July 04, 2025 - What others did.

Me and my youngest son, Noah, had agreed to look and climb at the quiet and for now quite unknown small area of "Le Miroir Magique", just outside of the town of Fontainebleau itself. Completely new to me, I didn't have any expectations and especially wanted for Noah to have a good time. Olaf, on the other hand, had planned to finally try the whole infamous but beautiful purple circuit of Dame Jouanne.
Before I left the house with Noah, I saw on Instagram that Olaf had started his long journey at 9h in the morning, taking advantage of the morning freshness.
At Le Miroir Magique, Noah climbed very good and I noticed a lot how much better his footwork has become. He's taking the time to read and analyze problems before trying and it paid off. When he needed a break, I used the occasion to climb some problems, starting with "Cœur de Pierre", which went quickly, on my second attempt.

Fontainebleau - Le Miroir Magique - Cœur de Pierre 7B(7A+)

I needed quite a few more attempts on "Coup d'Éclats" right next to it.

Fontainebleau - Le Miroir Magique - Coup d'Éclats 7A+

To finish my part of the session, I also got away with "Dargonne King" after having worked out the crux move.

Fontainebleau - Le Miroir Magique - Dargonne King 7B+(7B)

Noah then continued his session with doing an impressive variation, starting in "La Diagonale" (from the small boulder), and finishing in "La Conque" to the left of it.

Fontainebleau - Le Miroir Magique - Diagonale Vers La Conque 3 (Noah)

Finally, he also managed to climb "L'Écaille".
I was honestly very impressed by what Noah all climbed that session!

Fontainebleau - Le Miroir Magique - L'Écaille 3 (Noah)

After our session, we drove to Dame Jouanne to briefly support Olaf with his full circuit attempt. He was just past halfway when we found him and watched him do several problems, including a very impressive ascent and downclimb of the Dame Jouanne itself. A staggering 15m high and part of the purple circuit. 
At 4h45 PM, I received a message that he was done, and can count himself as one of the few who climbed the whole purple circuit in one day. After more than 7 hours of climbing, covering about 800m of climbing meters, Olaf wrote a bit of history. Only few people have taken on and completed this challenge. I bet that there are even more climbers who climbed 8C in the forest, then climbers who have done what he just did today. Congratulations Olaf!