Departure

Finally I've sat down to give this post an attempted writing. I've been back home now for 2 whole days, and the question begs what next? This may be the last blog post for some time, as I need to look for a job and figure out my next moves. I', hoping to maybe get to a point where I can sell and exhibit some prints of my recent work, as well as join a band in some form. Anyway, this might be a long post....

Firstly, Paris was great, and really reignited my sense of discovery. I was dreading the city in some ways after being in Chamonix for so long, but I loved it. I'm not a person who loves either city or country, I like the discovery either way and both have their wonders.

My highlights of Paris weren't anything as arbitrary as the Eiffel tower, the Arc de Triomphe or even the Louvre, impressive as they were... I found the wandering about alone wonderful, exploring small streets and people watching. I could go on for paragraphs on all the little interesting things I noticed or saw, but instead for now here are a few of my favourite shots..

More can be found on my Facebook page, and soon hopefully a portfolio website.

After a nice time in Paris (Thanks again for letting me stay Alyce!), I headed first to Fontainebleau to meet Sam, then straight back up north in the car to Dunkirk to spend the next day there and catch the ferry the day after.

Perhaps not the most visually stunning or charming of the towns I've walked in France, Dunkirk still interested me in a lot of ways. Watching the obvious travellers, immigrants and businessmen going both ways makes your mind wander. On top of that, the history of the Battle of Dunkirk is impossible to avoid and must be thought on. We visited the small museum at the former French HQ of 1939. As I found in the Army Museum in Paris, the artefacts and sometimes everyday items still have a profound effect. Seeing things from cannons, guns, knives and weapons to soldiers personal rations, razors and clothing in the flesh from the seemingly distant past really make you consider what these men and by extension their families and countries went through. 

After the museum a quick visit to some of the old Atlantic Wall bunkers yielded some interesting shots. I felt strange both staring out at the now decaying fortifications and looking out at them to the sea. It may sound contrived but it was a very clear visual contrast between the world of men and the natural world. A decaying bunker made for only hateful purposes now vandalised itself, and the timeless scene of the sea and shore carrying on as always, as if the bunkers might as well never have been there... On the way back to camp the night I was struck by the strange assortment of different buildings and no seemingly real pattern to them, and knowing why this is again makes you imagine how the city looked in 1940.

The following day we headed back on the Ferry to Dover. I found my self almost enraged to see a gang of Dutch skinheads on the ferry sporting swastikas.

The drive home was long thanks to accidents near Dover, roadworks, and of course the M6. The past 2 days I've done a lot of nothing, and only now via this post as a kind of catharsis am I reflecting on the past 7 weeks and what they might mean. I don't have an answer. It seems clear I don't want to settle back to old patterns, I want to carry on doing 'my own thing' and being creative when I can - but money will be needed sooner rather than later, if anyone can suggest ideas drop me a message! Perhaps I should reject the Northern mindset that has been absorbed from a life of growing up in Manchester and try and become more Bohemian like some of the Parisians I met!

je ne sais quoi

It's been another hectic week with days blurring and losing track of what I did when. Enough to say that I'm now 26 am writing this from Paris. More on how I got to this point later.

Last week on the 6th, me and Sam decided to have a packed day did the normal route on the Petit Verte in the morning. Very quick and easy due to it being right near the lift station, and lots of overtaking beginners. Later that day we headed up to the Aiguille Rouges to do another rock route having done the South Arete on the Index earlier in the week. We jumped onto a 'fully equipped' route, good fun!

The following day we went for some sport climbing at Lac Gaillands in Chamonix, the most accessible and busy crag there. Ok climbing but had a twinge in the knee, and the next route was once again not as 'fully equipped' as the books led us to believe. Also, be wary of locals pointing you onto a route. Twice now we've had seemingly friendly or helpful Frenchmen sandbag us onto a harder or incorrect route so we are not in their way, mirrored by a similar story from Stuey up on an alpine route....

The 8th marked my 26th Birthday, and not one for big celebrations or early starts, we missed the possibility of climbing the Rebuffat route on the south face of the Midi which was probably for the best due to weather. So headed to do a long 400m route on the Rouges again. Good climbing, some nasty loose bits, but a fun day out none the less. After getting down to Cham and having a fantastic curry at Tigre Tigre near the train station (Great Bhuna, and the owner sounded like a Manc!) - Sam and I decided a change of scenery was finally needed and headed to meet the rest of the gang to say goodbye. We'll see most of them again soon except for Ally and Alex who I will sorely miss and sincerely hope look after themselves and don't become statistics. I highly doubt that as they are both extremely competent despite obvious cranial abnormalities and strange behaviour.

