Rain

It's been raining for three days, and there is no end in sight to this terrible weather.

We've had every variety of rain conceivable so far - from a light mist to heavy drops to torrential, soaking downpour. Sometimes with a strong wind that brings the dying leaves down from the trees, sometimes with thunder and lightening loud and bright enough to wake you up and cut the power.

So, we've been in hiding - retreating behind a good internet connection, some new books downloaded to the kindle and a stock of fresh food, whilst our muscles and fingertips recover. "Van Fever" is an increasing risk, as electronic media will soon cease to satisfy, but surely this rain can't continue too much longer?!

Jen and Mark go to Green Castle

Chateauvert sounded like exactly what we needed: lots of routes in our grade range, a short walk from the car, in a pretty little valley.

So we stocked up on some food and prepared to move in - and discovered that there isn't anything, really, to dislike about Chateauvert!

Camping (or "parking up") isn't really allowed in the valley itself (despite the handy public toilets and rubbish bins at the climbers' carparks), and we thought that it would be best to humour the locals by ensuring we stayed on a quieter road or at the basic but cheap municipal campsite in the nearby town. Others just stayed in the climbers' carparks, and as it's fairly quiet at the moment, there's really no harm in doing so.

There's a local bakery in Corens is open all hours of the day, and stocks delicious breads and brioches, and is staffed by a lady so friendly that she insisted Jen wear a plastic bag on her head (!!!) as it happened to be lightly raining. Whether it was due to the bag or not, thankfully Jen was not noticably negatively affected by a bit of water. And for all other essentials, it was a 20minute drive to Brignoles nearby.

And the climbing? The routes are long single pitches, on vertical or overhanging limestone, overlooking a quiet river and local road, and surrounded by forest. Some of the popular ones show a little polish from wear - indeed, when the weekend and the school holidays hit, we saw how busy it can get - but for the most part, the routes listed with three stars in our guide were routes well worth climbing.

All in all, a great little spot. And if it wasn't for this rain, we'd still be at the crag ...

The Vultures Are Circling

... but this is not, at all, a bad thing.

We've been happily parked up near the entrance to "La Maison des Vautours" for the last ... well, at least the last week but probably longer. Days are flying by, spent climbing in the sun on the walls of the Gorges du Tarn (harder, single-pitch) and Gorges de la Jonte (3-4 pitch climbing at usually consistent grades).

In the Jonte, the re-introduced vultures love to glide by the cliffs, rising on the thermals - from our position on the wall, we can see their immense size and grace as they appear right near us, turning their heads to check us out (still living? eh, not interested).

Climbing highlights? It's hard to go past L'arete Oest (the West Arete), Les femmes et les grimpeurs d'abord and Le Reverent in the Jonte ... although there have been many others, that in less auspicious company, would be considered classics. And Gorges du Tarn has so many fantastic single pitch routes to push ourselves on (most of them are super hard!), I don't know where to start.

In the evenings we've been hanging out with Sam and Al, and their two dogs Rosie and Jem - British climbers who like us are loving the van life and who are great company.

All up, life continues as normal - fantastic.

The West Arete - L'Arete Ouest

What a line! Straight up the edge of the block - three stunning pitches. If you look closely, you can even see us climbing...

... and our view of the route, from the second belay. An awesome route.

Les femmes et les grimpeurs d'abord ... or, women and climbers first!

Jen leading and Mark on belay on the third and final pitch of "Les femmes et les grimpeurs d'abord" in the Cirque des Vases, Gorges de la Jonte - 5c, 5b, 5c+. Absolutely brilliant climbing, in a stunning setting with great weather. Photo by Al.

... where are we now?

So we've been a bit busy the last month, moving from here to there, seeing family and old friends, doing some climbing, doing some admin and (as usual) having a good time. As a consequence, the blog has suffered ... whoops.

But we're now settled in the Gorges du Tarn and Jonte - with fantastic weather and loads of climbing, and unreliable internet connections too. So surely, the blog will be updated with our stories soon?! We shall see!

A Van Haircut

Step 1: Hack at excess hair with old kitchen scissors.

Step 2: Consider leaving it like this, and risk being mistaken for a Spanish / Italian climber.

Step 3: Use beard trimmers to even it out. Worry about hypothermia.