Another showery day and nature’s way of suggesting a rest day and a change of scene. We headed a couple of hours north east to La Roche De Rame in the Durance Valley. We had the gorgeous campsite pretty much to ourselves, for the princely sum of  €13.50 a night and picked off half a dozen 3* crags from the hundred or so on offer.

On arrival I went for a wee jog to explore the local hills in the drizzle – a pity as the valley is surrounded on all sides by snowy peaks.

You can dial in the desired temperature to suit the forecast by selecting the altitude of crag from about 800m to 1800m, as well as chosing sun or shade. We managed to get it roughly right most days.

Perhaps the find of the week was the climbing at Mont Dauphin, a set of conglomerate cliffs beneath the ancient fortifications. 35m routes of really sustained pocket pulling on great rock. There’s also a smaller version just down the road, with an in situ marmot colony.

…Some of which are quite tame!