The Southern France Ramble
What was planned as a quick drive-by meetup between Martin, Brigitte and I on our respective ways north and south in France turned into a almost weeklong raid through the climbing areas and backroads of Cevennes and Ventoux regions.
Six days of climbing, riding, van living and good vibes
After meeting Martin (of Kapitän Ohlsen fame) the first time during a two day cycling tour on Mallorca we quickly hatched the plan to meet up for maybe one or two days in the south of France during Brigitte and myselfs van trip there and Martin's way up to Germany. To make the most of our time and keep driving to a minimum the choice was made to meet in Le Thaurac - a super nice and historical climbing area close to the town of Ganges at the southern edge of the Cevennes mountains.
Right after a few quick hellos and a first joint coffee Martin and I walked up to the walls for a quick evening session. What followed were two days of riding bikes, sport climbing and even a quick multipitch (quick to outrun the incoming thunderstorm). With the weather actually looking to take a bad turn after the next day we could have stuck to the original plan and split up again. However the good times need to keep rolling and we moved our little two van circus over the river Rhône and right below the Dentelles de Montmirail.
The Dentelles is a striking ridge which is peppered with steep towers and gendarmes. And after our successful multipitch outing in Le Thaurac I did have the idea in the back of my head to attempt the traverse of the spikiest part.
After a big road ride the next morning and a sport climbing session later that day I brought up the idea to Martin who was hyped but maybe a bit skeptical. Still we decided to back our gear to the 250m 5c Traversée des Florets and decide whether to actually do it the next morning.
Naturally we were half way up the approach the next day before the question of actually climbing the thing came up and was quickly drowned in stoke. The traverse itself is a near perfect „fun“ kind of climb: Good protection and the quick succession of climbing a tower and the rappelling into the next gap combining with the views of the whole Ventoux region.
For our last leg of this little ramble we more or less accidentally ended up on the banks of the river Ouvéze and right under the long wall of the Entrechaux crag. What else to do than ride and climb (as I am typing this I can still feel the pump of our 6c final project).
As we actually parted ways all three of us were in accord: More of this and soon!
Adventurers: Brigitte, Martin and Bengt
