisconsin and was teaching English near Versailles.
Marianne turned out to be heaps of fun. She is the couchsurfing Ambassador for Paris and works in IT. Translation she is a nuts and crazy fun as me. She brought the best ice breakers for the hike, lots of those $0.05 candies I used to buy with my allowance when I was kid.
We then continued on for the remaining 12km then we hiked into the Forest to see the ancient fountains there. I got to know Delphine on this section, she is about to head down to South Africa as well and was celebrating her going away party, a Freedom party, for her vacation, American citizenship and divorce. She invited me to the party on Wednesday in Paris.
Lolita and I also had lots of fun. She is a climber and studying geology at University. We played on some of the boulders we hiked past as well as getting some of the geological history of the region, basically and ancient sea bed.
So this marked the first night on my own and the start of the transition of my trip to being on my own. I wondered over to join Eric and Erica from Calgary and the guys from Washington for some card games before retiring for the night.
The next day was Saturday April 25th and the weather was in fine form. Almost no clouds in the sky and the sun was shining. Adrian and I had discussed meeting up at the Rocher De Sabots that day with Audrey but I knew Adrian’s wake up schedule so I joined up with Calgarians and Washingtonians for the hike into the forest. We stopped at the first boulder on the trail from the parking lot. The book list this boulder as an off circuit boulder for 95.2 and it has some wicked overhanging problems on it. Eric was working one of them as his project and I got to work on a beautiful 6a+ and 5c there. Evan you would love the 5c as its has a short dyno which I had to do statically.
After getting through I moved on to the Rocher De Sabots so that I could meet up with Adrian and Audrey. Since Adrian wasn’t there when I arrived I started on the blue circuit (difficult circuit) and quickly made friends with a Parisian who was there working the same circuit. We climbed through the first 20 dry problems when Adrian turned up. He had mixed up the days and Audrey wasn’t coming till that night. I wished my partner in the blue circuit well and Adrian and I moved on to the upper part of 91.1 where we continued to play on the various orange and blue problems till we were exhausted.
I couldn’t stay too late since I was going to spend time at Couchsurfing with a couple in Melun that night and then going to do a hike they had organized for my visit. Adrian generously offered to give me a ride to Annick and Jerome’s house which would have been a mission to get to had he not. We went back to Musardiere where I cleaned up and picked up my sleeping back and a some nougat that I brought from South of France
I arrived at Annick and Jerome’s place around 7:00 and we talked none stop till 9:00. Jerome was a tour guide and travel organizer for many years and had great stories about his trips around Morocco and China. We made dinner together and they fed me quince and apple sauce they had made from fresh fruit from Annick’s parents farm.
The next morning we talked of some of how people have forgotten how to forge for their own food over toasted made bread and coffee. Headed over to Bois-Le-Roi the meeting point. We were joined by Cathrine, Rebecca, Lolita, and Marianne and our hike began. We followed the river Siene 8km to the town of Samois-Sur-Seine where we stopped for a picnic lunch and leisure time. I had a chance to get to know Catherine who is an amazing person. She is originally from the US but now lives part time in France and party time in Mexico. The rest of her time she spends guiding tourists from the US around various destinations in the world. I a truly fascinating life and how she came by is was a tale amazing as well; originally poised to go to Standford she took a summer job with an Italian wine maker and the summer changed her perspective on what was important.
Rebecca was another fascinating person. Quieter than the others at first but she warmed as the day went on. As I would later discover a dancing machine when the music is up and lights low. She was originally from Wisconsin and was teaching English near Versailles.
Marianne turned out to be heaps of fun. She is the couchsurfing Ambassador for Paris and works in IT. Translation she is a nuts and crazy fun as me. She brought the best ice breakers for the hike, lots of those $0.05 candies I used to buy with my allowance when I was kid.
We then continued on for the remaining 12km then we hiked into the Forest to see the ancient fountains there. I got to know Delphine on this section, she is about to head down to South Africa as well and was celebrating her going away party, a Freedom party, for her vacation, American citizenship and divorce. She invited me to the party on Wednesday in Paris.
