As the clock ticked down towards the end of our time away, it was looking like we might be beating an early retreat across the Channel. Thoughts of a side trip to Arco, or stop off in Ticino or Oltre Finale were kyboshed by persistent rain forecast across much of Central Europe. Even Provence was looking damp, whilst The Peak was basking in unseasonable sunshine.

The usual app trawl did throw up one left-field option to prolong the trip – the possibility of a Bonus Bourgogne mini-break!

Remigny, near Chagny, isn’t everyone’s idea of a destination crag – it’s a disused quarry after all, but actually it’s one of my favourite crags in France (in much the same way that Hobson Moor Quarry is one of my favourite crags in Britain!) Easy access, roadside convenience and some great routes compensate for its provenance, and in the case of Remigny you’ve got the additional benefit of a potential overnight van spot. The perfect stopover crag.

Routes are long (typically 20 to 25m), rock quality is generally pretty decent, and you can choose between gently leaning slabs or steeply overhanging walls – all plastered with magnificent slots for handholds.

One minor grumble is that it doesn’t come into the sun until 11am, and even then it’s only a couple of routes on Sector Soleil that get any warmth before noon, which is why we kicked off with a “then and now” repeat ascent of Pise Aller, 5a, and Pise Retour, 5c

Here’s 0Helen in 2025

Below: Helen almost exactly 10 years earlier in March 2015:

Once the sun does come around it’s a glorious suntrap, especially the Grand Mur:

Another cut and paste from my 2015 blog post was: “Also a chance for a face-saving 7a before the end of the trip (having endured a pretty miserable return of over the last few days…)” Reassuring, a decade later, to still be able to haul myself up that benchmark 7a, Charlotte Stone, even if it is one of the softest outside Kalymnos. Here’s a visiting German top-roping the crux:

… and me around half height after the fun jug haul and before it gets thin for a bit.

Here’s a better view of the full Cote Droit of the Sector “U” with a guy on Homo Erectus, 6b+. I also did the couple of 6cs on the far right Foire aux Vanites and L”U”sifer.

Back in the sun, Helen did a more recent addition: Salla Nicheois, 6a

… and caught some golden hour sun on the arete of Migration, 5c

… and Fragrants Delices, 6a

We returned a couple of days later, in cooler weather, but still managed a few decent routes including Coup d’Oeil, 6b and Fond”U”…

… in no small part assisted by Helen’s down belay trousers (an inspiration from our time in Utah, and a self-serving Christmas present from me if ever there was one!)

There’s a good up-to-date topo here (and for loads of other crags):

https://topo-guide-escalade.fr/si/54/XXX-Remigny

With two spare days to play with, we thought we’d explore a couple of new (to us) crags.

Mont Rome is an unusual crag, made up of a jumble of limestone monoliths sticking randomly out of the ground, with climbing on both sides of some and facing all orientations. You park at the top (if Google tries to take you on a dirt road, re-navigate and approach from the other side) and walk down for a couple of minutes to access the first sector: Le Pot de Chambre.

Helen did the pick of the bunch: Rock and Ronce, 5c

There’s a topo here:

Mont Rome

We didn’t do any of the routes on La Voie de Son Maitre

… but did do a few on La Plage including L’Isole (wild overhanging 4c that wasn’t even a sandbag!)

There were also some gorgeous anenomies.

Arcenant is a relatively newly developed crag – south facing and with a couple of hundred routes. You park at the top and there are various access points at either end and a couple of spots in the middle to get to the various sectors. We had the pleasure of bumping into one of the main developers at the parking – and also the author of this topo:

https://foudegrimpe.canalblog.com/pages/topo-d-arcenant/26923588.html

Very friendly and delighted to have some distant visitors exploring his crag. We headed down the west end (look out for a side path leading to some wooden and steel steps down to the crag). Here’s the location of the first few sectors.

Peak limestone climbers will feel right at home – there’s a great array of cracks, corners and flakes to complement the walls. System D, 6a, La Fistrouille, 6b, and La Grande Fissure, 5a, were all very cracky!

Further right, the 4 Pilliers sector does indeed have 4 pillars including Coco Rico, 5b, with this “step across the void” move from the top of a pinnacle.

We came back up the “steep staircase” descent, which finishes with a series of metal rungs which can be seen from the top path as a way marker.

Our friendly crag guru also recommended the nearby Bouilland sur les Roches, which apparently also has a handy van parking on top. One to check out on our next visit.

https://climbingaway.fr/en/climbing-areas/bouilland-sur-les-roches

If you are in the Bourgogne region and looking for some inspiration (beyond the above), there’s a handy overview of crags here:

https://planetgrimpe.com/localisation/bourgogne/

That took us up to “ferry day” which inevitably (Sod’s Law) was glorious. A couple of hours drive on our last evening left us within five hours drive of Europoort in Rotterdam, with a 7.30pm final check in deadline, and the temptation to squeeze in “just one more route” was too great to resist.

Rocher du Paradou is one of the numerous crags that dot the banks of the Meuse river, about 10 miles upstream from the better known Freyre.

Very handy parking was one of our criteria…

… though be sure to use the access tunnel under the railway:

The routes are really slabby and really long (up to 50m). Here’s a local couple who were kind enough to lend us a topo.

We just did one YECTOYD, Aiglon, 5b, but it was 50m so we got our money’s worth.

Fab views from the top.

… and made our ferry with an hour to spare.

That really is the end of the trip, but keep an eye out for a RockAroundTheWorld Italy Special where I will try to give an overview of the trip and some more general hints and tips on the climbing options across this inexplicably less-visited cragging destination (at least by Brits).