We miss your, say born

---

Bonjour. Oui. Merci.

And that was about the extent of it a week ago. Thumbing down a car near the french border I say, "Bonjour ah Annecy?" before receiving a barrage of french (none of which I understood) to which I enthusiastically responded, "Oui".

I decided to take the opportunity to visit France while my friend Guillaume (or Wiremu in NZ) was home for a couple of weeks... With a native guide who is also a french teacher I was well set up for a week of 'the french experience'.

The old town of Briancon is surrounded by fortified walls and nestled beneath the mountains where 3 valleys intersect. The oddly painted buildings and narrow cobbled streets hold many tales of the years that have passed, and hide the network of tunnels that lie dormant beneath the town. The valley walls are studded with limestone cliffs that provide the area with an abundance of great climbing. It is really an outdoor paradise with year-round attraction.

It is autumn and we can still climb high in the mountains with shirts off. At nearby Aile Froid, granite boulders are staggered around the bottom of the large slabs above, which lead to Glacier la blanche. Bouldering, Sportclimbing, Trad, hiking, mountaineering or picnicking; here is something for all. Armed with the essentials (camembert and a baguette) we spend days foraying in the wilderness before returning for night-time activities, which included much cheese, bread, laughter and frenchness...

Guillaume's father, Jean-luc, has a monstrous 4-5 storey chalet in an eccentric little village above Briancon. It is about 400 years old with a heap of character and a real maze to explore.
One night we were invited to dinner at the local goat-cheese-maker's house. In en grand chalet on the mountainside, the lower floor is reserved exclusively for cheese-making with the top floor for sleeping middle floor for cheese-eating, among other things...

And would it be a french mountain experience without a Fondue? Well, whatever, we had one. C'est de la bombe da balle!

The last task was to make the pilgrimage south to the sportclimbing mecca that is Ceuse. This large band of solid limestone provides what is arguably some of the best and most spectacular sportclimbing on the planet.

Sitting on the roadside in the evening watching as the sun set behind Mont Aiguille, with le baguette, fromage, sausison et vin du France, I was feeling like Francois le Grand Poisson...


And what did I learn?

The french like to have fun...

The most important word to describe an experience is Puuhhhhhf,
couple with shaking of the wrist...

Une Fondue sans pain c'est comme un cafe sans eau...

France is THE place to climb

J’aimerais aller a Briancon. Ous alles vous?


*fotos to come

---