Lolita and I also had lots of fun. She is a climber and studying geology at University. We played on some of the boulders we hiked past as well as getting some of the geological history of the region, basically and ancient sea bed.
Picture: The CouchSurfing Hike CrewWe finished the day in Fontainebleau at a bar having beers to reenergize after the long trek. I got to try Pastis, the quintessential Southern French drink. It tastes a lot like Ouzo but a bit less sweat. After around our train arrived and we got back to Bois-Le-Roi and Annick and Jerome drove me back to Musardiere. All in all, they set the bar pretty high for future Couchsurfing hosts.
The next day (28th of May) I met up with Erica and Eric (the Calgarians), Andrew and Whitey (the Washington boys) and Steve a doctor from Leeds. We hiked in to “La Gorge Aux Chats”. I got my first font 6b ticked off at "La Gorge Aux Chats" called "Travaux forces". We climbed until the rains and thunder began. That pretty much put and end to things.
On May 29th, I bid adieu to some friends from Washington state whom I met here. They were moving on to Kalymnos so I hyped them up on the routes there with footage from our trip. We then spent some time in the nearby town of Milly-la-Foret watching videos and avoiding the rain.
Eric Erica two boulders from Calgary and Steve and I got together and made a great dinner in the camp ground and then played Asshole till late. After the game I wasn't yet ready to sleep so I went walking out into a wood near the edge of the campground and alone there danced listening to Marginals, an Evan Jones set, on my iPod. I had a smile on my face and recalled the good memories of our times partying out doors in the summer.
May 30th, I went out climbing with Eric, Erica and Steve up to 95.2 which tends to dry quickly. Erica has a project there and we hoped to get here on it. We set out not long after 11 with big grey clouds overhead. It hadn’t rained much overnight and there was a slight breeze to dry the rock. We covered the few kilometers.
The next day (28th of May) I met up with Erica and Eric (the Calgarians), Andrew and Whitey (the Washington boys) and Steve a doctor from Leeds. We hiked in to “La Gorge Aux Chats”. I got my first font 6b ticked off at "La Gorge Aux Chats" called "Travaux forces". We climbed until the rains and thunder began. That pretty much put and end to things.
On May 29th, I bid adieu to some friends from Washington state whom I met here. They were moving on to Kalymnos so I hyped them up on the routes there with footage from our trip. We then spent some time in the nearby town of Milly-la-Foret watching videos and avoiding the rain.
Eric Erica two boulders from Calgary and Steve and I got together and made a great dinner in the camp ground and then played Asshole till late. After the game I wasn't yet ready to sleep so I went walking out into a wood near the edge of the campground and alone there danced listening to Marginals, an Evan Jones set, on my iPod. I had a smile on my face and recalled the good memories of our times partying out doors in the summer.
May 30th, I went out climbing with Eric, Erica and Steve up to 95.2 which tends to dry quickly. Erica has a project there and we hoped to get here on it. We set out not long after 11 with big grey clouds overhead. It hadn’t rained much overnight and there was a slight breeze to dry the rock. We covered the few kilometers.
Picture: Steve, Eric, and EricaErica’s project was on the far side of the Massif where I hadn’t been before. I started warming up on the blue circuit problems near her project. I was fairly tired from the day before and the weather was so uninspiring that I packed in my shoes after only a few problems and decided to take pictures. After three bouts with rain and a thunder shower we moved to the off circuit boulders next to the trail on the walk in. This time we went to a boulder that previously had sticks around it where it looked like someone had been cleaning some new problems. Steve and Eric beginning the strongest in the group set about working some fiercely overhanging problem. I put my shoes back on and took a spin on some easy problems including brushing a new one off the back of the boulder. It was easy but fun non the less as you pulled pair of in-cut crimps through a 4 foot roof. Then up to a jug at the head wall.
