Sunshine, Cheese and Slabs

The weather in Fontainebleau over the last week has been amazing. The rays of sun that explode in through the window each morning, beckon us from sleep with the promise of another amazing day in Paradise. We have taken advantage of the cool temperatures and our very comfortable Gite, enjoying sleep-ins each morning, hitting the blocks between 11 and 12 most day. Each day in Fontainebleau has been different from those before, new areas present new challenges and sometimes even new successes. As I sit here and begin this update, I am confronted with the knowledge that no combination of words could aptly summaries the beauty and charm of this place, nor the value of the experiences that being here has granted me...despite this I will try, hopefully the photos will say what I cannot.

Last Wednesday we headed to Bas Cuvier with Nick in search of something new, in all honesty, this area was the least impressive of those that we have been to thus far. Despite the lack of inspiring lines and the abundance of used condom packets both Josh and I were able to find boulders that tickled our fancy. Me a beautiful slab, all presses and smears and Josh a cool dyno and a slightly overhung arête. It is in the slabs that I am enjoying climbing that I am able to see the dramatic difference that our time in Fontainebleau has made to my climbing. Not to harp on about the same topics as I wrote about in my last blog, but before I got to Bleau, I would have walked passed the seemingly sheer faces of the slabs that I have so enjoyed here, dismissing them as impossible, 'not my style', or lacking anything that I could possibly hold onto. At home in the Gramps, it was only the climbs with obvious positive edges that I would try, here as I have learnt to trust my feet I have discovered that I really actually enjoy slab climbing.

Thursday, it was time for a rest...First stop Fontainebleau, it was time for new shoes for me, ones that would hurt my toes less. We went into Scape in search of tiny La Sportiva Solutions and to my absolute delight they were in my size and fit amazingly! After buying my new solutions I was a little disappointed that today was a rest day and I would have to wait until tomorrow to try them out! Nick had told us about a beautiful market in Milly-la-Foret that we were interested to see. The market was amazing, unlike anything that I have experienced before. Based in a medieval market hall built in 1479 in the centre of the town, the market sprawled into the street, row upon row of fishmongers, cheese-mongers, sweet stalls, fresh fruits and vegetables, the smells of hot fresh cooked crepes, buckets of olives, pallets of strawberries, chocolate, cheese and other such delights filled the air as the town sprung to life like something out of a storybook. Old women met in the aisles, catching up on the week's news as children brought toy cars and candy and couples chose cheese. Shoe stall after shoe stall, jackets, hats and dresses, it was all there - but if by chance you couldn't find what you were looking for, simply peruse the quaint shops that line the market square - Patisseries, grocery shops, chocolatiers. Josh and I left with bag after bag of treats. Needless to say, dinner that night was amazing!

Snoopy Boulder!

On Friday we met up with Heidi to head out to Cul de Chien. A quick coffee at the station while we waited for Heidi's train to arrive from Paris cost us a little more than expected. We parked in a blue zone you see...up until this point we believed, correctly, that blue zones offer time restricted free parking...what we had failed to realise is that in order to take advantage of this free parking one must first acquire, from where I am unsure, a blue card to sit in the window and on this blue card one must indicate the time that they arrived at the free park. Unfortunately, our lack of blue card caught the attention of the local policeman and the end result was a parking ticket....The system to pay for this ticket was more confusing than the ticket itself, thank goodness we had Heidi and her French speaking skills else we never would have understood that we were to take the ticked to the Tebac and pay the 17Euro fine, they would then give us a stamp indicating that we had paid, next it was over to the post office to buy a postage stamp to mail the proof of payment to the road commission and then into the letterbox it went....time to go climbing! The weather looked amazing, as we walked across the white sandy beach that leads you into the forest towards the boulders of Cul-de-Chien. Cul de Chien is amazing, in addition to having a beautiful mix of sand, forest and boulders there is a boulder in the centre that looks just like SNOOPY! So cool!

