French foray

Ok, so its a long time since I last blogged. I've finished my finals, partied, graduated and am now whiling away my final long summer seeing a little more of the world with my friends.
First up was a climbing and kayaking club trip to France "King's on Grand Tour 2011"; 21 of us descended on a campsite near Guillestre in the Haute Alpes for a week (well 10 days for those of us in the advance party) of outdoor fun. We paddled the Durance (grade 2/3 whitewater - much better than anything of a similar grade in the UK in summer!), sport climbed on Mont Dauphin (in a Marmot reserve of all places!) and summitted an Alp (Pic de Caramantran on the French-Italian border if you must know), not to mention cooked good food, enjoyed each others company and plenty of the local wine! A great time was had by all (despite the uncivilised French breaking in to cars and often leaving the campsite showers in a less than ideal state).

 The journey home was a little eventful; first inadvertently driving over the highest road pass in Europe on the way to Nice, then the equipment van breaking down at night on the autoroute as we headed North. The latter cause Tom, James and me in to an unexpected executive extension Tour in Puget-sur-Argens, Frejus and their environ. With the van laid up in the garage, there was little for us to do but enjoy Bastille Day in the Riviera (winning the locals trust by joining in the dancing).  The van repair took longer than we hoped, courtesy of the French mechanics and despite us having a part shipped express from the UK, so Tom and I ended up shipping out by plane while James' dad flew in to help retrieve the van. We were lucky to meet a few other generous Brits (and Dutch!), who were empathetic to our plight and offered us help howsoever they could.

(^ Tom shows off some of his moves in "Font" a.k.a. the campsite play park)
This week I'm at home in the Northern Wastes Durham, tidying up the loose ends of our French adventure and preparing for the next: a month travelling in South East Asia with 5 friends from uni. Watch this space!