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.
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