The Gorges de Franchard is a vast playground in la forêt de Fontainebleau, littered with gazillions of rocks, and we've barely scratched it's surface. Franchard Isatis is probably the most popular site in the area, for the concentration of high quality problems, circuits and perhaps for the 30 second walk in... It can be a little hectic on weekends, but you can follow the paths up towards the Memel bloc where the boulders are behemoths; lichen encrusted leviathans lying frozen amongst the trees, mouths gaping open and begging to be climbed. And so we did, a lot. Sam got his first 7c, Le Lot de Boudins that traverses the Plastikman bloc on slopers and crimps, and Amber got her first 7a/7a+, Donnant-Donnant on the same boulder. We repeated the lovely Bouddha assis (6b). Neither of us could get off the ground on Abdolobotomy, so we did the neat 6b stand start instead... It goes on. The sheer scale of high quality climbing at this particular site meant that we were hunting out more potential climbs faster than we could tick them off and therefore visiting every few days. Even so it wasn't enough, and we can look forward to returning to Respect d'Intention, Iceberg, De Brevitate Vitae, Sur-Prises... It goes on. In the opposite direction lies Cuisinière, Isatis' spacier neighbour, quieter since the approach track was closed to cars. Although we didn't give it enough time this trip, we did spend one lovely, sunset evening there and both climbed the deceptively tricky À Bras Plat à Bras (6c), a slopey number that traverses the lip of a boulder that resembles a crashed flying saucer. We also went exploring (and grade hunting...) at the isolated, wonderful, FRICTIONOUS Franchard Raymond, and played on the circuits of Franchard Sablons that are fun and flowing, if a little heavy on the slabs. And this is just the tip of the iceberg; next time, we're gonna go Titanic on this place.
2 Comments
For a project day, this was a pretty good one. After a quick 'warm up' on some blues with typically tenuous Font top outs we got drawn into Helen's project, Le Diéséliste (7a). Sam and Helen (covered here in our Sunday Send) sent this, whilst Amber got the short version, Le Cambouis du Diéséliste (6c). Onwards and up the hill to settle an old score: Le Grain de Beauté (6c+), and Le Grain de Beauvais (7b/7a+), two rather different animals on one low, wrinkled prow. Beauté, that traverses the lip with a gorgeous sequence of cross-throughs, went a treat for Amber with some ingrained beta (only her first Font 6c+!!) and for Jason also, making the bloc look much smaller with his 6'4 frame. Sam sessioned the straight-up Le Grain de Beauvais with various combinations of experimentation and grrr, finally latching the last hold with an interesting three point cut loose on the slabby top out. He got the route, and a dead leg. Amber and Jason moving through Le Grain de Beauté (6c+) at Beauvais Nainville.
A battered black estate fights through the night, through the spitting rain and ragged winds that rush around the motorway. Shabby flashes of lightning occasionally mark it's path as it passes a swaying wagon and veers off at the exit road. The car jolts to a halt in front of an empty, luminate service station and a guy jumps out and sprints for the building, abandoning the still running motor. The girl sighs as she swaps seats and parks up. This is the third emergency pee-break they have taken already, in a pretty short journey. Back on the boulders at Gorge aux Châts (Le Pare Dessus, 7a+)
Six weeks spent indoors on plastic has flown by, and we are already itching to refuel our addiction to the sandstone boulders of Fontainebleau; a return to the simple life of climbing, eating and sleeping, away from the complexities of modern comfort. Happily we are leaving tomorrow for three weeks in the forest and although we will miss friends, family and the hospitality we have received while home (and back-to-back episodes of 'Buffy'), it feels pretty sweet to be off once more. It's not all play, as we'll be exchanging some hard graft for a place to stay for a week or two with Helen and her family. We're looking forward to meeting them too and getting stuck into some DIY as well as rock-time with some new faces. Here's to old eggs to crack and new one's to lay, with fresh company and familiar. Bring on the omelette - once, of course, we've packed up the car... P.s. Not the topless pics you were expecting? Dirty bugger.
|