Just got back from a great few days climbing on bolted crags near Nice in France.

Eight of us went on the trip, Willie Whelan, Peter Wood, Chloe Galley, Geraldine Murphy, Kevin Coakley, John Gale and myself. John was not a climber when he arrived but was when he left. He is a keen photographer and a great job he did too (see his trip photos in Geraldine's post on this site).

One other person came along who was not a climber, Lar, our team mascot. Lar took notes of everything that happened in his little red book, for when he is writing his memoirs. If his memoirs are ever published the slagging will be fierce!

We stayed in Kevin's lovely apartment right in the centre of Nice by the Palais de la Méditerranée. All travel from Nice was done by bus or train, which worked out quite easy and cheap due to a great public transport system.

First day we got a tram and a bus out to La Turbie, about 10km from Nice. La Turbie is a small village at about 600m. There are a group of about six crags nearby, with 450 fully bolted climbs on them from grades 4+ to 8+. They are mostly south-facing and so perfect for us in November. As most of us had never sport-climbed before we started nice and handy familiarising ourselves with the lower-off system.

For those not familiar with this sport climbing, the route is climbed on fixed bolts which are spaced two metres apart as you go up the climb. Each route is marked at the bottom and so everything is a lot simpler than traditional climbing. Route-finding is simple as you just follow the bolts, and placing gear is usually non-existent as you just clip into the bolts. It is kind of like climbing on an indoor wall but a lot lot better! To find yourself climbing on lovely limestone rock, in beautiful warm sunshine with the azure seas of the Mediterranean laid out below you? Hey don't knock it!

Anyway, back to the details; as this is November it got dark about five so we finished climbing then, though even at that a few of us had to be physically dragged off the rock.

Second day we got a bus and train to a small hilltop village called Gorbio (about an hour's travel but with beautiful views). The climbing was on the limestone cliffs overlooking the terraced valley and the village of Gorbio and there are 150 climbs here, all fully bolted, at 400m altitude. Another beautiful setting to climb in. We climbed again in grades around the 4+ and 5+. Some beautiful climbs, one in particular I enjoyed was called The Giant's Earhole. Myself and Chloe came unstuck on our last climb, and I had to be lowered off as I could not get past the third bolt. This was a relatively easy thing to do as you can be lowered from any of the fixed bolts.

Third day we did not climb but went our separate ways either sightseeing or hiking etc. Peter managed to hike a grand tour of the Côte d'Azur carrying a sixty-metre rope he had bought in a local gear shop, and then coincidentally bumped into Willie strolling the prom in Monte Carlo. Where would you get it?

Fourth day we went back to La Turbie, but by a different route. We got a bus to Cap d'Ail and hiked up a few hundred metres from there. Again, beautiful warm sunshine. We tackled some two-pitch climbs that day and stretched ourselves a bit. As this was Sunday there were a lot of locals climbing, families with large picnic lunches, young couples blowing kisses to each other, old wrinkley tanned couples with their dogs, groups of young people having the crack, all sorts of people climbing, smiling and generally enjoying the outdoors. I think “convivial” is the word. And then you had us from Ireland, going off route, being lowered down, shouting rope below instead of corde, wearing safety helmets and generally ruining the atmosphere. And that was even before Lar got there! I dont know what the word is but it's not very pretty!

So there you have it. Each evening we ate in Nice with a huge choice of great restaurants. One evening we had a lovely meal in Kevin's apartment (spaghetti bolognese his wife had prepared earlier).

Thanks to Kevin for organising this trip and for the advice and the research in organising the transport, crag locations, etc. Also for the use of his beautiful apartment. Kevin is as we speak seeking out bigger and better climbing locations around the Nice area. Thanks to the other members of the group for a great trip.

And Willie, don't forget your daisy chain! 

Cost? Not much; flights about €140 all-in return, €6 per day transport. Food was the biggest cost - and wine - we ate and drank well but we could have eaten a lot cheaper if we had wanted to.

Flights? Dublin to Nice flying out at 10am. Bus from Nice Airport to apartment €4; takes twenty minutes.

Gear needed? If you intend to only climb on bolted routes you need about twelve quickdraws, your belay device, harness, a sling or three for tying on at the top of the route, a couple of locking krabs.

Rope? As you get lowered from the climbs a longer rope (60m or 70m) is better. A 50m rope restricts you to 25m max climbs, but would do you if that's all you've got.