That night we set off to Fontainebleau and ended up camping not far from Lyon due to tiredness and roadworks on the motorway. We hit Font the next afternoon, a nice town, and by chance bumped into 2 guys we camped near on the Argentiere camp-site. Saturday I jumped on the train to Paris to meet up with another photographer contact Alice, and may be spending the next 2-3 days here with plans to return to Manchester on Friday, with maybe a day or so of bouldering at Font in between.

First impressions on Paris, aside from the tourists, a very nice city and puts my home town to shame in many ways. I love Manchester and all it's rough northern industrial charm, but I'm afraid it's not a case of sophistication but more logistics. The public transport here is brilliant and very efficient. The metro is quite cheap, as well as all the buses and bus stops having detailed maps of the bus, metro and train routes. There's also lots of bike lanes and bike rental spots all over.

I got a few cliché shots as well as some interesting street art that mirrors things I've shot in Manchester's Northern Quarter. Hoping to possibly get some more this week, with maybe the Catacombs and the grave of the late great Jim Morrison on the list.

That's enough for now, as its 1:45am here on 11th September and I'm feeling the hours stacked over my head. Unfathomable that it's nigh on 10 years since I was a gawping 16 year old dumbstruck by the horror of 9/11 on the tv screen; yet just as mind-boggling how life works out and here I am in a empty flat in Paris at almost 2am, after recently mountaineering in the alps and quitting my job. If you'd have told me that's where I'd be back in 2001 I would never have believed it.

Splash

It's been a long week, and I'm struggling to put down what days I did what... Infact, I can't be bothered even trying to figure it out, but today I finally got another climb in after a few days of aching after the last big climb. A link up of 2 routes on the Aiguille Rouges, the second being the classic SE Arete of the Index. Excellent climbing, easy difficulty and a fair amount of bolts, some spaces in between that we just ran out as it was mainly easy ground. Overtook lots of beginners who were very polite for a change, a kiwi chap we passed seemed to find our relaxed attitude quite funny compared to the stressed French. I'm not sure why some groups were taking so long on belays, as clipping bolts is pretty straight forward! Got down to Cham for a Midnight Express before the weather came in. Forecast for the next few days is a bit grim. I've spent a fair bit of time chilling at the group's apartment when possible this week - it's been nice sitting on a sofa, eating from a plate and drinking tea from a real cup.

In other news, Ant and his mate Cropper headed up to the Midi to climb a Rebuffat route on the south face of the Aiguille du Midi. After a bit of faff and going off route, combined with maybe carrying too much gear, they managed to miss the last lift down by 10 minutes. That night they had to sleep in the toilets of the Midi station along with 8 other unlucky alpinists during a massive thunderstorm, on cardboard and bubble wrap. Fun!

Also this week, Sam, Phil Booth, and Stuie managed the 3 monts route of Mont Blanc. That being Mont Blanc du Tacul, Mont Maudit and Mont Blanc Summit in sequence. From their description, it was a bastard of a slog with lots of punters and guides dragging clients. One woman went mad at Sam when he accidently kicked her with his crampons, but to be fair it's her own fault for trying to shove past when Sam was about to abseil. Ally and Alex got a few big routes in including the Gervasutti Pillar & the north face of the Tour Ronde, epic!

Spent a while having a chat to Phil Booth this week. Phil is a Freelance Photographer and is a few steps ahead of me in the Photography career, exchanged lots of great tips and ideas and we'll hopefully be working on some climbing shots in the future. He also shoots with Canon, and is soon to purchase a 5d, nice! Have a look at his website! - www.philboothphotography.co.uk - He's also suggested www.photobox.co.uk and www.moo.com for making my own prints and business cards, so keep watching this space when I'm back in England.

Other than that, I'm tired and struggling to remember other events this week. There's a few new shots up soon on Facebook of the lads launching each other about in the swimming pool, and a few ok shots I got of the Petit Verte..

I'm 90% decided to go to Paris on Monday via a carshare I've found (www.blablacar.com), and I luckily found €40 today in a wallet on the pavement! Finders Keepers :) Possibly spend 4 or 5 days in Paris depending on cost and transport back, then hopefully for the last week I can possibly get a few more rock and alpine routes in!