Three Score and Ten plus Four

A cool blowy day above the Lauteret Pass

 Seventy fourth birthday - I was dreading it a bit but oddly I feel just the same as yesterday!! Five weeks in France now and it has been great - some mixed weather and seventy plus routes

The Maurienne

- I deffo wouldn't have done that back in Sheffield.

Accessible climbing

Eight months on and  recovery continues, but oh so slowly - walking uphill is hard work, though we have made significant progress in that direction. More importantly, I have discovered I can climb - just not very well - it will have to do for the moment. 

So far we have visited the Maurienne, Valloire and the Briançon areas and already pencilled in are Buis, the Ariege and a month or so in Kalymnos, that should see us up to the Christmas period - which hopefully will be back at Chez Arran where we have been for quite a few years now.

And Away......

The Cascade de St Benôit - a short walk from the pad

After ten long weeks in the UK we packed the car and had a steady ride down to Portsmouth through the usual heavy traffic, a super smooth crossing then two shortish days across France and we were back in the Maurienne - a part of the world we really like, high enough to be cool and never too busy. 

Me climbing!

Two weeks in and I can report it was worth the effort, stress and cost of the trip - the weather had been hot but bearable and I have climbed seven days out of nine actually doing thirty five route which would not have happened back in the UK. 

It is 1st September as I am writing this, everywhere has gone very quiet and the forecast is for a cooling trend - pretty much perfect - we have a lot of time to play with and aren't in a rush to be anywhere in particular, Ariege in October and Kalymnos in November are pencilled in for now - let's see what develops.