Corbel

I went for a wonderful ride with a co-worker to the col de Granier from St. Laurent du Pont this morning. It was some of the most beautiful scenery I had seen in the Chartreuse, so after returning, Chloe and I gathered up the rug rats and drove out there. Along the way, we stopped at a fromagerie to buy cheese and confiture


and met Simon, Vanessa and the girls at what for me was one of the highlights of the ride: Corbel. Corbel is a tiny mountain down perched above (another) breathtaking Chartreuse valley. It doesn't have much, but if does have a Café with unbeatable views.


Here is a panorama of Corbel:

And some photos

In town for ice cream

We also took a walk along the antiques street

Ride

I forgot to mention that I also got the dreaded gastro on friday night, although to a much lesser extent than Chloe (We're pretty sure it's the same thing that caused Alex to projectile vomit in the Tarn, and it is working its way through the family). As a result, I've been quite tired for the last couple of days! Both chloe and I have been on a diet of white bread and coke, as it's all we can seem to keep down -- woo! Actually, we had never bought a "normal" loaf of bread from the boulangerie, because we just assumed that it would be like US supermarket bread. It was a very pleasant surprise to discover that the pain de mie is actually excellent, with a dense moist crumb. It's a nice change from the baguettes in any case (never thought I would say that! We are a little spoiled, I think). In any case, after lunch I felt mildly OK, and I really, really wanted to get on my bike, so I set out for Proveysieux. I set my target power a little too high and was burning out around 80% of the way up. It wasn't terribly slow, but I really suffered; it was probably the worst I have ever felt on it, AND I had forgotten my water bottle.

Zoe's first real haircut

Zoe had her first real haircut today (not just the bangs). She was very proud to be having it cut, and was incredibly well behaved. Our little girl!




Chloe had some pretty nasty food poisoning which has not completely left her system today. I brought the kids to a BBQ,

at a co-worker's place up at col de la Placette to give CZ a little time to recuperate. We were supposed to have friends over for dinner, but the gastro took hold again, and we had to cancel. Oof.

The road home, climbing

Chloe and Vanessa went for a morning session at Shadocks while Simon and I herded kids and packed up. After tractoring the stuff to the skip

it was time for goodbyes to Hauterives, and more importantly: Lunch! We all drove to Sainte Enimie, where we had a nice meal at La Tendelle.

The only issue with this place is to not go there if you are in a hurry, as it is rather slow. In fact, we all had to take the kids for little walks outside to keep them happy. Happily, Saint Enimie is a beautiful town!

Next came the drive home. When we were living in the states, a four and a half hour drive was no big thing, but I have gotten soft and spoiled and it now seems kind of painful. It's a bit more demanding to drive on winding roads with lots of intersections, rather than I-5 through the central valley, but still. We arrived home, fed the kids and collapsed.

Hauterives, climbing

We took turns climbing and taking care of children today. The crags were mobbed, but we found a nice sector that we had not been to before: Shadocks. There are many nice climbs, but literally every single route was taken or had draws and/or a rope left on it. I think I want to avoid climbing on big holiday weekends in the future, as the crowds really diminish the experience. I had a bit of a scare when I asked to take and looked down to see flakes of rope on the ground in between myself and my belayer, but it was sorted out without hitting the deck.

Later on, Chloe and Vanessa had a bit of an epic trying to find the same crag, and returned to hauterives looking like wet cats; the rain clouds had rolled in and soaked both of them during their bushwhacking. In the mean time, Simon and I had taken the kids down to the water again, which was fun. The kids also enjoyed terrorizing the local cats and dogs:





The only problem with bringing the kids to the water is the subsequent kid-cleanup!

Later, we used the Plancha to grill sausages and shish-kabobs for dinner, and it was eventually time to turn in. Right before putting Alex down, he projectile vomited and it took some time to comfort him (and to clean up the mess). If I hadn't mentioned it, Hauterives is fantastic, but a little like camping in the sense that you are supposed to keep consumption of things like water and paper products to a minimum while reducing waste. It's not terribly onerous, but adds to the work.