I had to leave by 5PM to meet up with Lolita so we could make our way into Paris to attend Delphine’s Freedom party. Both Lolita and I were to stay with Marianne so we made our way to her flat near the Eiffel Tower. After a brief visit we set out on the Paris Metro heading over to the bar which was located near the street where the Moulin Rouge was playing.
The bar was packed and many people were spilling over onto the sidewalk and street. I met a few other couch surfers from Vancouver there, notably Allie who was supposed to come on the hike a few days before but was unable to make it out. She was lots of fun and is intending on heading up to the Shambala in Nelson.
After some chit-chatting with the friends from the hike and the Vancouverites that were present I made my way downstairs. The setup was nice and being in a basement always reminds me a little of the Lotus. The difference is that unlike Lotus the there was DJ was killing me. It was what I would describe as electro pop. I did manage to dance to a few tracks but the story telling was atrocious. He would go from a Tech House track to Remix Pop tracks and then over into breaks but none of it made sense. I shouldn’t be such a critic but I was really frustrating because I really wanted to dance and he seemed to be thwarting my attempts to get into a groove. I did get a few tracks in and found a way to dance but once 2 AM rolled around the bouldering from the day caught up with me. Marianne and Lolita were done for the day as well and so we called it a night.
Even though it was a Wednesday, there were lots of people out because the Thursday was a holiday. This complicated my plans for returning as there weren’t as many trains back to Font. This was further compounded by the fact that there were no Taxis available to get me from the village of Maisse back to Musardiere. So I did the only thing I could, I started walking back and thumbing it.
Hitch hiking is surprisingly still a viable transport option in France as it only took 10 minutes to get a ride and considering no taxis would pick me up (I tried) I really had no choice. A man in his late fifties who was on his way to visit his children in the next town over gave me a ride back to Milly. I then hiked through the town back to the campsite. I was disappointed at getting back as late as I did because I missed wishing Steve the doctor from Leeds. I guess I’ll have to make a point of visiting him when I get back from South Africa.
My last day in Font was May 2nd so I climbed because it was the first sunny day we had in a week so I was definitely taking advantage of it. We headed up to Cul De Chien and Erica and I worked on the 7a roof called Cul De Chien Roof. It wasn't long into the day when some German kid blew off the mono and heal hook and fell with his foot between the crash pads tore his tendons in his right foot. We had to get an ambulance for him so we lost most of the day to that. Erica and I warmed back up and I managed to get close to pulling the crux move off the heal hook to the pocket at the edge of the roof (see facebook pictures if you are curious) before we had to pack it in.
Picture: Me on the Cul De Chien Roof (7a)I went back to the campsite and packed up my gear. It seems that I have acquired a lot more gear as I was fighting to get all the stuff stowed for the hike to Milly-La-Foret which is a few kilometers away. Thankfully I had the foresight to support of a friend Marianne from couch surfing who hosted me and stored my climbing gear at her house in Paris as well as my laptop so I only had one pack for the hike.
I hitch hiked the 7KM from Milly to Maisse where I got the train into town. Surprisingly still a viable transport option as it only took 10 minutes to get a ride and considering no taxis would pick me up (I tried) I really had no choice. That night I went out for drinks with Marrianne and Delphine, a friend I met on couchsurfing who is going to South Africa after May 20th. The next day I went about repacking and managed to get all my stuff into the packs and worried I was a little over weight as Easy jet only allows 20kg of weight and even with the sports baggage allowance I bought I could only got to 32kg. Once at the airport in Paris I found out that I was carrying 38kg worth of packs plus my laptop which is another 4kg. After repacking at the baggage check in counter I managed to get the weight down to 34kg but had to go back and pay for the extra weight.
Now normally this wouldn't be problem except for the 30 minutes I had wasted standing in lineups that I didn't have to because of the sketchy signage in the airport had left me with a mere 5 minutes to walked back through security cut in line, paid the 18 euro for the 2kg over weight then ran back to the baggage check in counter before the desk closed. Manage to make it with 1 minute left.
Thus, ends an amazing time in France.
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