An Update....Finally!

Well folks,

I apologize for not posting stuff recently.  We've had a few visitors over the last month and we took advantage of it to do lots of really fun stuff.  Without a doubt, most American vacations are too short and Ariège is too vast to explore in a matter or weeks (or days in Jenn's case).

Here are some highlights.

The production of the garden is finally starting to slow down.  We had a massive overflow of tomatoes at the end, including our largest one of the season, which weighed in at 1.1 kg (2.43lbs).  It was enormous!  In fact, Monique made an entire tomato salad for four people out of it alone. :)  Here's a pic of Che with the blue ribbon tomato.

We were super psyched about the success of the garden.  I don't think I have a particularly green thumb, but we received a ton of expertise and help from Patricia, Ben & Shawna, Elise and a bunch of other folks.  Coupled with the fact that you can stick just about anything in the ground here and it grows, everyone's advice and hard work paid off.  Ben, thanks for "the Tool"... that made a massive difference controlling the weed problem.

It was also wonderful having Cliff, Monique and my mom (Diane) out for a visit.  We got to see lots of cool stuff, including a quick trip to Barcelona.  While I completely lost my ability to speak Spanish, we found some other cool sites and did the usual tour of Las Ramblas (no naked dudes this time though), the Sagrada Familia, Park Güell and most of the metro lines in the city.  Just as a logistical sidenote (hint, hint Steph and Andi), buying a one or two day metro pass for Barcelona is totally the way to get around. It gives you the flexibility to see a ton more in a short period of time and is super convenient compared to walking everywhere or taking expensive taxis.  Also, we found out that the amazing produce market on Las Ramblas is closed on Sundays. :(  That was a bummer to realize.

The Family

Steph getting hit on by a headless man in a really hot suit. 

Catalan graffitti calling for the independence of Catalunya (the state where Barcelona is located) and telling the tourists to go home.  The Catalan independence movement is an interesting subject worthy of a later post.

Mom checking out the amazing architecture at Park Güell.

Between the visits of Diane and Jenn, Steph and I had the opportunity to squeeze in a trip to Provence to check out some of the world reknown climbing areas.  Thanks to Monique, who watched our two obnoxious cats, we were able to take 5 days to see the region with Patricia, a French friend who had never visited the area either.  

I must say, the Provence/Haute Alps area is amazing.  It's beautiful and has tons of climbing, certainly worth the reputation and hype that it has received.  I'll just post one pic for the time being of the Verdon Gorge, which is commonly referred to as the "Grand Canyon" of France.  I'll do a climbing related post later, but there is a ridiculous amount of impeccible limestone in that neck of the woods.  The season for Céüse is coming to an end, but I'm SUPER psyched to go back next year. :)

Other than that, Jenn's trip was great... just too short.  We made peach wine for the first time.  We climbed at a really cool area in Spain called Montgrony.  Steph found a new kitten, and I found a new career path.  Lots of exciting stuff... 

We'd love to hear how you guys are doing.

Ten signs that you're integrating into France

1. You cook chicken and notice that the inside is still raw, then think to yourself... "oh, that looks about right."
2. You are no longer surprised that a doctor's visit only costs an Euro.
3. Sharing lanes with motorcycles becomes routine... they come up behind you and you scooch over so they can ride the line between you and oncoming traffic.
4. You get climbing endurance.
5. You lose all bouldering power.
6. Testing every single type of cheese on a platter isn't necessary...you know which ones you like.
7. You contemplate going on strike when you don't get something you want at school... or if you want to add a couple more days to summer vacation.
8. Eating ultra-processed food and crappy vegetables from the southern hemisphere is no longer an option.
9. You realize that "Accès Interdit" (No Entry/Access Prohibited) signs are optional.
10. Your definition of a meal now includes a minimum of three courses.

More Climbing...(A.K.A. Steph is rockin'!)

We've been a little off the map lately.  Aside from a random assortment of home improvement jobs and other things, we've been doing a fair amount of climbing at a shady cave nearby.  It has been a lot of fun, but we're both trying to figure out how to go from slabby granite to horizontal limestone.  Thus far, it has been a lesson in kneebars and foot cams... and a lot of fun.