Boulders on a beach in the middle of the forest

We made a start, the climbing was great, my new solutions were AWESOME! Though as with all new climbing shoes, the did need breaking in, the hard rubber had soon rubbed the back of my heels raw and so it was time for me to sit back and enjoy taking some pictures. Soon the weather changed and we sought refuge from the hail and rain under an overhung boulder...a couple of damp climbs for Josh and Heidi and it was time to give up our battle against the rain and call it a day...more coffees at the station to finish a wonderful day!

Saturday we headed out to meet Nick at Buthiers, the furthest area from where we are staying. It was a lovely day, the sun was shinning and what this means in Fontainebleau on a weekend is that the crag will be CROWDED! We headed out to Buthiers in a bid to escape the crowds and our gamble paid off, hardly a person in sight! The boulders were MASSIVE! Many had belay bolts at the top! But the lines were inspiring. We were all able to find problems of an appropriate hight and grade that we loved and overall this was my favourite area that we have been to thus far! My shoes, hurt less today and I was able to smear better than before with my new shoes!

On Sunday it was time for another rest day, we lazed around the Gite for the morning and then headed into Fontainebleau for the markets. Unfortunately we were a little late and the stalls were all being packed up. Instead we decided to head to the Chateau and walk around the beautiful sculpted gardens for a couple of hours before we headed back to the main street for the best icecream I have ever eaten from Les Glaces and some people watching! After a bit of a debacle trying to get our car out of the car park when the ticket machine would only take correct change, our complete lack of coins made this a difficult task, we headed home (a quick stop at a closed supermarket on the way haha) for movie and a quiet night in.

Swans in one of the many ponds of the Chateau

Josh on the GIANT slab

Monday began with a familiar routine, we met Heidi again at the station, another morning of beautiful sunshine, another coffee by the train station, though this time we had wised up to the parking system and managed to avoid getting a ticket :). Today it was off to Isatis for us, we had been one time before and Josh and I were both pretty keen to get back. Into the maze of blocks we went, climbing each line we liked, skipping those that we didn't. I repeated the 6c that I had sent last week and Josh and Heidi showed off their cool heads on a VERY high slab, perhaps the highest boulder that either had climbed to date! Very impressive! As the warmth of the sun faded we made our way back to the station for more coffees, a perfect end to a perfect day! If you are ever in Fontainebleau I recommend you spend at least one day at Isatis, it is certainly my favourite area thus far!

Heidi at the top of the massive slab

Yesterday we headed back to Canon again, meeting Heidi in the carpark after a quick stop at our local patisserie. Last time we were there was a Sunday and as such it was very busy, Josh and I were excited to try the lines that we were not able to try the last time due to the crowds. With climbing, as with all things in life, you win some and you loose some...today was not my day! I struggled to find my feet, again concerned with the puf slicked feet and lack of hands. I found myself terrified and incapable of moving upwards many times. My body was tired and my head was not where I needed it to be! Climbing like this is little fun! The sun was shinning and the forest was beautiful, life was not so bad after all! Eventually Heidi had coerced me into trying to climb again and we were able to find a few pretty cool blocks to keep us entertained for a couple of hours....I found my feet again and slowly my head chilled out and I was able to enjoy the movement rather than stressing about the apparent dangers of a misstep. Soon after we set up the Slackline in the bottom of the forest before heading back into town for yet another stop at our local patisserie and another delicious coffee at the station!

As the end of our time here in Fontainebleau approaches I find myself excited for the next stage of our journey, but also quite sad to be leaving this beautiful place that in many ways has become homely. From the lady at the patisserie who remembers our faces, to the man at the coffee shop who speaks english to us because he knows we struggle with french; the familiarity that we have with this area grew quickly and it is easy to see oneself being sucked into this world permanently, but alas it is soon time to move on. Josh and I have one last day of climbing here tomorrow, before the rain will return and it will be time for us to head back to Paris to begin our journey to Magic Wood, Switzerland.

Still pretty happy!