We do climb in some funny places… Here’s another random stop-over crag, found on the web and chosen because of proximity to our homeward route, short walk-in (zero!) and sunny aspect (if there had been any!)

Carrière Collot is a disused quarry, bang in the middle of the town of Epinal, with a municipal car park and carefully mown lawns in the middle of it. Think ‘Hobson Moor’ but without the crushed TV sets and graffiti, and relocated to the middle of Ashton… On the plus side, there are routes up to 35m, 4s to 7s, and the rock quality is both sound and grippy. We just did a token route (it was freezing!)

but it’s pretty unbeatable as a drive-by / drop-in / quick-fix venue. There’s even a free topo:

Click to access topo-carriere-collot.pdf

In more homeward bound logistics news, we’re stopped over at the Brasserie de Fagnes, a Belgian microbrewery and restaurant just south of Brussels with great beer, decent food, friendly service and a policy of encouraging overnight van parking in a huge grassy car park. Half a dozen brews sampled, maxing out at 9.5%, and a 50m stumble to bed – what’s not to like?

http://www.brasseriedesfagnes.com/