I parked in the car park for the Pont Espagne and paid the very reasonable 8 Euros to go in the completely unnecessary and over the top cable car which takes you from the car park to the Pont in 3 minutes. I then transferred from the cable car to the chairlift which takes you up from about 1400 metres (the car park) to 1800 metres. You feel about as exposed Scottish Lighthouse with no windows or doors on the way up but about halfway up you realise that it would be great just to stay there all day. All you hear is the cowbells from the valley below, the odd cricket with an axe to grind and the trees being caressed by the wind. Quite lovely I have to say. From the top chair lift its a small 20 minute walk to the crater like Lac de Gaube. It's a very pretty place indeed. The Lake is fed by the Glacier fields which lead up to the the highest mountain in the French side of the Pyrenees called the Vignemale. Actually a group of 3 mountains. The highest point is Pique Longue which weighs in at 3298 metres. Still not as high as mother's been, mind you but I guess it's going to have to be a bloody big and accesible mountain. Mount Fuji mext year maybe.
I had lunch in front of the lake. A bayonne ham baguette, a banana and a bottle of water. After an hour there I walked back to the chair lift station and and took a few waterfall pictures with average results. I had a mad moment at the car park pat meter when I couldn't find the car park ticket. After 2 minutes of frantic searching and 2 minutes of concocting a feasible story I finally remembered that I was sensible enough to put the old ticket in my wallet. It would be nice to have a passepartout sometimes I think, someone to remind me that on the odd occasion I can be a daft twat.
From there I decided to go to the Col D'Aubisque. So it was back to Cauterets via the fabulous Cascade du Cerisey and then through the nice little towns of Aucun, Marsous and Arrens Marsous at an obilgatory 30 kmph. Now thats slow. From there it was a quick hop up the Col du Soulor behind a Fiat Panda 4X4 (an old one) pulling a trailer containing a cow. As the road started to wind the cow was showing admirable balance until the next tight bend when the hooves slid and the cow fell on its arse. Still it had the intelligence to remain sitting after that.
By the time I got to the summit the weather had turned Scottish again, so in time honoured tradition I made for home. Fog has a habit of limiting the view of the fabulous natural scenery.
Tomorrow will be a visit to one of the big Cirques. There are four big ones quite near to Luz. Gavarnie is the biggest but you need to walk 2 hours to get there amongst all the twatty tourists, then 2 hours all the way back, Estaube is a bugger to get to (only appeals to enthusiatic walkers it says!! Ahem!), Lys is the same (Cauterets, then two cable cars), but the easiest and most pleasant seems to be Troumouse. You can drive there and park nearby and walk around the entire Cirque with the cows. Much more civilised I reckon! Might as well maximise your time at the scenic place I reckon.
Right here are some photos from the day...
Near the Pont d'Espagne. Looks like Mr Miyagi has been sleeping on the job.
The Chair lift up.......
The view from the top...
On the way down to the lake..
Lac de Gaube.
Back down on the chair lift
Land Rover watch..
Waterfall near the Pont d'Espagne
Pont d'Espagne.
On the road back down to Cauterets.
Cascade du Cerisey
After 23 years of learning French. I didn't know what a Passage Canadien was until today. The Monty Python Lumberjack song comes to mind, but actually its frog for "Cattle Grid". The ones on Dartmoor are nicer. More vibration.
Citroen Dyane. Very nice paint job. I bet it even sounds like a wasp.
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