Back in Beaune - Rock Climbing in Bourgogne

Fixin, by French standards it was a little hard to
locate the routes and route finding on some was
interesting

I had two weeks work in Paris with my last meeting in Nuremburg on a Friday.  Kate and Ada were in Melbourne and Lucy was on the Gold Coast so I had two weekends free in Europe.  Needless to say, my thoughts turned to climbing. My first option was a return to Beaune, where the family and I had conducted an unsuccessful and very cold reconnaissance of the rock climbing during Easter the previous year.

The problem with Europe is finding a climbing partner if Kate is not with me; however, I had recently discovered that one of the team working with me, Jeremy, was a keen climber.  So I suggested a weekend climbing trip to Bourgogne and made the necessary bookings a few weeks in advance.

French countryside.  The view from a restaurant in Fixin while we were enjoying a post climb drink.
As with Chateau Verte, I had forgotten to take water and we were a little parched by the end of the day

Jeremy overlooking the pretty village of Bouilland

Unfortunately the weather in France had been wet with the Seine breaching its banks in some parts of Paris. The few days before we left Paris were the first sunny days in several weeks but my hopes for a fine weekend of climbing were dashed by a forecast of thunderstorms on the Saturday.

The notorious Fiat 500 with the cliffs above Bouilland
in the back ground

We caught the TGV for the 90 minute journey to Dijon where we picked up our Fiat 500 hire car, thereby avoiding Friday night traffic in Paris.  This was a slight embarrassment for Jeremy as he said the Fiat made us look like a gay couple on a weekend in Beaune rather than hardened rock climbers. I just told him it was cheap. An odd gent at a petrol station even asked Jeremy, in French, if we were a couple. Jeremy blamed it on the car!

What every climber in France should have for lunch,
fresh market produce

Beaune was busy with the start of tourist season and it was hard to find quality, well priced accommodation.  I had hoped to return the Air B&B from Easter the previous year but it was not available. In the end, we stayed at Nathalie’s in Vosne-Romanee, just north of Nuits-St-Georges and between Beaune and Dijon.  It was a well renovated one bed room village house with comfortable sofa bed and a well-appointed kitchen. Nathalie was a flexible and attentive host who gave us excellent advice regarding good restaurants. 

Jeremy on a 6a in Bouilland

Unfortunately the thunderstorms arrived on Friday while eating a late dinner at Le Embargo, a good pizza restaurant in Nuit-St-George, but we woke the next morning to clearing skies.  This gave us hope that the forecast for rain on the Saturday was wrong.  While waiting for the rock to dry, we went into Beaune to buy some supplies from the main Saturday market and I went for run while Jeremy looked around the town.  There were a few intermittent showers but by 11am it was clearing sufficiently for us to drive to the crags behind the village of Fixin.  

It was a little hard to orientate ourselves using the guide at Fixin. Unlike many French cliffs the routes did not have small plaques at the base with the route name and grade.  There were a few markings that enabled us to start with some confidence but there routes were crossing each other which made route finding a little confusing when you were on the rock. Before long some others arrived and this helped us orientate ourselves to a nice selection of climbs and we enjoyed a good afternoon in the improving weather. Dinner that night was of course beef bourgogne with a great local wine from Fixin at La Cabotte, a restaurant in Nuit-St-George

I must get Jeremy to keep me on a slightly tighter rope!

The next day was fine and we drove to Bouilland.  A large cliff that was easier to navigate and was positioned above a pretty village of the same name positioned to the west of Beaune.  We had a relaxing days climbing with a nice lunch made from the market produce from the previous day. The rock was compact with good moves on solid liestone and we completed some nice climbs with some delicate climbing.  At the end of a good day we returned to the house in Vosnee-Romannee to pick up our bags before catching the TGV back to Paris. A good weekend!

The cliff line at Bouilland