100 cool things in 2025

After starting this year with a bitter taste in my mouth, I thought I would write “100 cool things in 2025”, like I have done in other years. At the end of 2024, I was on the road to move into an apartment I was supposed to sign for before January 5, 2025. What a surprise when, even though the preemption period had passed, an enhanced preemption was finally exercised on the future property.

A blessing in disguise, and many adventures later, at the end of July I bought a small place of my own in the Ossau Valley, the first valley where I had originally been looking. So in the end, all things considered, everything is fine.

I will leave you with everything I have in mind for this year 2025.

2025 is:

1. I loved driving for hours with all our belongings in the car, finally heading to live in the Pyrenees.
2. Strangely, I liked taking photographs of the fire that happened in Aspin-en-Lavedan.
3. I am happy I reconnected with Rachel.
4. Having spent many evenings at her place with Raphaelle, Remi, Natacha, Arnaud.
5. Being woken up by a 4.1 earthquake, strangely fun.
6. Happy to have met Melanie.
7. Sending my first red boulder at Beta Bloc.
8. Yes, there will be a lot of encounters.
9. The first nights sleeping several days in the same place.
10. Settling into my home without urgency.
11. Saying I am going climbing for 1.5 hours and staying 4 hours.
12. Listening to music with headphones again, lying down.
13. Being a Haize ambassador again.
14. Photographing for myself, without expectations.
15. Realizing I needed simplicity, and that I like grain and texture in photography.
16. Skiing at La Mongie.
17. Taking a ski lesson and progressing so quickly in one hour.
18. Buying a Patagonia Gore-Tex jacket.
19. Photographing Beta Bloc’s 10th anniversary. What an evening.
20. Shooting at Pic du Midi de Bigorre.
21. Thank you Margaux for your welcome, you saved our lives.
22. The hike to Lac d’Isabe, between snow and spring.
23. Meeting so many people through climbing: Melissa, Florian, Paul, Hugo, the plots team, Guillaume, Anthony, Ellen, Nicolas, Laura, Enzo, Pauline, Nolan, Sandrine, Mathis & Mathis, Emma, Nina, Deborah, Kim, Sylvain, Le Saaaav, Lise, Tim, Yannick, Tom, Amelie, Florine, Diane, Paul, Jean, Elisa, Lilou, Lise, Laetitia, Elvina, Jade, FAB!, Trecy, Mathilde, Sarah, Dominique, Helena, Colin, Eva, Lucy… and I am surely forgetting some, me and first names…
24. Flashing my first 6A at Pic du Jer.
25. Hiking to Lac d’Anglas with team Margaux, Melanie and Raphaelle.
26. Finally becoming a homeowner, having a home after three years of vanlife. Happiness.
27. A 180 cm mattress.
28. Wanting to photograph a specific scene at Col d’Aubisque, waiting, waiting, and nothing. Learning from it that photography is not only a matter of desire and gear.
29. Discovering Falling in Reverse.
30. Seeing Lac de Gaube, wanting to do the Vignemale.
31. Buying plants.
32. Talking photography again and again with Raphaelle, about vision, light, style and desire.
33. The Switch 2.
34. Doing work in my home. Yes, the cover is a photograph taken during the renovation.
35. Living not far from Max and Clemence.
36. Going to your wedding.
37. Seeing your son grow up.
38. Happy to have seen Polin again, a friend from Nantes.
39. Sanding the roughcast walls again and again. What an idea to put roughcast inside.
40. Painting the living room wall a real forest color when it was horribly pink.
41. Shooting in Val d’Aran for UTMB.
42. Testing trail running on Rey.
43. Photographing Alexandra with the Q3.
44. Seeing my sister and my niece and going hiking with them.
45. Snowshoeing at Hautacam.
46. Going to Pic d’Estremere with Margaux and taking our time.
47. Getting plenty of Top 1s on Fortnite.
48. Moving forward on project T, I cannot wait to announce it to you.
49. Photographing the 24h du Mur.
50. Photographing and meeting Mia Kranpel.
51. Drinking coffee every day.
52. Experiencing a Brocken spectre.
53. Managing to climb a purple slab problem, then a red one a few months later, with a lot of stubbornness, but they made me progress.
54. Swimming in the gave river in the middle of summer.
55. Waking up in the mountains and watching the sunrise over a lake.
56. Having a coffee each time I arrive at Beta Bloc, one of my favorite moments, talking a little before climbing.
57. Reaching the summit of Bastan.
58. Buying a crepe maker.
59. The Buddies evening.
60. Making crepes every Sunday.
61. Writing in my notebooks.
62. I liked working for Gliss & Van.
63. Sleeping really well, for a long time.
64. Buying Doc Martens.
65. And therefore buying a truly good pair of jeans again.
66. Having my first MRI, no brain tumor, phew.
67. Realizing routines do me good after so many years of vanlife.
68. Going climbing outside with Boris, Jeremie, Charlotte, Adeline, Melanie and Raphaelle.
69. Shooting with the Leica M6.
70. Having a screen again other than the 13-inch MacBook Air.
71. Wanting to make black and white photographs again.
72. The bivouac in Neouvielle with Margaux and Guillaume.
73. Seeing an isard in the morning on the ridge.
74. Stopping posting and focusing on my photographic vision for 6 months.
75. The new tattoos.
76. Margaux playing piano.
77. Photographing the departmental championships.
78. Moving forward on project PTV, I cannot wait to announce it to you.
79. Buying an 80 m rope, new climbing shoes, a helmet, quickdraws and so on. Thank you Alpy Rando.
80. And therefore doing my first multi-pitch route with Yannick the Y.
81. I loved discovering Louvie-Juzon.
82. Playing petanque so many times.
83. Meeting Guillaume and Charlotte, we could not have hoped for better neighbors.
84. My parents’ 50th wedding anniversary.
85. Rereading Harry Potter.
86. No longer feeling guilty for producing nothing on some days.
87. Photographing the regional bouldering competitions.
88. Crossing paths with a Porsche 944, I want one.
89. Having a new Patagonia down jacket.
90. Playing Harry Potter Hogwarts Legacy on Switch 2, good fun.
91. Seeing Alex again and enjoying the mountains with him and Raphaelle.
92. Playing Smash Bros again.
93. Thinking differently about my photographic vision.
94. Making this new website.
95. New art direction, new logo.
96. The Q3 update to 4.0.0. Finally it is fast, haha.
97. Buying a Christmas tree.
98. Having a new vase and flowers.
99. I read and learned a lot about photography in 2025.
100. You.