France is rad. Just saying. We were so excited driving off the ferry and ready for some crazy adventures! Roundabouts are the weirdest thing to go around the other way and I am not even the one doing the driving. Rich was awesome though, he totally bossed it. The streets here can be even smaller than those in the UK, which freaks me the heck out as we are in a right hand drive van, but Rich has it dialed.
We got to Font on Sunday afternoon and our first mission was to find croissants! We navigated through the tiny streets of the town and were lucky enough to find a park big enough for the van at the very top of town. As we pulled up an older gentleman came up talking french ‘at us’ and we both just looked at him quite stunned and said, “Je ne parle pas francais”. He nodded and walked away and as I ran over to the parking meter he was again yelling from the other side of the street. I was pretty stoked to have my first french conversation and realise he was just wanting to let us know that parking was free on Sundays and Mondays. Sweet. We found a little patisserie down the road and got croissants and a pan au chocolat. It was pretty epic. Next we found a campsite right on the Seine. It was a super hot day so we set up camp, put on our togs on and had a swim. There was guy in the water who seemed slightly crazy as he just laughed at everyone continuously and blew bubbles in the water. We stayed away from him.
First day at Font bouldering was an absolute trip. The first problem we tried was a slab with a pocket and one tiny crimper and the most marbled tiny footers we’ve seen due to the use of Pof (what some of the locals use instead of chalk, a pine resin that becomes very slick over time). We had had a couple of attempts each when an older local climber came up trying to explain the beta to us in French, most of which we understood which was great, and also informed us that it is called “La Sans les Mains” - without hands. Our tiny crimper was out and we were left with just the glass like footholds. Welcome to Font.
That pretty much set the tone for this trip so far. The grades are much harder than anything we’ve climbed back home but it has been such an awesome learning curve this first week. Gradually, the glass like slab is becoming less glassy, and the more burly walls and overhangs are getting sent by Rich and I am getting stronger everyday, sending some of the lighter grades and becoming a mantle boss!
We have found an awesome campground that has a mix of rad climbers, yoga pro’s and outdoor crushers from all around. Everyone is super friendly, never shy to offer tips about the local surroundings as well as the climbing. It is in the middle of the Fontainebleau Forest and amazingly green and serene. A much more pleasant experience than our second night here in France where we thought we might just sneakily sleep at the crag to be ready for an early start in the morning. We were woken at midnight to the sounds of people circling the van, Rich got up to check it out and as he pulled back the curtain, it was literally like a scene out of movie. We had been told that this particular crag was known to be popular with the local gay scene after dark, but didn’t really think much of it. This however, was unbelievable. There were men everywhere. Rich just turned me and said “Stay in bed, don’t come up the front. I’ll drive slow but we are leaving now!” Needless to say we didn’t stay there again.
Feeling very blessed with the area we have found now, I feel like we could stay here forever. The climbing is phenomenal and the atmosphere is super chill and relaxing. Today was our 6th day climbing and we are desperate for a rest day. By the time we finished our session this afternoon the finger tips on both our hands were weeping and I was in tears at the top out of a climb as I just had nothing left to finish it! It has only been a week and we are finding our groove more and more everyday. I cannot wait to see where we are in a month not only with the climbing, but with the French language and just life itself.
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