Climb and Fly in France

We had wanted to return to France since our Europe climbing trip in 2006: with unsurpassable food, rock, mountains, paragliding and more, France is definitely a place we will return to again and again. We spent two months climbing, hiking, paragliding, from August into October 2011 and still found it hard to leave!  

We started off bouldering in Fontainebleau, since it is close to Paris, then on to Chamonix for some alpine rock climbing. Then in Annecy we met some friends, Andy and Susi, with whom we were going to do an SIV course - that's a paragliding manoeuvres course where you make your glider do all sorts of crazy things to learn to recover it. We spent some time with them paragliding around Annecy and climbed a via ferrata. Then we went on to Laragne where we did a paragliding cross-country course with world champion hang gliding and paragliding pilot, Judy Leden.

After climbing in Sisteron and Orpierre which are nearby, we went to St Hilaire for the world famous Coupe Icare free flying festival, a fun and crazy festival with the well known 'parade' or masquerade of paragliders launching and flying in some outrageous and awkward costumes. While there, we hiked up to a peak called Dent Du Crolle behind the main site for a hike and fly, managing to launch between a break in the clouds. 

The Col des Frettes - the launch site is the grassy slope facing to the right with a paraglider laid out just visible

Back in Annecy, we did more climbing and a great hike and fly from Col des Frettes where we also met a lady and her paragliding dog. Not far from Chamonix we then participated in a small festival called 'Vol Libre, Flying Light' which is all about hike and fly. We met some really lovely people there (we seemed to be the only non-French participants!) and did a really lovely hike and fly with them from Mont Vorassay, landing in St Gervais. All in all, it was a jam-packed trip with lots of variety.

Bouldering at Fontainebleau

One of our favourite past-times: visiting local markets

Susi and Tash check out the exact site of a paragliding launch among the cows

Gemma with Susi and Andy on a via ferrata above the village of Thones

Climbing the Brévent in Chamonix. There is a paragliding launch behind

A friendly donkey during a hike around Chamonix

The well travelled ridge from the Aiguille du Midi station in Chamonix 

Approaching the Cosmiques hut in the distance - Aiguille du Midi is on the right with the Rébuffat Route on the face

On the classic 'Rébuffat Route' on Aiguille du Midi

One of the good things about French mountain huts - you can buy bowls of hot chocolate and tarte aux framboises

Chabre launch in Laragne during the cross country course

Another local market in Sisteron

Coupe Icare's famous masquerade flights - watching some of these contraptions launch was scary!

Hiking up to Dent du Crolle to fly down

Tash laying out her glider in preparation to launch from Dent du Crolle

Tash launching at Col de Forclaz, Annecy

'Megabyte' the flying dog preparing to launch from Col des Frettes with his owner

Gemma chats with another paraglider pilot before launching from Mont Vorassay; St Gervais is below

Another hike and fly with the Vol Libre participants