Daily Archives: June 8, 2014

Jun8

Spring Break 2014 – Flying to and from France

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Friday, 16-May-2014

&

Monday, 26-May-2014

(Ed. Note: I find it interesting that the first story posted here, aside from the index, includes both the beginning and ending of the Spring Break.  Feels very Shakespearian of Ben, doesn’t it?)

 

On Friday, I left work early.

That’s not really a unique thing, to be honest… but that Friday saw me driving home a good bit earlier than I would normally be comfortable with… I feel bad leaving early most of the time, but since I had a flight leaving Logan, and going internationally, at 6:30, I felt justified in leaving a little bit after 12:00 hit.

2:00 saw me stepping into a cab that already had a passenger in it: my next door neighbor.  Turns out that he had also called for a cab ride, but that his was running late… so instead of waiting around twiddling his thumbs, he jumped in with me and we headed toward Government Center to get him to his daughter’s wedding.  See, he was supposed to be there around 12:30… but he made the mistake of trusting the MBTA to get him there.  That was not a good decision, since they decided to close the Alewife to Davis leg of the red line as he was sitting on the train.  They didn’t say that, of course… they just asked people to wait patiently for nearly an hour, from what he told me.  Then they decided to make it clear that the trains weren’t going to be running anytime soon.

So, he took a cab.

There’s a song, that a man named Mike Barret sings.  It’s called “Boston Cab”.  Some people may know it.  It goes like,

Boston Cab, what’s the deal?  

Who put you…. Behind the wheel?  

Learn the Language, learn to drive.  

Take a shower, and try to get me home alive!

I am not exaggerating on this.  He got pulled over, and was told that he wasn’t supposed to burn rubber, or hit the 40mph mark, on side streets that technically make up Harvard’s Campus.  Because he chose that route to get to Government Center.  Which is clearly not a standard route decision.

Somehow, we survived, and I even made it to the airport right around when I meant to; just in time to fight my way through security (Dreadlocks require a patdown, since they’re actually dense enough to foil Backstatter machines) and relax a bit before Erin arrived, and we boarded our flight to Dublin…

Leg one:

  • Terrifying cab ride – Check
  • Convincing the TSA that my dreadlocks do not constitute a weapon (not really, they just frisked me) – Check
  • Flight from Boston to Dublin, including a steak dinner – Check.  x2 double-check bonus, since the steak dinner came with a very good red wine.
  • Flight from Dublin to Marseilles, including a full Irish breakfast – check.  Only x1 bonus on this one though, since the breakfast didn’t have whisky.  Seriously… what Irish Breakfast doesn’t?!?!

 

 

On Monday, we took a cab again.

This time, it was in France, however… so it was bound to be a bit different than the previous ride.

This cab, was a French van.  Full-sized.  Which means that it was roughly the size of an old Subaru Forester. maybe a bit smaller than a Taurus station wagon.  Somehow, we fit all our gear into the back, and huddled inside, ready for the drive of our lives, as our cabby would undoubtedly tear through the streets of Paris like a madman…

And then, he didn’t.

The drive was actually quite simple, quite easy, and we were dropped directly at the door.  Though we did have to load and unload our own bags – turns out, an older gentleman like our cabby is not up for hauling an 80 lb bag of rope and metal into and out of a van.  That’s what strapping 20 year old guys like Daniel and I are for, right?

From there… we waited.

  • First in line, when the line to check our bags took nearly an hour and a half.
  • Next, for our plane to arrive… which it did, just over half an hour late.
  • Third, for our second plane to arrive in Dublin.  I guess there was a storm over Malta or something, wherever it had been flying from.  This one delayed us nearly two hours.
  • Lastly, at the baggage claim.  Remember that note about 80 lb bags?  Yeah… I guess luggage handlers don’t like them either, so they saved ’em for last.

Thankfully, waiting for Allison to meet us at the airport wasn’t a long one – she was there with her trusty Accord (roughly the same size as the French van, mind you) quick, and had us on the move back toward Boston before I even knew it.

Ohh, how were the flights?  On the way home, they were clean and simple, honestly.  I had a good Salmon dinner (with a nice white wine, I’d like to add), and everything was quite pleasant.  I worked my way through most of my pictures, read, and generally had a good time of it.  Didn’t have any good conversations, unfortunately, but c’est la vie.  Would I recommend Aer Lingus to my future-self?  My Past-self?  Even… other people?  Yes.  Yes I would.  And I’d definitely recommend ordering the meals ahead of time – they cost a bit of money, but not that much, for what you’re getting.  And seriously – Metal silverware makes eating so much better, compared to plastic.

Jun8

Spring Break 2014 – Climbing in Luminy and Morgeiu

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Wednesday, 21-May-2014

Location: Cassis, France – Les Calanques  D’Morgeiu and Luminy

 

This morning was basically the same as Tuesday morning – especially because we headed to the same little town of Morgeiu to park.  Luminy can be accessed either from the nearby university or the town, and since we were hoping to get some climbing in both, we decided that the town would just be the easier option.

The drive today was… easier, I guess.  We had far fewer “Damnit French drivers!  WTF!” moments, though that may just be because we were getting more jaded to their insanity.  Also of note: Daniel loves honking the horn.  I guess it’s his Virginia heritage, but he almost never honks here in the States… now that he had a real reason to, his grin stretched from ear to ear.

 

Crag #1 – L’Abri Corier

Way too many people.  SKIP IT!

 

Crag #2 – Aguille De Sugiton

Ahh… this is more like it!  Less people, and a truly excellent sea-breeze keeping us cool.  Actually… almost cold.  Glad I brought a jacket.  At one point I literally had to stop climbing and brace against the rock to make sure I didn’t get knocked off the wall from the gusts.  It was, in a word, awesome.

