Mountain Splendour

Tuesday, 30 July

We awoke this morning to a cloudless blue sky and the peaks of the mountains sharply defined in the crisp air.  The forecast for our destination, the Cirque de Gavarnie, was for cool temperatures so we packed the car with jeans and sweaters, but being optimistic we wore our shorts.  
Although only 37 km away the drive takes an hour - a windy, windy road up through the river valleys to the south of Argeles-Gazost.  The climb is gradual rather than steep but through the gorges there are sometimes sheer drops to the river far below.  The road is good and wide - the area is a mecca for skiers in the winter and also the site of a number of small hydro-electric stations.  The EDF is a major presence in these parts.

Today's destination - the Cirque de Gavarnie

 
Again we saw evidence of the recent floods and just before Luz-St-Sauveur half the road had tumbled into the river causing a bit of a traffic build up.  There are repair crews busy at work on the roads and in the villages.  The town of Luz-St-Sauveur is a nice ski resort kind of place and the turn off point for the Col de Tourmalet of Tour de France fame.  Today there were plenty of cyclists to dodge but fortunately they all headed for the Col and not for Gavarnie. The other really pretty village on the road to Gavarnie is Gedre where we ordered fresh salad baguettes to take for lunch at some point along our hike.
 Finally we reached Gavarnie village  (1350 metres)with tantalising glimpses of the snowy mountains before us.  We were shown to a discreet car park (don't want to spoil the view) in a little valley and decided that shorts would be the thing in the calm sunny weather - ideal temperature for hiking.
In order to reach the trail to the Cirque it is necessary to run the gauntlet of a dozen or more souvenir shops and a good variety of restaurants in the village which consists of one street.  The towering cliffs of the Cirque came well into view as we progressed through the village.  The trail was busy but not overcrowded and the scenery is so spectacular that the awareness of people is diminished.


Leaving Gavarnie village - Jess on the trail

 Once through the village we walked on a wide gravel path beside the Gave de Gavarnie River with the massive cliffs of the cirque in full view before us. There is still a lot of snow up there. High hills rise up from the river on either side, but along the valley are some green fields covered with wildflowers and further on grassy meadows with fir trees.

River, meadow, forest and mountain - gorgeous!

  The trail crosses the river and then climbs up through the deciduous forest. At the top of the climb there are wonderful views of the river valley which leads to another quite steep climb and finally to the base of the cirque. 

Getting closer to the Cirque de Gavarnie

All the way along the trail there are cascades of water rushing down from the snowfields and then there is the Grande Cascade, a 423 metre high waterfall (highest in Europe) that flows off the cirque.
 

Grande Cascade of the Cirque

 The peaks that form the cirque rise to over 3000 metres and the 4 km long trail ascends some 200 metres - not a difficult trail.  There are donkeys and horses for hire and many people were riding the trail.  We ate our lunch under a tree on one of the riverside meadows.  So tranquil and  beautiful.

People and horses dwarfed by the Cirque

Having seen so much spectacular mountain scenery this year it is hard to choose a favourite spot but the Cirque de Gavarnie certainly ranks very highly and the beautiful weather of course enhances the experience.  I am only sorry that time will not permit us to hike many more of the trails in this part of the Pyrenees.  It is truly lovely.  It takes a good hour each way on the trail and we were glad of a sit down and have a coffee back at Gavarnie village. 

Goodbye Cirque de Gavarnie

 
   This week there are theatre shows at the Cirque each night which attract big crowds.  Certainly the car park was very full when we left and I guess many people planned to stay on.  The prospect of driving down in the darkness was not appealing so we decided against staying for the show which was to start at 9 pm. For us it was back down the mountain roads to Argeles with a brief stop at Luz-St-Sauveur on the way home.
 

Luz-St-Sauveur

 Today was another highlight day and one which will be long remembered.  To cap off the day, after dinner Maree and I took the 5 minute drive to Saint Savin, a village just up the hill from our house and recommended by our host Genevieve.  What a delightful place.

Saint Savin

 It is a lovely village of very old stone houses and an ancient church and abbey - 1080 was the date of inauguration.  There are great views from the village - farmhouses, fields, rivers, mountains - all looking lovely with the evening light casting a wonderful glow.

View from Saint Savin

  We strolled around the village, admiring the gardens and the local cats and enjoying the tranquillity.  Finally we drove up to the 11th century chapel above the village - sadly it was not open but the views were quite splendid. What a fabulous day! I think Argeles-Gazost is my perfect place in France.

Chapel above Saint Savin

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