I FINALLY started rock climbing again, but in doing so, I realized how much my muscles have deteriorated from not having climbed for a month and a half. I've joined the Club Alpin Francais (CAF) and all I need to do to finalize my membership is go to the doctor and get a note from him or her saying I'm healthy.
Climbing indoors in France is so different. They use different belaying techniques and different devices. I felt like a novice all over again. And let me tell you, it was STAAAAANK in that gym. I always defended the French back in America (yes, I now refer to the states as "America") when my friends would talk about the lack of showering practices in France. I take all of that back. I had a guy climbing next to me with his armpit in my face every time he reached for a hold and I wanted to throw up mid-air. It's not just bad B.O. It's a reeking, rotting smell that induces all kinds of disgust from the pits of my stomach. Grosssss.
The lady that I sort of befriended, if you can say that, was nice and really cool. Except she kept using slang words and I could never understand what she was saying. She would also tell me everything in a whisper (the French are really good at that) and I kept thinking she was telling me a secret. But no, she was just telling me how her daughter lost her glasses when she was climbing in a canyon. Why whisper? Are Americans just loud, or are the French discreet for no apparent reason? Or both?
There's already a CAF excursion this weekend to go to the south of Ardeche (the department next to mine, which is Drome) to do some hiking and climbing. Very exciting, we'll see if I go.
For the meantime, I'm supposed to get up in 7 hours (I should be sleeping now!!!) to go hike in the Vercors tomorrow with two other American assistants . We're going to explore some caves, I think, and just get out there to the heart of the mountains that we only see from a distance. I shall post pictures upon arrival.
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If it smells that bad when they're climbing, can you imagine what it smells like when they're doing some horizontal activity? Ya know what I mean?
Actually, the French think Americans are unbelievably loud, in the same way Americans think they are too soft or "whisper". Just go to any French restaurant and in terms of sound, it's quite different from the U.S. In fact, you can probably tell just from the sound if there are any Americans there.
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