Day 5 - Cirque de Troumouse

I was up a bit earlier than normal this morning. I opened the main shutter to find out that the weather was glorious. Abundant sunshine, endless blue sky and hardly a cloud in sight. There were one or two but they were pathetic and probably created by an asthmatic dragon.

Anyway I loaded up the "slug" with camera, lenses, orange juice, a banana and a little bit of chocolate. I also managed to fit my Stanley flask into the top compartment. I had a sneaky feeling that it would fit and I was very pleased when it did. A small moment of triumph. There's no more comforting feeling than a flask of soup in one's bag I find, apart from when it explodes of course. I had it happen to me once. Opened the bag to find it looked like a cat had projectiled vomit everywhere. Not very pleasant. I haven't been able to touch Cock-a-Leekie since.

Anyway I'll come back to soup later. I set off and headed south towards Gedre past the big EDF Hydroelectric Station at Pragneres. When I got to Gedre, after having finally overtaken a motor home driven by Stephen Hawking, I then turned off left rather than continue on the road to Gavarnie and headed away off the beaten track a little up the Gave de Heas towards the hamlet of Heas. After this I paid the 4 euro toll and drove up to the Cirque de Troumouse.

It's the least well known of all the grand cirques in the Pyrenees and the least visited by all accounts judging by the 8 cars and a solitary motor home (not the same one, I hasten to add) in the car park. I have to say that in between the toll shed and the car park has to be one of the best driving roads in the entire world. It's got hairpin bends, huge 3,000 metre mountains as a backdrop and ravines deeper than small Yorkshireman's pockets. The climb up in the car is done over two stages with the Plateau de Maillet (at 1800 metres) in the middle. The stage after the plateau is the best bit as it's a bit more hairy, with more hairpin bends and you actually feel that you're about to drive off the side of the mountain. It's how I get my kicks anyway.

Then when you get to the car park you realise that you're in a vast, wild place. There's four 3,000 metre peaks here and then there's a lush green carpet where cows and sheep roam freely. The view you get after a short 15 minute walk is quite fantastic.

But anyway today breaks the altitude record for myself as I managed walked up a steep path from the car park up to the Virgin Mary statue. So my record stands at 2,126 metres now. It's also a Hayes family record for eating soup at altitude. Get in! The car park was 10 metres lower than the Col du Tourmalet so unfortunately the car's record stays the same.

Anyway I'll shut up now and let the pictures do the talking....

First up is the approach to the Plateau de Maillet

Then the Plateau de Maillet

Camping Cars? No it's not a sign to warn Toyota Rav 4 2 door drivers. It's warning people not to sleep overnight in their motorhomes.

And there you have it. The Cirque de Troumouse.

The Virgin Mary. Show me a Mary who's a virgin and I'll show you a straight man who's happy to drive a Ford KA.

Hello Ladies. Daddy wants to play.

The long and winding road.

and finally a photo of my home in the Pyrenees.