Commute view

Weekend in Annot!

After a long hiatus, we spent the weekend bouldering in Annot.  It was the first trip in our new used Renault Espace, now named the "Dragon Wagon" by the kids, and I have to say that despite being an ugly car, it is great for road tripping.  It is quiet, you can put as much stuff as you want in it, the handling isn't too bad, and it is comfortable.  It also gets pretty terrible gas mileage, but hey, you can't have everything.  The seats are removable and reconfigurable too.

Since we would be missing halloween, I convinced (forced) the kids to wear the costumes I had brought back from the states, and took some photos of them along the way
In front of the Mont Aiguille !

And up the road from a town near Annot, where Chloe and I had once stayed in a *terrible* hotel.  They served us grey gnocchi.

and near the Verdon

Once in Annot, we headed up to the farm, unloaded stuff and went up the hill to do some climbing at the Paf le Chien sector.

I managed to do "Choupette Magique" without too much trouble and then Chloe and I fell off "la Dalle qui rend fou" until the light ran out.

My friend from work Alejandro and his girlfriend Anna showed up later in the evening, but despite my best efforts to stay awake and wait for them, I fell asleep!

The next day, after some aeropress coffee, we went back up the hill to the paf le chien and rue du plaisir, And Virage sud sectors.

The climbing was great, as usual, but Chloe dropped a shoe somewhere, and we all spent a long time looking for it.  I eventually found it in a big pile of leaves.  We went back to la Rouie (the farm) for lunch, and some of Alejandro's friends showed up with their two young kids!  We all headed back out to the place des Cardeurs section where we all mostly fell of things (except the kids).

I did "le groin" in a try or two, but fell off stuff that I know I did last time, like "Citizen".  Boooo!

We headed back to the farm once darkness fell, and we ate raclette -- using the raclette machine that we brought down from Grenoble.  Zoe and I showed everyone how to make S'mores, improvising a bit with speculos cookies instead of Graham crackers.

The next day it was off to the Madness sector for some of the old classics.  Chloe did an old project of hers called "Bachotage", as well as a new one -- Bacaulareat.

Next, we had the most amazing bouldering trip lunch ever:  Alejandro made Paella!  And then he and Anna schooled up on the do's and do-not's of Paella Valenciana.  First:  no mixing meat and seafood.  Second, paella is not a dumping ground for the things you have lying around;  it is a specific dish.  It's pretty much oil, rice, saffron, flat beans, rabbit, chicken.  It was pretty damn awesome, and the kids loved it.  What a fabulous finish to a weekend of god climbing and perfect weather

There was just the small matter of driving home!  Not too bad with the Fall colors though

 

Espressification

After discovering how good coffee can be at Four Barrel Coffee (actually at the Rapha SF shop, which makes Four Barrel), Chloe and I have been kind of disappointed with coffee in France.  Especially when you discover that even the smallest roadside cafe in Italy makes espressi that are leaps and bounds better than even the best French restaurants.  I had assumed that since most French cafes use the same Italian Espresso machines as the Italians, that the difference was in the beans.  Having convinced myself that I could make decent coffee just using an Aeropress, but with good beans (e.g., Four Barrel or Artis), I set out trying to find non-burnt beans in France:  not an easy task. I still haven't heard a good explanation why French roasters incinerate their beans, but the best I can come up with is that it is just what people in France expect, taste wise, burning beans requires less expertise than not burning beans, and finally, burning beans can hide defective beans.  But really, I have no idea, and it seems like a terrible waste to me.  Anyway, I went to a "good" roaster in town, bought several types and brought them home.  Side by side tasting not required: burnt.  Next, I ordered several varieties from Maxicoffee:  less burnt, but still bitter,.  Finally, I found the savior of French coffees:  Cataldi!  The Cataldi Yirgacheffe is fantastic -- I would say almost as good as the Artis Yirgacheffe Aricha, but more similar than different.  Finally, some decent beans!  And Cataldi has several other varieties which are also excellent as well.

Having happily found a source for excellent beans in France, I eventually decided that it would be a good thing to start making our own espressos.  It might surprise you to know that this started am avalanche of research on Espresso machines, but eventually I decided upon the Nuevo Simonelli Oscar.  Sure, it has a vibration pump, and does not have an E61 group, shiny stainless steel cladding, and beautiful gauges, but it is well known for producing great coffee.  Paired with a Grinta grinder, we are now in business!  The first shots were pretty awful, but I am making progress, dialing in the grind, dose and tamp and am now pulling ok shots.  The slightly unwanted side effect is that I am super-caffinated all the time now, since I have been practicing a lot, and that requires tasting coffee.  And coffee has caffeine. 

Robot construction

Charmant Som

A hard climb

lunchtime ride

Climbing with Chloe at Balme Etrange

Chloe crushed! I was crushed

Col du Mont Noir

One of my favorites! With Vero, past the site of German atrocities during the war

Commute

My commute, extended because of the beautiful weather

A new car

I vowed never to buy a minivan, but well... we bought a used minivan. The lab auctioned off it's car, and in anticipation of Jon and sue coming, we thought it would be a good idea

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A hike with the kids

Ezy

Hard as nails

The kids have started climbing lessons!

The drill was to run to to any part of the wall and hang on. Zoe went straight for the 7a. I'm a proud papa.

Fall

Madeleine, the best way

There is a little known way to get to Madeleine via the South. Little known because it requires a little riding in the dirt, which many are loathe to do on their road bikes. Hank and I, however are no encumbered by such pragmatism, and so we got to enjoy one of the the most beautiful rides in the Maurienne.





Always a pleasure riding with Hank!