Happy Fall!
& Happy (Belated) Thanksgiving!
I’m trying to enjoy the last of the good weather before it gets too cold and rainy, here in Toulouse.
So why not bundle up and head out for a day in nature? A while back I got my boyfriend a crashpad for his birthday so we could enjoy day trips like this.
So we did some googling and found a great bouldering area about 2 hours away. We hopped in the car. C’est parti (“And we’re off!”)
I love going for drives in the countryside and this was maybe one of my favorites.
Quaint, little, no-where country towns with trees lining both sides of the road.
Cows, donkeys, ponies, and sheep glancing up to watch our car zoom by. It’s so relaxing.
Soon we had arrived in Saissac, Occitanie.
(Yes, like L’Occitane. )
Saissac is a typical French country town. There are ruins of an old medieval castle, and it over looks a wooded valley, a river runs through it, and the Pyrenées can be seen across the horizon.
So picturesque! Matthieu said the old lord must of had du class. (swag). Every room in the castle must have had an amazing view, and strategic for keeping a lookout for enemies approaching. But one must use their imagination, it’s really just a few walls and piles of rubble now. You can see photos of the castle here & here , it was closed by the time we got back after climbing so I didn’t take any myself.
Wanderlust? Here’s $40 on Airbnb
10 more minutes in the car, and we had reached our climbing spot.
It was pretty much empty except for a young couple with a baby taking photos and hiking the little loop. It’s a bouldering circuit with about twelve sites to climb. Each site was marked with a painted triangle (red, blue, green, yellow) to hint at the level of difficulty. I would soon find that it was overgrown. Some moss was hiding some of the hand holds!
More posts about getting into the wild in France: LE PAYS BASQUE, Ainhoa City Guide.
Yes, I wore my Hunter boots.
They’re perfect for country walks through fields and mud.
I bought these babies 7 years ago now, and they’re still going strong. I wear them on all my country adventures. Makes me feel a mix of Glastonbury and the royal family off duty.
But even better, I could hop in the creek.
Of course, the climbing.
I’m still getting started in the sport, but it’s so fun just to get out there and challenge yourself.
It was an au naturel day. I’m really enjoying the confidence to go out bare faced that I’ve gained this year. But don’t forget SPF
