Barrier Island Graphics Forums - Grande Fache and Vignemale in May
WinDog
Official BiG Element
6443
Jun 2003
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Thursday January 21, 2010 11:23 AM
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The Pyrenees in May.
Vignemale would be a two day ascent, and the CEO is balking a bit on letting me do it, but I should be able to make Grande Fache in a single day. The actual trailhead is south of Carterets (France), at a spot called Pont d' Espange, but it's a bit of a distance to get to the base of either climb.
Vignemale would involve crossing a glacier, which I really really really wanna do, so I'm practicing my bambi eyes and rushing home to have dinner cooked before the CEO gets home during the week. I've mentioned it, and gotten a preliminary "Let me think about it", but I haven't had the door slammed shut on me just yet.
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Sure. Without coffee, why even bother?
Edited: Thursday January 21, 2010 at 11:24 AM by WinDog
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WinDog
Official BiG Element
6443
Jun 2003
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Tuesday June 01, 2010 12:58 PM
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Holy shit, guys.....I really don't think I've been on such a great trip.
The snow stopped me before I could summit at about knee deep, but this time of year is actually the worst time; snow is melting and it's unstable, but the climbs that I got sent on by the people in Caurets were nothing short of spectacular. I've got tons of pics and I need to figure out a way to get them all uploaded, and I will. But the hiking and the climbing and the scrambling was another huge technical leap above even the Scottish Highlands. To summit this tiome of year, you have to pack climbing gear (I had), and ice gear (I had) and then, snow gear, like snow shoes or skis, which I did not have. But the French regularly pack all that gear and take off for several days up in the mountains.
I was also right in the middle of thge Pyrenees section of the upcoming Tour de France, so bicycling there is closer to a religion than a serious hobby. Cyclists everywhere, hauling ass down thwe steep curvy roads, or pulling hard up the hills. They have dedicated bike lanes on every road, even on their interstates. And I can say that dedicated cycling has to be one of the strongest sports you can do. I'd put it up against distance running and even swimming any day.
There was even a skateboard park in this little village we were in. Surfing to them is like Pro Football is to us, and they are revving up hard for the FIVA World Cup. I think being in France during that would be unlike anything else.
The people were the coolest, too. Very patient, very kind, very helpful and hardly anyone who spoke English. If you've never been to France, basically throw out everything you've heard about them.
Air France had menus for food service, and had a meal at every meal time, and wine, beer and champagne was included. Nearly 40 different movies for you to choose from to watch on the seat back TV sets at every seat, at no add'l charge. The head phones, ear plugs, sleeping masks, pillows and blankets........all included, and you can take them home.
Wine? Basically, you go into any store, and there is a wall of wine, and you can close your eyes, and point to any bottle of red table wine, and it'll be great. No threat of buying a skunked-up bottle of crap wine, at least not that I could find. Even in their versions of 7-11, called "8 a Huit" (pronounced nearly like "weet-a-weet").
The food? I never thought I'd go someplace with food that was better than New Orleans, but you really can't overstate what food is in France.
Escargot pizza.......
I haven't had fresh trout that good since I was in Nantahala in the early 1980's.
The breads are phenominal.......
.........and no duck is safe in southern France.
The French are so much more environmentally conscious than we are it's embarrassing. Their recycling programs are all "source sorted" programs, which means it gets sorted by the public, not by the collection entity, and everyone does it willingly.
Their packaging materials are roughly 40-50% of what ours is, so their total trash output per household is roughly half of ours, just judging by what we generated ourselves while on this vacation. Attacking the problem from both ends and proving it can be made to work. I can remember when we used to refer to stuff like that as "American know-how".
Monday was a "bank holiday" for them, basically like a Memorial Day is to us, and there were thousands of people in the national parks and all along the roads all day long enjoying the sun and having picnics. On Tuesday, when I left out to go to Vignemale before dawn, I hiked from the park entrance all the way to the France/Spain border, about 7 miles, and saw not one single piece of trash. Not even a cigarette butt.
If you have not been to France, I'd re-shuffle your list around and move it to the top.
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Sure. Without coffee, why even bother?