Most notably, Steph has made unbelievable progress on an excellent route called Bébé Sabart.  When she first tried the route, she hung through the first two bolts and pretty much stopped there.  Now, after a few days of working on it and getting the knack of all sorts of tricky jessery, she's piecing entire sections together, including the crux.

The route starts with a couple of bolts of cool tufa climbing.  Perfect pinches and a world-class butt scum lead a horizontal roof, where the casual climbing ends and the jessery begins.

A sneaky heel hook in a perfect hole allows her to clip and get ready for the crux.

 The technical crux is moving into the roof feature.  There are a multitude of ways to do it, but Steph has figured out a graceful way that involves a powerful dropknee with her toe jammed into a small hole, before eventually walking her feet in front of her to another foot cam and a powerful gaston move.  I've seen several other climbers try this route and I think she does it more gracefully than most of them, which is cool.

The final walk through move/foot cam of the crux section.  The foot cam is excellent, but hard on the knee since most of her weight is on it for several moves.  When she first tried the route, she couldn't do a single move on the entire crux section and she was super apprehensive about the foot cams.  Now, she can do the entire crux section and has figured out how to effectively move on the steep terrain.

Clipping this bolt is still a work in progress.  The holds aren't great and the foot cam is painful, but I think with another day, she'll figure out a sequence that works for her and be off to the next little section. Both of us spend a bit of time doing a few moves, then making a grab to a draw... All holds are on in our book... even the ones that shine. :)

Aside from all the new climbing techniques that she is learning, Steph is also getting good at all the other shenanigans that go along with hang-dogging sport routes.  Her boinking skills have gone up 5000%... from not being able to pull up on the rope, to using her hips and body to generate the necessary force to get her back up.  Climbing on horizontal terrain is certainly a new experience and I also notice a marked difference in her comfort level.  When she first started climbing the route, she only tried it on toprope, which was a total nightmare because TR + Horizontal Roof = catastrophy.  Although it was intimidating at first, Steph soon realized that it was far better (and much easier) to work the route on lead.  Now, she leads the sections well (still working on the clips occasionally) and doesn't appear to be near as intimidated to fall.  She regularly takes falls and is working up to piecing together the next section of the route which has a bit of a runout.  She is definitely getting much stronger physically, but I think the biggest improvement has been with her mental confidence and capability.  It has been really fun watching her realize a small part of her potential.

Steph working on the next sequence that leads to a double kneebar, no-hands rest just before the final cruxy section and a really bizarre finish that entails crawling into a vertical hole in a horizontal roof.  

In addition to Steph's progress, we've also met a few of the local climbers, including a young guy named Josef.  It has been super fun getting to know him and learn about the region and language.  Josef has been awesome about showing us secret beta, helping us learn all the climbing terminology and teaching us a random assortment of slangy sayings that I unwittingly use inappropriately with frequency.  

He's of the "I have stupid strong fingers" generation and is getting back into shape impressively fast after completely tearing a pulley and having surgery six months ago.  Today, he made a smooth ascent of "La Chica," the line pictured above after finding a couple of key kneebars and completely crushing the crux pinch with his "weak" hand.  I'm frightened to see what will happen after he quits his temporary job scrubbing cheese next week.  College doesn't seem to be on the horizon, but I imagine he will quickly be crossing things off his ticklist when he gets some calluses and climbs more than once a week.  

For the time being, the weather is still hot, so I imagine we'll continue to climb in the cool, shaded grotte for a while.  I'm super psyched to see Steph make more progress on Bébé Sabart.  With some work, I think she could piece it together.  Regardless of whether or not she links the route though, her improvement is incredibly impressive and inspiring.  I can't wait to go back and she her work on it more.  

  

Laramade Bouldering

Today we were going to go climbing, but the weather was dreary, so we did a bit of exploring instead. Initially we were going to visit Andorra, but both of us forgot our passports at home, so we decided to check out some local bouldering near a town called Laramade. While the aesthetics and beauty of the lines aren't anything compared to Colorado granite, the rock was excellent... very much like Poudre granite, only with more holds on steep features, which was confidence inspiring. We just wandered around for a bit, but found 20+ boulders with a variety of lines on them. Most things with chalk were similar to the lines in the videos below (not uber impressive for rock snobs like Ben & Jay), but there is definitely potential for highballs, which seem to be overlooked and mossy.  


