June 22nd to June 30th, Charlie and I traveled to Fontainebleau, France for a climbing trip with his friend Kerrek and Kerrek's dad, Laurence. This was Kerrek's "senior trip" prior to his departure to college to study applied mathematics. Charlie was invited to be Kerrek's climbing partner and I willingly came along for the ride to keep the boys on their best behavior. Fontainebleau is about 60 km southeast of Paris and the forest area is regarded to be some of the best bouldering in the world. We had good weather for climbing and just a few rainy days that did not hamper the climbing, particularly after Kerrek purchased a $5 towel at a street fair to help "dry" the wet rocks.... more on the multi-purpose towel later.
The boys had an amazing experience climbing and Laurence and I nominated ourselves the award for "best parents of the year" for taking them. Besides climbing, watching climbing, scouting for more climbing, getting lost climbing, photographing climbing and talking about climbing, we experienced some great food, wine, water and French countryside village life. We stayed in a different spot every couple of nights which was great as we were able to explore more that way.
The trip there: Our flight to Paris was uneventful other than a 7 hour layover in Chicago. We left Billings at 8am on Friday and arrived in Paris at 9am on Saturday. The French were not efficient and we waited to go through customs for an hour, then for the rental car for an hour, and then it took 3.5 hours to drive the parking lot (aka freeway) 60km to Fontainebleau.
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| Waiting for the rental van at the airport. The climbing pads on their backs gave us lots of inquisitive stares at the airport and a very stuffed van! |
Once we arrived in Fontainebleau, we got the boys to Bas Cuvier- where they could finally climb!
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First touch at Bas Cuvier
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| Very happy to finally arrive. |
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Charlie climbing in his Sanuks- he couldn't wait any longer.
Kerrek is getting oriented with the guidebook. |
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| Bas Cuvier- First day of climbing. Kerrek is climbing while Charlie watches. |
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| Kerrek on the first day of climbing in Bas Cuvier |
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| Charlie on the route. |
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| Charlie |
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| Kerrek |
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| The trees camouflaged with the rocks. |
While Kerrek and Charlie climbed that first afternoon, Laurence and I navigated our way to the Chateau de Augerville- our accommodations for the first 2 nights. The property is located on the southwest corner of the Fontainebleau forest, about 15 km from the town of Fontainebleau, out in the middle of nowhere. Thankfully we had the GPS to get us in the right general direction. Needless to say, we were pleased given it was a blind pick on the Internet.
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| Front of the Chateau |
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| Back of the Chateau- Complete with gardens and dining on the terrace. |
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| Looking out from our breakfast table at the Chateau. |
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| Structure on the Chateau property, reportedly from 1400's. This one appeared to be a horse stable. |
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| Structure on the Chateau property. They allowed us to wander around the property, with no liability concerns. |
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| Structure on the Chateau property. This building is being renovated into a spa. |
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| Laurence and Kerrek |
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| Laurence and Kerrek |
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| Karen and Charlie |
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| Karen and Charlie |
There were a couple of rainy days- we started one day at the street market in Fontainebleau. This is where Kerrek bought the $5 towel (after almost paying $7 due to the language barrier).
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| Street Market in Fontainebleau. We were killing time waiting on good weather. |
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Taking cover in the rain before hiking out. We were all soaked and cold.
You can see the chalk marks on the rock- in between attempts, these were dried
with the towel, and then chalk would be reapplied. |
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Charlie climbing in the streets of Fontainebleau after dinner.
In the rain..... |
Thankfully, there were sunny days of climbing hence forth.
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| Kerrek working a Dyno move at Bas Cuvier |
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| Charlie on the same move at Bas Cuvier |
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| Big move. |
Kerrek sending the route ~ after projecting for 3 days. Big accomplishment!
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| Another Dyno move at Bas Cuvier |
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| The look of despair while working it. |
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| Gratuitous rock/ tree/ water/ fern |
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| Ditto |
Char and Kerrek had a daily ritual of packing prior to climbing. They would get their water and food together, put on their dirty clothes and then pack up the van. Below they are unloading at Bas Cuvier and getting oriented and packed up.
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| Ready to go at the hotel in the morning. Check out the minivan sweetness. |
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| Unloading the van required strength! Reloading required perseverance and strength. |
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| They each had 2 pads, you can see one small one inside a larger one. |
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| Getting loaded up, and planning where to go. |
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| Consulting the guidebook |
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| One last pause, to make sure they have everything they needed. |
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| And they are off! |
Charlie and Kerrek each had a guidebook (Charlie thanks Joel!), and we purchased a couple of maps at the local climbing store. Between the maps, and the guidebooks, we were mostly able to figure out where to climb. Bas Cuvier was the preferred spot, and there were hundreds of boulders and circuits there. We spent about 3 hours one afternoon attempting to find another spot, Charlie got a little lost in the forest when I sent him to find the guys, who showed up just a few minutes later without him. Laurence threatened to take away my "parent of the year" award for that one. But Charlie found his way back and all was good.
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| Genuine happiness. |
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| Planning the day's climbs at Bas Cuvier |
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| Rocks and trees blend together with moss and lichen |
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| Getting ready. |
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| Laurence and I found this cave route while scouting at Bas Cuvier. Char and Kerrek approved and promptly sent it. |
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| Planning the climb |
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| Charlie |
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| Charlie |
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| Charlie |
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| Charlie |
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| Kerrek |
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| Kerrek |
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| 2nd attempt |
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| Silly French Forest Hats helped Charlie climb. |
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| Getting the towel set up to provide shade for Kerrek's attempt. |
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| Charlie and the towel shading Kerrek's line of view |
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| l'Ilsatis climbing area |
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| l'Ilsatis area |
Noyer. Laurence and I went to visit his friends Yazmhil and Brice Corman in Noyers sur Serein on Monday during the day while the boys were climbing at Bas Cuvier. We had such a delightful time that we returned on Thursday for the night with the boys, prior to their last day of climbing. I fell in love with Noyers- see this link for insights as to why:
Yazmhil and Brice lived in Wyoming for many years and moved to France a few years ago and set up their business in Noyers. They make custom leather goods, mostly handbags, purses, and belts-- all with a "Western" influence- and their products are in high demand. They live in the middle of Noyers on the "main street". Their shop contains their merchandise in the front, the work area in the back (all open for viewing) and they live upstairs. It is enchanting! They graciously took time from their busy lives to welcome us into their home and share their work. We learned about the different kinds of leather and materials, and I now know the difference between crocodile and alligator leather and I can spot ostrich leg from anywhere! When we returned to Noyers on Thursday, their friends Patrick and Penny had just arrived from South Africa and the 8 of us sat on the patio and the boys were enriched by discussions on world politics, economy and the nuances of living in South Africa including "walkie-talkies" and "smileys".
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| Charlie and Kerrek hunting a lizard along the river. |
Fontainebleau Critters....
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| Before..... |
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| After..... Yum! |
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| Lizard at Bas Cuvier |
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| Slug |
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| Slug |
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| Lizard in Noyers |
