Fontastique!

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Château de Fontainebleau

Château de Fontainebleau

For the May Day bank holiday I decided to organise a bouldering trip to Fontainebleau (aka Font) in France. Font is about 50km south of Paris and is widely regarded as the bouldering Mecca of the world.

Six of us set off from London early on Saturday morning in two cars and drove to Dover to catch the ferry over to Calais. Once in France we headed straight down to Font and met up with two more friends who’d flown into Paris from Aberdeen at the Château de Fontainebleau. The château was impressive, free for Europeans under 26, and a great way to spend some time whilst the rock was drying out from the rain earlier in the day.

Campfire at Ile de Boulancourt

Campfire at Ile de Boulancourt

We then headed further south of Font to find out campsite, Ile de Boulancourt, where we were greeted by the owner Jerome. The campsite was perfect for us, with clean toilets and warm showers, permission to have campfires, high-quality bouldering mats for hire and 400m away a small shop selling fresh baked goods as well as wine (essentials for any trip to France). Once I’d paid the balance for our stay Jerome took us to our camping area, where one car load of our group had already arrived having taken the Friday off work to get down there early.

TentMeals!

TentMeals!

Once we’d pitched our tents, ordered baguettes and pain au chocolats for the next day, and bought some wine it was time for dinner. I’d bought us a selection of TentMeals to make our evening meals as easy as possible. TentMeals were set up by a friend of mine from university and are fantastic healthy, natural, balanced meals that are incredibly easy to cook. I’d really talked them up to the group and I think most people were sceptical that the little tubes of rice or couscous would ever produce anything that resembled a proper meal. I can honestly say that everyone was pleasantly surprised, impressed and stuffed ten minutes later. Not only are the meals very easy to prepare (you only need to boil some water, pour the pack in and then let it rest for less than 10mins) but they’re really flavoursome and thoroughly filling.
The meals also have a very long shelf-life and are vegan.

 

 Log chopping!

Log chopping!

Having stuffed ourselves with the TentMeals we set about making a fire and sat around with quite a few bottles of wine whilst enjoying the entertainment of trying to chop through a very large log with an 8Euro axe. The log was eventually chopped through, but had exhausted the axe to the extent that the axe disintegrated as soon as it was set to work on splitting the freshly chopped log.

 

TentMeals with a 45min exposure - check out those star trails!

TentMeals with a 45min exposure – check out those star trails!

After a good night’s sleep under canvas (and some pretty impressive stars) we got up and headed off to find some boulders to climb. We headed to T-rex and wondered into the forest for ten minutes before coming across an open area with loads of impressive boulders sat on a bed of sand. The rest of the day was spent climbing, picnicing, slacklining and playing frisbee in the brilliant sunshine. The climbing was great fun, summiting my first Font boulder was a fantastic feeling. We all found ourselves climbing a few grades lower than we would on plastic indoor bouldering walls but that didn’t bother us at all. Everyone found some climbs suitable to their ability and really encouraged each other to push themselves whilst maintaining a very chilled and relaxed atmosphere.

Picnic in the middle of some awesome Font boulders.

Picnic in the middle of some awesome Font boulders.

Eventually we reached a point where our arms wouldn’t let us climb any more and we headed back to the campsite for some more TentMeals, wine and sitting around the campfire. We had a slightly eclectic group of 12 people; no one knew everyone before the start of the trip but everyone had at least one connection with some others that were there. It worked really well and I think most people came away with a couple more friends than when they arrived.

Finn bouldering at Buthiers.

Finn bouldering at Buthiers.

Monday morning broke and we quickly headed to a nearby bouldering spot, Buthiers. None of the routes seemed to match the guidebook but that didn’t bother anyone and we just set about climbing whatever we saw that looked about right for our ability levels. The attitude was slightly different to the day before as everyone knew we only had a couple of hours so the intensity of climbing was a bit higher but everyone remained very chilled out. Eventually we had to drag ourselves away from the rock and back to the campsite to drop off the bouldering mats and pick up our tents. Unfortunately our reluctance to stop climbing left us a little behind schedule and despite pushing to make up time both cars missed the ferry. Luckily this didn’t cause any problems other than an hour’s wait at Calais.