In contrast to the Colorado mountain environment, the hills are covered in dense deciduous forests that seem to be a combination of Sherwood Forest and the everglades. Needless to say, bushwhacking can be epic and huge blocks can be hidden until you touch the start holds. We didn't spend a ton of time walking around, but hope to go back soon...perhaps with red stretchy pants.








And... if you've made it this far, you are either a die hard climber or completely bored at work... or both. One more of a sweet sandstone cave about 10 minutes from our house.

The American Invasion of Ariège - July 2010

I apologize for being so off the map. Things have been a bit hectic here and I know a few folks are still waiting to see all the pics from our recent visitors and great adventures. We had a wonderful time with everyone and the house is now a little too quiet again.

Here are a few highlights while I sort through all the pics.

Without a doubt, France has a plethora of things to offer, yet, we still find that our network of friends and family are irreplaceable.  Living abroad is exciting, interesting and even romantic at times, but there is no substitute for all the amazing people we know back in the States.  To show our excitement at having visitors, Steph kicked off the American Invasion of Ariège with a Le Taux special, "concert in bed" for Ben & Shawna.  It's kind of like breakfast in bed, only with more laughing and less Nutella.  

As part of the immigration process to France, I was given free French lessons.  Despite the fact that they are an hour drive away in Foix, they have been extremely valuable and I feel very fortunate to have an excellent teacher who is very dedicated to helping all of her students. The other students in the class are of all levels, from absolute beginner to extremely proficient and I've been very impressed at how well my teacher manages such a difficult class setting.  

As a fun class activity for the end of the year (yes, even my French class goes on vacation for 6 weeks), the class went to visit Carla Bayle, a medieval fortified village near where we live.  After spending some time letting Ben & Shawna recuperate from an epic trip of standby travel, we went to meet up with my class for a tour of the village and an opportunity to meet some folks with fascinating stories.  

Students in the French class are from all over the world.  A number of people are from various parts of Africa, but there are also people from Thailand, Taiwan, Germany, Peru, Armenia, Russia, Turkey, and other countries.  Here, we're checking out the countryside to the north of the village.  This year's Tour De France passed just behind Shawna's right shoulder and through Carla Bayle before flying towards Bagneres De Luchon.  

No trip to Ariège would be complete without a couple of visits to the Cathar castles that abound in the region.  Here, Craig and Jen are enjoying the ruins of Roquefixade.  

In France, there are often signs that say, "Acces Interdit", which rougly translates into English as, "Duck under chain and climb up dodgy stairway to see spectacular view".  Don't try to Google Translate that one to double check my interpretation... you'll for sure get some lame interpretation that keeps you firmly planted on the ground, staring at your fingernails while others go and have fun. 

We also did happen to stumble upon one of the most impressive caves I've seen.  For climbing, it's spectacular.  The majority of routes climb up about 30 feet, then go completely horizontal for the next 60-90 feet.  Up until I saw this place, I wasn't very motivated to climb, but the prospect of getting to monkey around on tufas and giant holes in a horizontal roof got me psyched again.  Holy crap, it's fun!

It also turns out that fixed ropes in horizontal caves make pretty good swings, which are hours of entertainment in themselves.  

We also had Ben Schneider and Liz come visit us, which was awesome.  Taking the sound advice of several local folks, we got up early (4 am) and drove to a high mountain pass near Ax-les-Thermes to watch the Tour De France.  As expected, it was a bit of a circus.  It would be like taking Country Jam and putting it at the top of Mount Evans.  Needless to say, when we arrived at the summit at 6am, there wasn't much parking left, so Ben was forced to do one of the most impressive parking feats I've ever seen.  At one point, shortly before the photo above, he had the rental car balanced on two wheels, before coming to a rest.  It was sweet!

Lots of hanging out, waiting for the cyclists, which flew by in probably 30 minutes or less.

Schwag: free shit that generally has no value other than it's marketing potential. 

Tour De France Schwag: Really ugly free shit that definitely has no value other than it's marketing potential.

