Into the Pyrénées – Sorry You Couldn't Come Along

Near the Spanish border, Cirque de Gavarnie.

As mountains are wont to do, the Pyrénées play favorites and provide more rainfall on the windward side as the air rises and releases its moisture as it cools. Somewhere behind Amanda and the two people checking out the recent avalanche is a somewhat more arid Spain. The place is the Cirque de Gavarnie, a modest hike (but, a hike nonetheless) up from the village of Gavarnie.

We hiked, but had to watch our step for more than one reason.

Practical hiking advice at the tourist office, Gavarnie.

There is a very extensive national park all through the Pyrénées and we were impressed with how organized it is. One of our biggest surprises was how massive the mountains are and how wild.

Gavarnie is barely more than a crossroads, but one up a long twisting road in a narrow river valley.

In early May the leaves were fully out down off the mountains, but not up in the Pyrénées themselves.

As we hiked along the trail higher up the mountain, it wasn’t hard to imagine a trek in the 19th century and we kept marveling at how people managed to get building materials up there.

A nice spot for a picnic
Another view towards Spain
Gentian (there were lots of May flowers)
A brave little sapling

On the way down, the footing was tricky because the trail is mostly loose gravel.

Indeed, it wasn’t until we were back down the mountain, nearing Gavarnie itself that we could again appreciate the full scope of this natural amphitheater that Victor Hugo described as a coliseum in his poem Dieu, “c’est l’édifice le plus mystérieux des plus mystérieux des architectes; c’est le colosseum de la nature : c’est Gavarnie.”

Even a panorama with an iPhone doesn’t do it justice.

Man cannot survive on natural beauty alone. Fortunately, a 24 hour fresh bread dispenser was available before we headed back down the mountain and onto the autoroute beyond Lourdes.

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