Day 16 - Bulanettes/Pyrenees to Gavarnie (54kms)

-
Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday dear Mark, Happy Birthday to me.  31 years young the kids tell me.  I woke to a quiet van, and only after mum had called for a second time - using FaceTime I might add.  The rest of the family woke as I was talking to mum and I then got some beautifully home-made cards from girls and from Kristie, a card and the promise of the new Apple Watch series 4 when we return home. 

As forecast, we woke to rain and were already in the clouds/fog without climbing another mountain pass.  But we were committed to cross the Col du Torumalet, and I wouldn’t miss it unless it was too dangerous in the weather - which it wasn’t.  After only a few kilometres we broke through the clouds and got glimpses of sun.  Luckily, because as we passed through a ski village on the way up the Tourmalet, there was a cow standing smack bang in the middle of the road.  Not sure what it was doing there, as it was asphalt all around.



From the ski village we were in and out of clouds, but it was clear enough to see the beauty of the mountains.  Zig zagging our way to the top, we stopped several times to take photos as the views of the mountains were just beautiful.  



Then the classic summit.  The narrow road cut into the mountain with stone walls either side and the road just disappearing as you look to the summit.  It was foggy when we arrived, and it almost added to the mystic of seeing the famous climb first hand.  It certain made us feel like we were at 2115m.  Despite the weather, there was lots of people around and even cyclists crossing the Col.  We snapped a heap of photos despite the conditions and I took some time to look around before descending.


Not long after we started descending, the sun broke through again and we got glimpses of mountains looking west.  Part way down we saw the remnants of memorial made by Dutch cyclists who visit to Col each year on a fundraising ride to fight cancer.  They each carry a memorial stone to the summit to commemorate a loved one touched by cancer and make a memorial that stands for a day.  The stones pictured are the stones and messages of that memorial.


After descending into the valley, our next destination was Gavarnie.  A village tucked in at the base of the Pyrenees that was renowned for a walk into a natural amphitheatre made from the surrounding mountains.  The drive up into another valley was really pretty.  We stopped to take photos at a town called Gedre and I was thinking - “I should be living in the mountains”.  When I got back into the van I said, “lets shift here” and the girls said that when I was out of the van they were saying the if dad could live here he would.  They know me well- So true.


We continued on to Gavarnie, and we were not disappointed.  As with many towns, camper vans were not allow in, so we parked in a beautiful spot in the camper van car park, overlooking the valley we had just ascended. After some pasta for lunch we headed off into, and through town, for our 2 hour walk into the natural amphitheatre.  The weather on our arrival in Gavarnie was pretty good - mostly sunny, and lasted for the first half of our walk, but then the clouds started to descend on us.  Still pleasant enough to walk in, but spoiling our views of the surrounding mountains.





By the time we reached the Hotel du Cirque et [at] de la Cascade, the clouds we so low we could no longer see the tops of the mountains, but it was still very pretty and you could see the natural amphitheatre.  Some people continued to walk into the basin to get closer to waterfalls, but the kids had already made a great effort to walk 4 kilometres uphill to that point, so we chilled for a bit - I photoed sheep of all things, and then we descended back into town and the van.  




In town we stopped at the local store to buy some supplies including a baguette, some wine, and of course chocolate, for my birthday celebration dinner.  The wine and baguette pre dinner was a hit - the kids are obsessed with baguettes, and then after dinner we had the most amazing surprise Brownie with candles on it, as my birthday cake.  I’m a very lucky boy.  What a great birthday.  It rivals swimming with pink dolphins off Zanzibar for my 30th.

Location: Baretge, 65120 Gavarnie, France

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 02 - Singapore to London

-
Image
As the kids pointed out - "what a long day".  15 hours travel from Singapore and then another 18 hours of day in London - although no one saw the whole day through.  The kids were asleep the moment we stopped running around at about 5:00pm and then the grown ups not long after. The flight from Singapore was fairly unremarkable except that it was running about 30 mins late. Everyone got at least 5 or more hours of sleep, and Sierra seemed to sleep most of the 13+ hour flight.  Madi not so much - constantly playing with her mostly buggered inflight entertainment system. I had forgotten what it was like to arrive in Heathrow first thing in the morning after curfew ends.  Lots of big international flights all landing at the same time and the queues in the customs halls were running all the way back out into the corridors leading from the terminals.  I think we only had to queue for about an hour - thanks to a lovely customs person who was taking sympathy...
Read more

Day 05 - London

-
Image
We woke to another glorious day today, hardly a cloud in the sky.  The kids most excited about our trip to Warner Bros movie studio in the afternoon to see the Harry Potter studios. We started the day with a tube ride to Notting Hill to see the Portobello Road market , and with the help of a local, managed to find our way to the Travel Books shop made famous by the movie "Notting Hill".  The facade was actually a book store on Portobello Road, but the inside filming was done in an actual book shop around the corner in 13 Blenheim Cresent.  We went inside, and didn't leave empty handed - thanks to the kids.  Kristie was also keen to find the "Blue Door" of Hugh Grant's character's home in the movie - which was also just of Portobello Rd at 282 Westbourne Park Road.  Portobello Road itself was interesting enough to walk, but its easy to see (by all the stall locations marked on the road) how the weekend market with the actual road filled with stalls o...
Read more