Example:

Wouldn't be the full Tour De France experience without Lance Armstrong.  Here's a fuzzy, crappy pic...

Lance got luckier than we did with the Schwag Wagon.... his stripes were a bit bigger and his marketing potential seemed to be more profitable than ours.  I offered to wear his jersey for the bargain basement price of half his salary, but his sponsor politely declined and said that they might reconsider if I dropped a few pounds and did something spectacular with my life.  I'll get on that.

In the mean time... We miss you guys.  You all make our lives spectacular.  

Exploring the Midi-Pyrenees Region

After having a few visitors over the last few weeks, we've begun to realize how much there is to see and do in our area.  We live in a department (more or less comparable to a county in the US) called Ariège, which is in the region of the Midi-Pyrenees.



Composed of 26 administrative regions and 100 departments, France has very distinct regional geographies, cultures, and identities.  By traveling a short distance, significant differences can be seen, which makes exploring the area fascinating and thought provoking.  While a bit sensationalist at times, the website above has some excellent pictures and info about the area that we live in.  A few suggestions might be... Toulouse, the suspension bridge of Milau Viaduct, Rocamadour and Gavarnie or Pic Du Midi for starters.  The Ariège Collection also has some of the prehistoric rock art that can be found scattered throughout our region.  Let us know if you find anything that peaks your interest!

Gorges De Galamus

Dans ce roc pelé que troue la sabine

Où l'aigle dans son vol osait seul venir

Pendu par une corde avec la barre à mine

L'homme comme l'oiseau a trouvé un chemin

("In this bare rock that pierces the Sabine
    Where the eagle in his flight only dared to come
    Hanging by a rope with the crowbar
    Man as a bird has found a way")  

...translation courtesy of Google Traduction, my French still sucks...

Often, we explore with the intention of finding, yet, there is something magical about turning a corner and seeing something unexpected.  The sense of surprise makes the object stand out in ways that perhaps we wouldn't have noticed, were the circumstances different.  While the Gorges of Galamus are by no means a secret, our discovery of this amazing landscape was wholly unexpected and that much richer as a result.

We were returning from a trip to Barcelona with Elise.  After visiting the chateaus of Peyrepertuse and Quéribus we were making our way back home and happened to take a small road.  Simply marked on the map in small font, the canyon didn't proclaim its uniqueness, but we decided to pass by in the off chance of finding some interesting limestone crags to salivate over (more me than Steph & Elise).  We were fully surprised as the road began to narrow, the cliffs began to loom and the center line disappeared before the highway finally pinched down to one lane.  We turned a corner to find that the narrow, winding road was actually carved out of the middle of a limestone wall that plunged into the cascading river below. 

The natural beauty of the canyon is breathtaking, but the area also has a fascinating history.  Given the engineering difficulty of the highway project, the road wasn't carved through the canyon until the 1890's.  When it finally became a reality, a large part of the construction was done by men hanging from ropes attached to the cliff.  Given the date and technology at the time, I can't imagine how sketchy it must have been.  

Despite the road not being constructed until the late 19th century, several caves in the area have been inhabited regularly since the 7th century.  Hermits seeking refuge in the canyon were some of the first documented inhabitants.  Far away from the noise of society, the hermits sought solitude and peace in the caves shown in the picture below (a chapel and small residence were later built at the entrance to the main cave). 

According to local history, the chapel referenced above (interior pictured below) was constructed in 1782 to honor Saint Antoine after several people from the nearby village of Saint Paul de Fenouillet were miraculously cured of "Suette" (a.k.a. sweating sickness) a mysterious infectious epidemic disease that primarily plagued England and mainland Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries.  

The chapel and hermitage also became popular pilgrimage sites, drawing people on Easter and Pentecost. 

In addition to the natural beauty and religious element of the Gorges de Galamus, the canyon was also a setting in several movies, including Roman Polanski's The Ninth Gate (1999) and Chine Ma Doleur (1989) by Dai Sijie. 

 
 
The Gorges de Galamus offer some climbing and what looks to be excellent canyoneering.  Although the canyoneering doesn't appear to be technically difficult, it looked super fun.  We watched as this group hopped casually from pool to pool on their way toward the chapel.

