UKC

Thinking about heading to Font with my wife and our baby of eight months for roughly a week.  First time for all of us.  

We'll have a car and bikes and a Thule for the little one, so will hopefully be able to cycle between areas.  We'll need to hire some pads but looks like that's possible from some local shops.  

Any advice on guidebooks, places/areas to stay, climb and visit would be much appreciated. 

Thanks

Famille Skcalbwah 

The Jingo Wobbly Fontainebleau Fun Bloc guide did the job last time (although I haven't compared to others). Stayed in an AirBnB apartment in the town itself, in a quiet road near the station (East) side, about a 10-15 minute walk from the centre where most of the the restaurants are, although there are boulangerie everywhere for stocking up on breakfast and lunch supplies!

• La Roche aux Sabots
• La Canche aux Merciers
• Rocher Guichot
• Le Diplodocus

There's so many good areas tho!

Loads of good areas. I think the best guidebooks for getting around and finding problems are 5+6s and 7+8s, but there are more photos in some of the other guides that might help with inspiration. Other guides also needed if you want to do circuits.

Some of the crags have sandy paths to walk in along which might be very hard work on a bike. There is still loads to go at though. And there isn't much that is impassable with a pushchair (my son was also 8 months the first time we took him.)

As a family I'd recommend looking for a place to stay in one of the larger villages/smaller towns with some shops, bakery, cafe etc. Milly la foret, Barbizon, Chapelle la Reine, etc. There are lots of other good places tho.

I think a car seat might be more comfortable.

We usually rent Airbnb in places around Noisy sur Ecole , Milly La Foret or over near La Musardiere campsite. Really simple to walk/cycle in to really excellent areas. Mat hire is available from the climbing shop ‘Scape in Font town centre. I think you can also get mats from the pizza cafe restaurant in Arbonne la Foret.

If you can find a rental in Barbizon, then it’s great for restaurants and an easy walk into the forest and loads of areas to climb. There’s a cafe in the woods near there which makes a good place to stop off between areas or on the way out.

Pretty well anywhere in the Forest is outstanding, just look out for the obvious scary highball circuits which are identified in the guidebooks. Fontainebleau Climbs by ajacky Godoffe is a nice size and contains everything you need for a trip.

The Jingo Wobbly guide shows which tracks you can comfortably take a pushchair/buggy along

Most of the areas we liked best (Cul de Chien etc.) were around Milly-la-Foret in the South West

Don't leave anything valuable in the car, empty the glove box and leave it open to show there's nothing worth breaking in for.

For the OP's sake, Twiggy is referring to the Trois Pignons area. Cul de Chien is in the West of Trois Pignons and pretty much in the centre of that area.

Here's a link to the Bleau page. The map (top right) should be pretty useful.

Thanks I was struggling to recall the name

Would have been useful to actually add the link I referred to!

https://bleau.info/cul

I can warmly recommend https://leclosdutertre.com/. the owner has been an active boulderer and is full of wisdom - for example where to go depending on actual conditions, which market to visit for which product and so on. Breakfasts are divine, rooms reasonably sized and the Elephant sector with large sandy areas to play at is walking/cycling distance via a traffic free road. 

Stef also rents out crashpads, so no need to preorganize... and there is a large garden for the littlle one move around safely.

stayed for 10 days Feb 21.

For a dissenting opinion I found the 5+6 rubbish for getting around, thought the Jingo Wobbly guides were much better. One of the main activities of the holiday was helping lost-looking people with 5+6/7+8 books in their hands...

We stayed there a few years before...nice place.

Currently on day 2 of a week in Font. We’ve discovered that some circuits in Trois Pignon have been removed or renumbered. The yellow circuit at Cul de Chien is gone and the blue has been renumbered. At Rocher Cailleau, most numbers are removed. It makes it a bit tricky to navigate and identify problems.

I always figured the best thing to do in Bleau is go to an area that the guidebook says has climbs that will suit you, then put it away in your bag and wander around trying anything that looks good. 

Having been many times and used several different types of guides, I find that 7+8 editions are the only guides with an accurate representation of paths and boulders on the ground at the more complex areas. Some of the others are laughably inaccurate. (I haven't actually used 5+6 extensively but I believe the maps are identical.)

Make sure your guide has a good map! A ot easier now with phones but remember once wishing I had a compass! 

Get your ego ready for real font grades. 

for newly or repainted circuits you might consult https://sites.google.com/site/topobleau/culture-circuits/actions-en-cours

... a look at the relevant sector at bleau.info usually also gives information on the current state of the circuits. 

Brilliant, thank you!