Hauterives

Our plan was to go to Annot for the Easter weekend, but after checking the forecast every six hours or so and seeing rain (and snow!) in the forecast, we decided that it would be better to find someplace else. Unfortunately, many of the climbing areas in France had the same forecast: the dreaded "Sunny Rain": An icon of a Sun with little rain drops falling out of it on the Meteo France website. We assumed that it meant that the forecasters had no idea what was coming, but it turned out to be on the money. You would be walking along under a bright South of France Sunny Day, when suddenly raindrops would come out of nowhere! In any case, after waiting a bit too long to make reservations, we agreed upon the Hauterives gite in the Gorges du Tarn. It is a little bit of paradise along the Tarn river that we had spent a few nights at last year with Jon, Sue, Ian and Susan (and loved it). We drove via a new route to the Tarn, avoiding the ugly sprawl leading from Lyon to le Puy, and went instead via Privas and Aubenas. The roads are all quite good, and you pass some impressive cols and towns along the way. Aubenas, in particular looks like it would be a fun place to explore. From Aubenas, we drove more or less the usual way and arrived at the motorized skip that is used to send your things to the village above the river. I called Emmanuelle, who sent the skip over, and we loaded it up and sent it over. Soon after, Chloe ,Vanessa and the other kids showed up looking a little harried after being Garmin Nüvi-ified into going over small passes on departmental roads. After fully unloading, Vanessa and I took the cars to Malene to begin the forty minute walk back along the river to the village. By the time we got to the village,



the kids had already been in and out of the water, and had the by now familiar look of sunscreen battered in sand. It would be great to have some kind of outdoor shower there! Next came an easter egg hunt, in which the chocolate eggs were quickly discovered and dispatched in situ

A day in town with the rugrats

Cycling in the cold

I went for a ride today that I had always wanted to do, but never managed to: the ride to the Chalet at the Charmant Som. After a carbo breakfast, I heat-remolded the soles of my new shoes, and managed to simultaneously burn one of the straps. Happily, replacements can be had! Anyway, things started out smoothly: after a spin along the departmental road, I rode up the Col de Clemenciere by the easiest way possible, which is via St. Martin le Vinoux, then up to the col de Vence, through Sappey and on to Porte. At Porte, I refilled my bottle, and attacked the final couple hundred meters of elevation gain, but boy was it painful. The clouds were by now rolling in and the temperature had dropped dramatically. There were also patches of snow on parts of the road which almost caused an unexpected encounter with the cliff. The problem was that although I could ride in the track of a car, my pedals were brushing snow, so I clipped out with one foot. Unfortunately, it was so steep and slippery that I had a hard time getting moving again. Eventually I made it to the top and was FREEZING cold. The rain had started, and was blowing in sideways and cutting through my short sleeved jersey like it wasn't even there. I decided to try to get down to the valley as quickly as possible, but got a little hypothermic along the way. My brakes also lost most of their effectiveness by the time I got back to Clemenciere. My lats were cramping up, and my hands were shivering enough to make it difficult to maintain the pressure required to keep the brakes clamped on the rims. So, after a few slightly shrill calls to Chloe (AKA the sag wagon), Chloe very kindly came and picked me up. Not the most successful of descents, but at least I did the hard part (riding up!)



(vert gain is way off -- more like 1450 meters or so)

Climbing

We went to the excellent new crag at St. Egreve today. I even got to get on a route in the previously unexplored upper sector, which has some nice routes to project.

new shoes

Alex has a new pair of shoes (selected by vehement pointing and grunting)

Zoe cooking

Zoe at the climbing gym

A party for Chloe!

(Don't worry, the child at grill level is actually separated by glass and some space from the coals!)

With authentic (well, kinda) American Hamburgers being grilled.