The natural geography is also incredible because it creates an extremely strong wind tunnel.  We visited the area on a moderately windy day, but at this corner in particular, there was steady wind strong enough to support your weight as you leaned into it.  As we left, we saw a cyclist ride pass.  I was bummed I didn't get to see him come around the corner because I imagine it was totally epic.  :)

Surfing Mice...Who knew?

Despite the fact that they're mice, they still manage to get longer rides than I ever did in Costa Rica.  Hmmm... I suppose there is always something to aspire to.  :)

Steph says that perhaps I should try riding at their level...not sure exactly what she is implying. 

US makes it to stage 2 of Soccer World Cup

It has been years since I followed any sort of sporting event.  However, this year, I've began watching some of the FIFA World Cup, taking place this year in South Africa. 

Today's big news:
Despite being a forgotten sport in the US, our Soccer team has made it to the second stage of the bracket.  The deal was sealed today after the US narrowly defeated Algeria (1-0) in the final minutes of play.  Now, the US will face Ghana in the round of 16. 

In other news, the French team was eliminated earlier this week and there seems to be a whole debacle surrounding it that I don't fully understand.  At any rate, it makes for fun conversation and seems to get people a bit riled up.

The Garden...

I love experiments, but hate moderation for some reason.  We have an entire field below the house, so when it came to rototilling time, it seemed like a good idea to keep making the "garden" area a little bit bigger.  It's a bit hard to get scale, but the main section is about 40ft x 60ft, with a long area for all the melons, artichokes, etc.  

When I went to buy potato starters, I didn't speak French at all.  Our friend Patricia had told me to buy "a little box" of starter spuds, so I went down to the local gardening store (by myself).  It was prime potato buying season, so there were 10 different varieties, all of which came in "little boxes".  Not being able to read the labels, I just more or less blindly picked one and returned home after much bumbling about at the cash register.  When Patricia saw the box she laughed...I had unwittingly purchased 100 starter spuds, which turn into about 250 kilos (500+ lbs) of potatoes!  

Needless to say, I pawned a few of the spuds off on her and planted the rest... about 75.  Now the spuds have all come up and are flowering (pictured above).  Who knows what we'll do with all the taters...I'm guessing a lot of fries, gnocchi, and random potato gift baskets to friends.  Maybe we'll have Mr. Potato Head decorating contests...

Our very first bean, beets, radishes and pumpkin and watermelon plants which have begun flowering. 

Getting pepper plants started has been hard...I just finally moved them into the garden.  Just in time for it to be rainy and cold for an entire week.  To compensate, Patricia and I built a really ghetto shelter out of scrap wood and pallet plastic wrapping that seems to be working ok to help keep them a little bit warmer. 

I also found a French gardening book that had some cool, innovative tricks in it.  This one is to bury a perforated container next to the plant and simply pour water into it.  It allows the water to penetrate quickly and easily to the roots, making watering a ton easier overall.  This method also seems to waste less and is considerably quicker.  

You can use any number of containers, but I have been using old 2 liter plastic water bottles.  I punch a few holes in them, then bury them next to the root ball of the plant.  Thus far, it has been very effective and most people seem to think it's a cool idea.  However, one French guys scoffed at it and said I would never get any tomatoes if I tried to do it this way.  He was adamant that I should build a Roman canal irrigation system in the garden instead.  I think there may be some downfalls, but I'm fairly certain the idea will work well for the most part.  As for tomatoes....

Tomatoes seem to grow really well here.  It was like a giant tomato plant swap a couple of weeks ago and somehow I ended up with 30+ plants (after giving away about 20).  Many of the plants are starting to get fruit and I'm psyched for the salsa this summer. 

I totally mixed up the seeds of several plants, so thought I was planting Cantalope ("melon" in French) when actually it was Zucchini...  To make it more amusing, I gave a random assortment of people some of these super quick growing "melon" plants, so now a bunch of people have stray zucchini plants where they don't want them.  Patricia has dubbed zucchini the "melon Americain" in my honor. 

Eggplant and a small glimpse of a whole lot of lettuce plants crammed into a really small area.   After losing the entire first planting of lettuce to snails and slugs, I went overboard and planted way too many seeds.  Now we have a smashed salad party in half of the garden that needs to get resolved soon.