Day 01 - Melbourne to Singapore

-
Image
And so the journey begins.  We are in Singapore for a 5+ hour stopover, awaiting the arrival of QF1 to take us to London.  The flight was pretty good and the kids tolerated their first 8 hour flight without complaint.  Unlike our A380 experience with Emirates, both Kristie and I though the QANTAS A380 was remarkably quiet and smooth. Before we left Melbourne we have the obligatory photo in front of the departures board outside customs, but things have certainly changed from the days of watching (and listening to) the individual letters click over on the board as information is updated. In Melbourne, the kids also had their first airport lounge experience pre-departure.  Sierra and Madi we like kids in a candy store - literally.  With lollie jars on the bench for them to help themselves too, not too mention the fridges full of drinks and a buffet spread. No lounge access in Singapore these days, but Changi Airport seems much bet...
Read more

Day 07 - London to Paris

-
Image
We’re sitting on the Eurostar travelling through the rolling hills of the french countryside, as I try and catch up on the travel blog.  We have all been so so tired at the end of each day in London that (despite trying) we have not been able to keep our eyes open to blog.  Having said that, Sierra's journal writing is showing everyone else up!  I am writing about today now - on the train, because as we travel through the french countryside, I feel a real sense of excitement about what lies ahead.  Its been many a year since I have visited continental Europe, and after years of staying up late watching the Le Tour de France, I am very excited to be here, and experience the beauty of France and beyond.  Already the train is slowing down as we get closer to Paris and I haven’t gotten very far with the blog because my eyes are constantly drawn out the window to the beauty of the french countryside.  Watching the quaint little villages and towns pass by, wit...
Read more

Day 29 - Lisbon to Seville (545kms)

-
Image
Well, here goes.  We’ll see how far I get with the journal from Sierra's iPad.  Today ended better than the last and we hope we can all forget about yesterday and go back to enjoying our holiday.   Knowing that we couldn’t really do too much today other than sightseeing from the van, we weren’t in too much of a hurry to get up and get going, given our destination was Seville and it was only a 4 - 5 hour drive.   Then again, I was keen to see the back of Lisboa, but we can’t leave the van unattended at the moment as you can now open the cabin door by sticking anything in the lock.   The drive south out os Lisbon was over a bridge which my intelligent childrenn correctly pointed out looked like the Golden Gate bridge - except for the colour.  Out of the city, the roads were probably on some of the best roads we’ve had. And so they should have been, given the cost of the tolls. One toll was 36.25€ and that wasn’t the only one.  I digress f...
Read more

Day 06 - London

-
Image
Our last full day in London and I really feel a bit sad to be leaving tomorrow.  I have developed a new appreciation for this huge, old (yet modern at the same time) city that you could spend months trying to live and see, and still not cover everything.  Museums, theatre, parks, and history.  I don't think I have appreciated London's culture before. Today started with another walk through the city to Trafalgar Square.  Not the Trevi fountain, but the kids still got excited about throwing a coin into a fountain in London.  Our next stop was Leicester Square for discount theatre tickets.  After looking long and hard at what was on offer, we were still going to be paying upward of $60 a ticket to a production that we were unsure the kids would like, so we decided against another night at the theatre. After Leicester Square was the London Lego store and we spent a bit of time in there being amazed by the english lego c...
Read more

Day 22, Santiago de Compostela

-
Image
I’m quite excited about the day, but for reasons other than the beauty of nature, which I have done nothing but rave about so far.  Santiago de Compostela is the final destination for hundreds of thousands of pilgrims each year walking the Camino de Santiago.  If we’re to believe wikipedia, over 300,000 last year, so that would be over 1000 people per day in the warmer months.  For more than 1000 years pilgrims have walked to the tomb of St James the Apostle, carrying a scallop shell and staff.   Why you might ask?  Well in short, in the 9th century a religious hermit Pelayo found the tomb of the apostle - James the Great.  Once the news was confirmed by the local archbishop, the Asturian king, and later the Pope, the impact was instant and indelible.  A flood of Christian Europeans began to head toward Compostela in search of salvation and it soon became the most important christian destination after Rome and Jerusalem.  Its popularity i...
Read more

Day 20 - Orio to Bakio (111kms)

-
Image
It was a little hard to pack up and leave the creature comforts of the Orio Kanpina today.  Staying put for a few nights was a pleasure I think we’ll be ill able to afford for the rest of the trip if we want to cover the ground we were planning to.  We said our goodbyes to Bob and Nancy - who became a welcoming sight at the campground each day.  They suggested that we drive the coastal route west, as it is very picturesque, and (as we had already decided from reading about it) give Bibao a miss unless you really what to take the time to look at the Guggenheim museum.  The other tip they gave us was to go and see a church high on an islet, connected to the mainland by a manmade rock arched bridge/walkway.  So with suggestions in hand, we ever so delicately manoeuvred the camper van out of our campsite and then down the extremely narrow street and out of the campground. The coastal drive was really pretty and hugged the coast most of the way, makin...
Read more

Day 08 - Paris

-
Image
The one hour time change to Paris meant we all slept in til nearly 9am, and on reflection it  seemed like Parisians also take it slow on a Sunday, as it was very quiet out - compared to our first impressions yesterday.   With access to a washing machine, our first priority was a load of washing, before hitting the streets of Paris.   We were blessed with beautiful Autumn weather today - not a cloud in the sky in the morning.  The Lonely Planet describes this as the best time of the year to visit - nicest weather and post European summer holidays, with mid to high 20’s temperatures most days.  Perfect for all the walking we have planned for the next few days.  Today we started out from our local square - Place Edmond Michelet, surrounded by the Pompidou, cafes and restaurants on each side, and post Kristie’s coffee stop, we just started walking.  With no destination in mind and (what I now realise) a non-functioning internal compass, we...
Read more