Edited: Tuesday June 01, 2010 at 1:45 PM by WinDog
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WinDog
Official BiG Element
6443
Jun 2003
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Friday June 04, 2010 1:14 PM
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Flew Delta to ATL, then Air France from ATL to De Gaulle, and on to Pau.
I gotta say, too........I don't care how much it costs, I'm flying Air France. Headphones, earplugs, sleep masks, beer, wine, champagne, about 40 different movies on your seat back TV screen to choose from, luggage.........all included.
The meals were on a menu, and were great. 4 courses.
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Sure. Without coffee, why even bother?
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WinDog
Official BiG Element
6443
Jun 2003
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Friday June 04, 2010 1:46 PM
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Yeag, so, I decide to smuggle back 5 wheels of unpastuerized fresh cheese from France, along with a bag with 4 croissants that I carry on with me, and we get to the Atlanta airport to claim our luggage for customs, and the Department of Agriculture now has the cutest little beagle that they walk through the baggage claim area, even has his own little DoA Uniform on, with a badge and everything, to sniff for........get this.......cheese and cured meats that people are trying to smuggle into the country.
I know.......I thought the same thing, too, standing around all the French folks on my flight: Never been so embarrassed in my life.
ANYHOW.......the CEO, who is the world's greatest rule follower, looks at me and says out of the side of her mouth, "When you get busted by that dog..........I don't know your name, bud."
And I say, "Aw, reeelax. He's sniffing for drugs. My cheese is golden."
Right then the dog starts sniffing this guy's bag about 10 feet from us, and the lady leading him around looks at the guy and asks, "Sir? Do you have any meat in that bag?"
The guy deadpans her and says, "No Ma'am."
Meanwhile, Underdog is standing up on the luggage cart sniffing the bags like crazy, now, and she sighs and says, "Sir?.........do you have any cheese in the bags?"
The guy literally starts to tear up, and he puts his hands in front of his face like he's praying and says, "Please don't make me take it out. You don't understand.........it so good. I swear I'm taking it home just to eat. Plesae, ma'am, I'm begging you."
She says, "I'm sorry, sir, but I'm going to have to ask you to open up your luggage."
And he does, and slowly drops about 5 or 6 small wrapped wheels of cheese in her disposal bag. Underdog has to be restrained.........must've been really good cheese. Not unlike what I have in my luggage, now appraoching our locatiopn on the carolsel.
Of course, the French don't understand our fixation on this issue, and most are just half smiling and slowly shaking their heads. It's really such a foreign concept, they simply refuse to attempt to understand it, it seems so stupid.
Meanwhile, the CEO is now glaring at me like I stole the CD player out of her sports car.
My bag starts to come around, and I fumble out the phrase, "Excusez-moi, monsieur, mais mon chien n'indique aucun fromage" (tr: Excuse me, sir, but my dogs says no cheese), and the French standing around start to giggle. The CEO smiles, and says, "Stop it, and I mean it........I'll leave you here I swear to gawd."
THEN, I look back over at Underdog, and say quietly, "The United States of America Department of Agriculture.............Cheese Beagle", and the French who can speak English start cracking up.
The ones who can't start asking, and their friends give them the translation which, to me, sounds something like this:
"Babble bobble c'est une babble bobble (then they point to the dog) ..........anglaise............Cheese Beagle", and now everybody standing around the luggage carosel is starting to laugh and trying to hold it, the CEO is starting to crack up, and they start taking pictures of the dog with their cameras, and he starts posing.
When we get home, the CEO takes a picture of the cheese with her cell phone, and goes global with it, telling everyone in her contact list that I smuggled all that cheese past the DoA "CHeese Beagle" in the Atlanta airport, and she's still getting "LMAO" replies back on her phone.
Smuggler's Note: If you ARE smuggling cured meats or cheese through customs from France, and I highly recommend it, leave your bags on the carousel until the DoA passes you by. The dog is too little to get up and smell the bags still going round and round, and really..........he's just too cute to refer to as a "working police dog" and not laugh.
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Sure. Without coffee, why even bother?
Edited: Friday June 04, 2010 at 1:47 PM by WinDog
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