After what seemed like a very short stay, mom was off today. We'll all miss you a lot, mom!
More climbing this morning, thanks to mom babysitting (thank you mom!!) We were hoping to go to Fauborgs, but it was in full sun at like 8 AM, so we hit the main cliff and hiked to a sector we had not been to in a long time called Bicolore (right next to the sector where I exploded my tendon). Warm up was on a beautiful blocky 6a called "Le clef du nirvana", then I managed to fall off Bicolore itself, and then did Ambroise, a fantastic 35 meter 6c: bliss!
Then it was back to the gite to clean and close up shop. Here is a photo of chloe next to the thistle that someone had inexplicably planted next to the front door and which we were stabbed by almost every time we opened or closed the door
(it is a beautiful thistle though!)
Last thoughts on the gite: beautiful location, tastefully appointed and well equipped. My only criticism is that large tractors and balers were driving 6 feet away from the front door every thirty minutes or so. I'm not sure what exactly they were doing.
Although the Moulin de la Pipe is the only game in town in terms of restaurants, I think we will cook ourselves next time, as it is not the best quality, and quite expensive.
On our way back to Grenoble, we stopped at a lovely restaurant called the Auberge de Leoncel. Everything we had was wonderful, but extra special compliments are due to the caramel ice cream that they served, from "Glaces de l'Ardeche, Michel Morand". Possibly the best caramel ice cream I have ever tasted, and worth a detour.
We got one route in after a late start on the main cliff before getting grumpy about the full sun (EVERYWHERE!) and retired to the Gite. OK, maybe it was just me being grumpy. We did a little touring instead and headed south through small towns and eventually ended up in Crest. Nothing too remarkable really. It was one of the least interesting parts of the Drome that I had been to, but still pretty.
After it cooled down, Chloe and I went to the Pecher du Bas sector, and oh my god was it hard! I barely scraped together an onsight of the 6c+ pitch of Maux d'amour and almost had a heart attack thugging my way through the lower crux of L'equilibre du juste followed by very tenderly clawing my way up the very technical upper part. Probably the hardest 7a I have ever done, and I was elated to reach the chains without getting ejected by any of the thin moves leading up to it.
Chloe had found a new Gite just past the Gorges d'Ombleze which we were supposed to have gone to in May. After a few cancellations and moves, we were finally able to go this weekend, and with mom! Based on the price and remoteness, I was a little worried about what it would be like, but was very pleasantly surprised. It was a very well refurbished farmhouse, with lovely furniture and cedar panelling everywhere (even in the bathroom!). The kitchen was well equipped as well. Next to the gite was a big field with knee high grass and a path carved through it to a small creek.
I rode Glandon from the Maurienne with Martin -- my legs felt terrible and I was dropped, but what a wonderful alpine paradise it is up there. 1500 meters of climbing is a lot when you are not feeling fit, however.
Oh how I miss BBQ. It's so strange and sad that we aren't allowed to grill on our little patio!
And as usual more fantastic desserts from Franck
with the guys. Franck, who is known for his exceptional dessert making skill, made probably his best dessert ever, and one of my all time favorites. I took the opportunity for a little Phantom footage, even if I had meant to shoot stills.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGo7zMcFGNY
Today mom and I went to the chateau du Touvet, in the Gresivaudan, to the East of Grenoble. After a very short drive, we followed the tree lined entry, parked and bought a ticket. I soon found myself in a conversation with the woman at the ticket booth about where we were from, and the usual questions about what we were doing there. It turned out that she was from St. Egreve, and did I know that there was a chateau in St. Egreve, too? It turned out that the current owner of the chateau du Touvet (their family has been in charge for the last 500 years) used to own the chateau in which we live, and had broken it up into apartments and sold it. We all laughed together about the coincidence before the bell for the tour rang, and mom and I had to quickly shuffle off down the very long but impressive driveway. The tour began with a description of how the castle used to guard against some hostile neighbors (The Savoyards), of which there were a couple in the tour with us, who took it in stride. The docent told us that the gardens used to be even more majestic when they could afford ten gardeners instead of one. Ah, la crise!
Once after we entered the castle, I immediately took a photo of the impressive entry, and was as usual told that photography was not permitted. It seems that not even the smallest of public places has escaped this irritating anti-photography trend.
Next on the tour was the salon, where there were two big basins which were apparently used for rinsing your hands after eating utensil-less. There was also a table on which the aristocrats would place their dead animals after the hunt. The flooring in this room and all of the other rooms that we saw (only the ground floor, unfortunately) was spectacular. Up next, the music room, where I was mostly fixated on the floor again, which was a mix of noyer (walnut), merisier (wild cherry) and Erable (maple). Stunning.
I don't remember too many details about the rest of the tour, except that there were extremely wide chairs to accomodate the huge hooped dresses of some particular era. At one point, the docent asked us what we thought the boudoir was for, and one wag replied "pour bouder!", which received some laughs. After looking it up, I discovered that "bouder" is "to sulk". So I learned some vocabulary! We also saw a cool yew table which was made from yews felled from the St. Egreve chateau. I actually noticed that there were some Yew trees on the grounds, and had started to make Alex a bow with some branches, until I read that every part of the tree except parts of the berry is extremely poisonous.
After the tour, mom and I wandered the gardens and grounds
Mom always amazes us with how quickly and easily she figures out local public transportation systems. She is already at home going to and from the center on various buses and trams. She's been exploring a bit and brought back a small selection of desserts today!
Took Keith and Mom on a tour of the synchrotron and to la Frise before dropping keith off on the train to Paris
