Day 7 30th April with Pascal Lee Rhony Lee Denis Li Lung Hok Jul Mercier
First morning thought: Damn, this place is cursed for us! It's morning and it's overcast yet again! We were supposed to have a full day of climbing in Cilaos today, so how is that supposed to happen with the damp rocks that will probably be as slippery as wet soap?!?! Is it going to be the Eve's piton weather all over again???
We take our sweet time getting ready in the morning, wishfully hoping that the weather would clear up ever so slightly, which would give the rocks the chance to dry up.
Leisurely stroll into the Sunday open market in the village centre, with local artisans putting their produce and goods on display. Had the chance to sample versions some freshly fried local foods, namely vegetable spring rolls, dakatine (sort of peanut paste) samosas, and a version of their gato arouille. All very tasty :-)

Also shop for some dried fruits, pickled in sugar, and nuts to nibble on during our stay.
Follow up with a visit into to the bakery, keen to redeem French pastry's reputation that I had dissed after our experience of the first couple of days in St Denis. I'm sad to report that my initial impressions of French pastry still hasn't changed! I ordered a macatia chocolat and raspberry compote filled soft roll (probably not the right term, since I'm no pastry expert).
Well, the former ended up to be just a mini pain maison with chocolate chips embedded inside. Not the slightly soft, delicate and moist dough with the slight hint of milkiness that I was expecting. Nothing wrong with that in itself, it's just different from the mauritian macatia.
The latter turned up into a doughy chewy mess that just wasn't palatable to me. All the faults in the above could easily have been fixed, had the treats been served freshly made, warm and crispy on the outside. The texture contrast would have made a world of difference. I'll put the disappointment down to my impossibly high initial expectations.
French bread though, I have to admit, trumps our mauritian version in that they resist becoming stale and retain their crispiness for far much longer :-)
French bakery topic now closed!!!

Head for the rocks. It's still overcast, but the fog has cleared. Destination for the day is ‘les fleurs jaunes’. Park by the road side and cross a small stream to the almost vertical wall. There are actually people climbing!!! :-)on first inspection, the rocks do appear to be slightly damp and slippery. We'll stick to the easier grades, but fun is on!!! :-)

Few grades in the 4s cleared, we tackle the highest climb I have ever attempted, a 5b topping up at 24m requiring 12 quick draws!!! Some tricky moves made more challenging by the slightly damp slippery rocks, but nothing we can't handle :-) by the time we all clear the route, it starts to rain again! No matter, we already had a decent fun filled session, so we take shelter under the kiosks by the climbing site for lunch.:)
Lunch over and it has stopped raining, but we are still immersed in a slight fog. We decide to try the climbing ‘sector bozzo’ on the opposite side of the road. Few super fun 5cs ...The guys are now tired, so final 6a+ before we leave. I had been emboldened by the cleared 5cs, which despite being testing and requiring some awkward body positioning to clear, were all done with relative ease. So how tough could 1 climbing grade higher be? Turns out A LOT!!! The starting move on any route is normally not secured by rope, and we just have a ‘spotter’ to catch any fall. This one made even more precarious by the slippery rocks. Commit to the move, fall, and accidentally kick the rock hard with my right toe!!! Ouch!!! Shoes off for detailed medical examination ( :P ), and lucky it's just a bad blow...nothing life threatening :P so again I go, and again I fall the at starting move. Just too dangerous to tackle under the conditions and my current skill set! Take an easier start from a neighbouring route, and the first quick draw on, climb on again. The rest of the climb is just so taxing on both the nerves and on technique. Somehow manage to make it to the crux, but I'm just too scared to commit to the move which would imply an awkward lead fall, with awkward hand slopers as the only means to move higher up the wall.
Oh well...another day maybe… Pascal did manage to clear the route prior, but that's Pascal :-)
it's 4.45 already, time to go back to the lodge and for a well deserved rest, after what turned out to be an awesome day of climbing :-)

No Cooking today, since the shops closed early, so eat out we have to :)
Buffet of 5 warm typical reunion dishes for the guys, rib eye steak for me. :-) I can't do buffet, cos they usually imply overcooked flavourless food in my experience. Steak was decent, property cooked medium rare. Can't ask too much, given the price. The guys seemed to enjoy the buffet, so I just might give it another chance next time.