Life is full of lessons. They are everywhere, sometimes you look for them, sometimes you don’t but whether you learn from them or not is completely up to you. This last week or so, we’ve learnt a lot.
Lesson 1 - When someone invites you to their house around 2pm, don’t assume it’s for a traditional late french lunch and a light hearted-chat about climbing in Europe. We arrived at our new friend’s house after having done a bunch of errands that morning not necessarily sure what to expect but had stayed light on food in case they laid out a big spread. Luckily I had the foresight to feed both of us 4 dates before we left, just in case. Four hours of disjointed french/english conversation later we found ourselves walking back to our camp dazed and in complete silence. The first two hours had flown by as we were jacked up on the 3 coffees they provided and the sugar from these weird nutmeg biscuits that were the size of my thumb nail but delicious all the same. The next two however, seemed to take forever. The conversation was very interesting but at times, neither of us really had a clue what was going on and why we were still there. I like to think of everything as an experience and in this case was excited to gain some local and cultural knowledge. As we walked away though, we were dead. Mentally and physically drained to the point of almost being angry. After some food and a run through the peaks we were feeling a bit better, and nothing a glass of wine didn’t fix later on.
Lesson 2 - After living in a forest for close to a month, the thought of a trip to Paris is wonderful - in theory. If you find yourself in a like situation, I suggest you steer clear of places like the metro or major tourist attractions as there is chance you may feel the urge to cause people harm. Seriously, I thought I hated crowds before we started this trip. I can not begin to tell you how much they frustrate me now. But in saying all that, we ha a lovely day Paris. My first cappucino in close to 2 months was awesome. We did some shopping and then I saw a traditional street crepe stall, which brings me to lesson 3.
Lesson 3 - When feeling the urge to release your inner fat kid and get super excited over the sight of nutella and banana crepes being made freshly in front of you, try to hold back your enthusism until you’ve at least crossed the street in order to not stack it and re-roll your already weak ankle. Yep, it was like train wreck in slow motion. “Rich, look they do crepes with nutella and banannnnnnn-ahhhhhhhh!” Whhhhooooossssahhhh, deep breaths, any breath at all. Don’t cry don’t cry don’t cry! The pain almost made me spew a little and the only thing that stopped me from crying was a little old man that came running up and talking in the most concerned little old man voice but I couldn’t answer him as all I could hear in my head was my silent screaming. More than anything, I was angry at myself for being so silly. Add to that, it was only about 1pm and we hadn’t even started sightseeing yet. It was a long, long day of walking that ended with Pig Beer. And it was awesome.
Lesson 4 - Taking your children camping is a wonderful way to spend a family vacation. Children and wild camping however do not mix. France is one of the most camp friendly places I’ve been to and there are awesome campsites everywhere. Waking up to the blood curdling shriek of your 2 year old because you are bathing it in freezing cold water is not a pleasant way for one to rise. Perhaps you should have stayed at a campsite where they offer showers and warm water! Allowing your dirty, pantless toddler to do a bum slide over our boulder mat and yoga mat may have been forgivable, even funny if he was wearing pants. And not dirty. Cramming 2 adults and 2 children into a T4 along with all your gear is going to be a tight fit and clearly a recipe for a some tension between your 5 and 8 year olds. Just because you can turn that parent switch and tune out their constant bitching, whining and 6am bickering doesn’t mean the rest of us aren’t planning their gruesome murders. Maybe something to think about.
All in all, it has been a funny week. Fontainebleau is still amazing and as the temperature gets cooler it’s making for some awesome climbing conditions. Feet are getting itchy though, maybe time to plan our next adventure.
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