Me hanging around, making us late for the ferry!

Me hanging around, making us late for the ferry!

We arrived back in North London before midnight and with enough time to get a good night’s sleep before work the next day. I really enjoyed the weekend, the combination of great people, amazing weather and brilliant climbing couldn’t have been better. I can’t wait to organise our next trip which will no doubt be even more Fontastique!

Spring begins with some climbing, paddling and pedaling

Spring appears to have arrived! The sun has started appearing and we’ve had some beautiful clear mornings in London. This weekend I didn’t have a huge amount of activity planned come Friday afternoon. I decided to pop to The Arch in Bermondsey for some climbing after work, it’s always a nice and cheap (free for me with my membership) way to wind down after a week of work.

Climbing at The Arch's Biscuit Factory building.

Climbing at The Arch’s Biscuit Factory building.

On Saturday morning I got up and headed to Lee Valley White Water Centre for some white water kayaking. I recently bought a kayak, Tina. She’s a Jackson Rockstar playboat in the questionable colour scheme of tie-dye and I was excited to paddle her. The Lee Valley White Water Centre was built for the London 2012 Olympics and is a great facility for white water activities that’s only 40mins from London (train from Liverpool Street or driving). The centre has two courses, one longer and more advanced than the other, that are supplied by water pumped from the lake. It was a beautiful day, despite the water still being cold I had a great time on the water and it was fun to sit around and watch the rugby in the cafe afterwards.

Tina, the tie-dyed rockstar!

Tina, the tie-dyed Rockstar!

At some point after a beer or two on Saturday I decided to join some friends who were planning to cycle to Brighton from London on Sunday. I agreed with one of my housemates that I could borrow his bike and started to mentally prepare myself for riding a bike with cleats for the first time ever and one with brakes and gears for the first time in several years (I normally cycle a fixie). I’m not really a cyclist, and certainly have never expressed interest in becoming a road cyclist, but I thought I should jump at the opportunity to have a little adventure when I didn’t really have much else planned!

Sunday was a beautiful spring day and two of my housemates and I set off at around 8am to meet a few others and hit the road. We took a gloriously empty route through some of the iconic sights of London before passing through Clapham and finally out onto some more rural roads. I was thoroughly enjoying having a range of gears to work through as we climbed a few small hills, despite them taking their toll on a previous knee injury of mine.

We didn't make it quite as far, or as fast, as we'd hoped...

We didn’t make it quite as far, or as fast, as we’d hoped…

We took a few interesting routes down some bridal paths but somehow everyone escaped the mud, rocks and gravel with only one tactical dismount and no punctures. Once we were passed the M25 our pace seemed to slow, the early climbs had taken their toll on some of the group. Despite the low speed, spirits remained high and we continued to wind our way through the beautiful English countryside.

Just as we approached the 55km mark near Three Bridges we had a mechanical issue with one of the bikes that couldn’t be fixed with the tools we had. The pedal had become cross-threaded and eventually come completely free of the crank whilst riding down the road. With no thread whatsoever left on the crank and no replacement cranks it was clear that bike would not be making it to Brighton. In light of the slowing pace, and not wanting to leave someone behind, we decided to call it a day. Luckily, Three Bridges station was only a few minutes downhill roll from where we were and we managed to hop on a train home and get back in time to watch the final 6 Nations game of the weekend.

Despite the fact we didn’t get to our intended destination I thoroughly enjoyed the cycle and will be keen to get out on a bike again in the future. Just goes to show, if you randomly say yes to adventures you might find yourself enjoying them more than you’d think!

2016 Begins!

2016 has begun and I decided to kick it off with a bouldering session at The Arch North in Burnt Oak. Read more about bouldering in London on the activity page here. This centre opened in September 2015 and it’s only the second time I’ve visited. It was blissfully quiet and we had all the time and space we wanted as we struggled to haul our holiday season bellies up the walls. We even had enough space to try out some interesting dismounts on the rings.

The Arch North The Arch North The Arch North The Arch North