I am now of an age where I must occasionally suffer the indignity of a rather invasive procedure. I'm speaking of a colonoscopy. I have scheduled this dreaded procedure for sometime after my Wintergreen ride. While I was doing the self-care bit, I scheduled a regular physical since I hadn't seen my PCP since 2009. I've been pretty active and have done quite a bit since my last visit so I wasn't expecting any surprises ....
In April of 2009 I stayed with my good friend Jean-Christian in France ... for a whole month! My sister Sarah had just graduated from pharmacy school at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charlesston, SC. and the wife and I gave Sarah a vacation in Paris as a graduation present. This trip was a combination of a long overdue vacation and playing tour guide to Srarh and Richard her husband.
What a vacation it was: touring Paris with my Sarah and Richard, climbing, skiing, climbing some more, just being in Paris, and who could forget the food!
Jean-Chri arranged, through a colleague, a small apartment for my sister's use in the Les Gobelins area of Paris. This is a beautiful, centrally located area of Paris with nice cafes and a great market. I spent a week with my sister while Jean-Chri finished up some work. After that, Sarah and Richard spent time by themselves in Paris and then headed home.
We did manage to kidnap Richard for a day of climbing in Fontainebleau, the premier bouldering site in the world! Sarah doesn't climb but she does shop so we left her to her own devices in Barbizon, a beautiful village in Fontainebleau.
Sarah is a very out-going sort and will make friends no matter where she is. Here she is with "un petit cadeau" from an unsuspecting shopkeeper in Barbizon.
Meanwhile, back in the forest, we ran into trouble and had to claim ignorance lest we be run out of Fontainebleau!
After a week in Paris, we left Sarah and Richard and headed south for the Alps!
What a vacation it was: touring Paris with my Sarah and Richard, climbing, skiing, climbing some more, just being in Paris, and who could forget the food!
Jean-Chri arranged, through a colleague, a small apartment for my sister's use in the Les Gobelins area of Paris. This is a beautiful, centrally located area of Paris with nice cafes and a great market. I spent a week with my sister while Jean-Chri finished up some work. After that, Sarah and Richard spent time by themselves in Paris and then headed home.
We did manage to kidnap Richard for a day of climbing in Fontainebleau, the premier bouldering site in the world! Sarah doesn't climb but she does shop so we left her to her own devices in Barbizon, a beautiful village in Fontainebleau.
Sarah is a very out-going sort and will make friends no matter where she is. Here she is with "un petit cadeau" from an unsuspecting shopkeeper in Barbizon.
Meanwhile, back in the forest, we ran into trouble and had to claim ignorance lest we be run out of Fontainebleau!
Caro, me and Richard
Jean-Chri, Caro, and Richard
Another good friend Cyril - Very strong!
After a week in Paris, we left Sarah and Richard and headed south for the Alps!
Road Trip!
Our first stop was Guillestre. Caro's father and step-mother have an apartment in Guillestre which sits right on the road that goes up to Col d'Izoard, a high mountain pass used in a number of Tour de France races. A trail leads up to a hill with great views of the surrounding mountains and the Queyras.
I'm not much of a skiier so we went to Risoul to get a measure of how I would fare.
It was typical spring skiing and the weather was fantastic! I did a couple of red pistes and one black piste. Jean-Chri is ever the optimist and declared that I was ready for more challenging skiing even after I managed to break a ski on the very first day!
My next challenge was randonneur skiing in the Queyras. This is kind of a mix between telemark and down hill skiing. The toe of the binding has 2 pins which fit into the toe of the boot which allows the heel to lift up when in telemark mode and also allows the skier to move up a slope with the aid of skins. The heel of the binding can also be rotated and the boot locked in place for down hill skiing.
We drove to a small village in the Queyras Valley to the base of a hill and prepared for our adventure. Skins were applied to the skis and our bindings set. My first lesson was an 800m, or 2625ft, ascent up the slope. It took a while to get the hang of using the skins but I finally succeeded.
We only saw 3 other skiers that day. Awesome!
By this time my shins were taking a beating and I needed a day off. Jean-Chri had arranged for a guide at La Grave, an extreme skiing mecca in Les Hautes Alpes, to belay him and another skiier across a dangerous col. Meanwhile, Caro would enjoy the one marked piste on the glacier (double black I believe) and I rode up the telepherique to the glacier, had a cup of coffee, took some pictures, and rode back down to enjoy the day in the town.
Those little dots are people!
La Meije!
We packed up our belongings and headed into Haute-Savoie, to visit with friends and do a little more skiing before heading back to Paris and Font. We stayed with friends at La Recorbaz, a small village just south of Annecy.
We reached our destination in the late afternoon and, after unpacking, were treated to my favorite meal, cassolet!
Yummy!
The skiing plan fell into place during the evening. In the morning we went to La Clusaz for some more skiing. I must say that the resorts in France are just huge compared to the ones I've seen in the U.S. Our hosts, Matthieu, Emmanuelle, and Jules accompanied us and had a great time. Jules is fearless and will be a very good skier when he gets older, just like his father!
Jules and Emmanuelle
A rest day was in order the following day so we all drove into Annecy for a day of sightseeing and just relaxing. Annecy is called the Venice of the North because it sits at the outlet of Lake Annecy and much of the old town is surrounded by water.
Caro & Emmanuelle
One more day of skiing awaited us ... Chamonix and Les Grands Montets!!! 3200m and double black is the only way off the glacier to the snow slopes. This was a fantastic way to end the skiing portion of the trip.
Perfect weather ... at the top!
Jean-Chri ready to go
I was sad to leave the south but time marches on and we needed to get back to Paris.
We did manage a couple more physical accomplishments before I left Paris. The biggest was that I finally sent La Marie-Rose, the first 6a in Font. Here is a previous attempt by me followed by a better shot of another climber.
Cyril spotting me
Anonymous climber at the crux
After conquering La Marie-Rose I almost flashed a 7a, L'Ange Naif Droite but it was not to be so now I have a project when I go back to Paris to visit my good friends Jean-Chri & Caro and now, their daughter Alice!
I spent the last few days walking around Paris. I visited Serge Gainsboug's grave site at Montparnasse Cemetery and left a metro ticket and, on May 1st, Labor Day, I marched with my friend from Montparnasse to Bastille in the annual labor protest.
What a vacation! Non-stop!
to be continued ...
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