    1. Permission Exceptionnelle – 5.7 & 5.9 – Lead = Daniel.  He strung these two into one larger climb, since both were sort of short.  The first pitch was rather regular face climbing, but at the center of the second pitch… well, it was a really interesting little bulge that we had to work over.  Harder for the lead though, since there’s one hidden hold way up top that was truly excellent.  Seems to be a theme here… find the hold, crush the climb.
    2. Les Helvetes – 5.8 – Lead = Rebecca.  Really fun route; super long and sort of pumpy, but definitely the kind of face / crack climbing that I love.  I climbed it twice.

At this point, we had to retreat off the climbing.  The wind had been quite nice and pleasant… but now it was just getting difficult.  Literally clawing up a climb, as the wind tears against you, is not fun.  Nor is it a safe way to lead routes.  So we took the smart move and fell back to L’Abri Corier.

 

Crag #3 (#1 again!) – L’Abri Corier

Still a lot of people.  But they’re university students, and pretty cool, and fuck it we’re going to sneak in between them and climb.  They’ve got open ropes everywhere anyways, so it’s all cool.  Yes, we do check with the “guide” – turns out she’s actually a professor at the university nearby, who teaches Sports Psychology.  They’re climbing outdoors to get an idea of fear while sportsing.  Cool.

  1. Manon Des Fontains – 5.7 – Lead = Rebecca.  Very long climb that goes up a huge left-facing dihedral… quite similar to my favorite climb at Rumney (Holderness Corner), and we have a blast on it.
  2. Choupinette – 5.3 – Lead = Ben.  Very short and simple climb, but still a good fun time.
  3. Passe Simple – 5.7 – Lead = Ben.  A longer version of Choupinette, very similar moves.
  4. Poupette – 5.11b – lead = Daniel.  This climb.  Short, very hard, tough bouldering moves out of a cave to start.  Looks a lot like Cro Magnum from Crow Hill, and Daniel led it beautifully.  I… did not.  I… did not make it past the first bolt.  Rebecca and Bjorn got to the second and third, if I recall.

 

After the climb, we drove home.  Simple story, though it does have a short segment where we get home, then immediately change into swim gear and jump in to the Mediterranean near the Villa in Cassis.  Erin calls us crazy.  She is 100% correct.

Jun8

Spring Break 2014 – Climbing in Morgeiu

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Tuesday, 20-May-2014

Location: Cassis, France – Les Calanque D’Morgeiu(pronounced “more-gi-eww”… I think)

 

One of my favorite things in life is waking up just a bit before my alarm, and relaxing in bed until it goes off.

That is exactly what happened on Tuesday, with the subtle exception that, after relaxing for 3 minutes (still another 10min or so before my alarm) Rebecca drop-kicks my door down while screaming a battle-cry that would rouse the stones themselves.

I may be exagerating, but that’s sure as hell what it felt like when my heart was racing at 5,000 bpm and Rebecca was asking why I wasn’t awake yet.  It’s because I’m having a heart attack thank-you-very-much!

So I got out of bed, ate bacon and eggs, drank coffee and juice, put my pack on, and we all walked out the door and into the car, heading toward Les Calanque D’Morgeiu, one of the larger and better-known climbing spots in the Calanques.

We left the house right around 8:45, picked up Baguettes at the small shop, and were on the main road right around 9:00… just in time to hit French rush hour (Ed Note: in France, people get into work at 9:30, on average).  French

rush hour, in a word, is terrifying.  I don’t know how Daniel survived the driving, but I was quite happy to sit in the back and silently wish that Vespas wouldn’t pass us, at 60 mph, with roughly 10ft to spare before being crushed by a semi.  See… the main road we took went between Cassis and Marseilles… it was two lanes.  One lane each direction.  No divider.  100kph speed limit.  Yeah.  Also, on the side of a mountain with a flimsy guard rail.

But we survived.  By the grace of Vespa-girl, we survived.  And I mean, the roads won’t get any worse, right?

Hah.

The road into Morgeiu.  Twisting and turning through the mountain, more hairpins and switchbacks than a person could easily count.  Two directions, on a road less than 10ft wide.  The trick, we learned, is to constantly honk your horn when you come to a blind turn or curve. That way, the drivers coming straight at you, have time to pull into a tiny little pullout to let you pass.

Ohh, and there are no guard rails.  Don’t worry, it’s only a 400ft drop off the side of this insanely narrow road.  It’s kinda sloped too, so we’ll probably survive.

The fact that Daniel could still climb after gripping the wheel on that drive… that’s true strength and endurance.

 

Anyways, we survived.  We parked in a little lot.  We walked to the first crag, found a huge schoolgroup, and then walked some more.  No real trails, but a lot of thin social trails.  <shrug> When in Rome…

 

Climbing!  The area we settled into was called Le Cret Saint Michel, and the specific wall was La Creche…

  1. L’Estrello – 5.3- Lead = Ben.  Nice and clean route; face climbing with a few interesting moves.  Not rough, but not super polished either.
  2. Santo Vierge – 5.4- Lead = Daniel.  Basically the same as L’Estrello
  3. Jesu – 5.7- Lead = ???.  Very interesting start, with a lot of sneaky and neat moves
  4. Sant Jose – 5.5- Lead = Ben.  Very solid route that linked with Jesu.  A lot of similar sneaky moves, where it’s horrible until you find that one hidden hold.
  5. Lou Mounie – 5.9 – Lead = Rebecca.  Another fun climb, though a lot of the little moves were rather sketchy