Friday

We set off mid morning back to the Bordeaux ring road and then south on toll roads towards the Pyrenees. The weather forecast has been unsettled all round the south west of France and we wanted to go to the mountains but would like some good weather to be able to walk and see the views. We found a lovely looking campsite called Chataigniers up one of the main valleys from the Biarritz to Toulouse road and headed off into the hills. As expected the weather was mixed, we stopped between showers for a picnic lunch with an amazing vista in the distance of high mountains. We turned off the main road at Tarbes, drove past Lourdes and the roads got progressively narrower and steeper. We drove through a paved main square in Arcizans-Avant village with a fountain in the middle, which didn’t look like there was a way out but at the end there was a sharp turn to the right, which we managed to get round with the caravan. We drove on again into a little village with two signposts to the campsite on two corners both facing each other. In between was a small alley so after some manouevering we squeezed through and onto the site which had beautiful views across the valley. We were met and greeted by a jovial Frenchman with little English who informed us that the site was closing tomorrow, even though the book said the 30th September. It was about 4.30pm  by this time and we had been ready to stop but the thought of staying here and then packing and moving on in the morning did not appeal. We manouevered our way back out and back down the little twisty road to Argeles- Gazost, a small pretty Alpine looking town back down the valley with a few campsites. We turned up at La Bergerie campsite and settled in, putting up the awning just before the cloud came down and the rain started. We drove back into the town and had a meal at Table L’Eyzes restaurant which had most of its food direct from their own farm. We had local trout to start and steaks which were excellent. We had a plate of three small desserts to share and a bottle of Buzet local red wine.

Saturday

It rained heavily all night and all morning, we couldn’t see the mountains and we were thinking had we come here at the wrong time as the forecast still looked unsettled for the next few days. We looked at some of the information about the area and also looked at the maps and where next, planning further ahead with our trip. Towards lunchtime we went back into the town and the rain stopped, we had a sandwich at a patisserie in the square and then drove up a side valley to Cauterets, which is a ski resort in winter and the start of many hiking trails. We had a look round the town, it was still cloud down and a bit drizzly. There was a mountain photography exhibition on, which was amazing.  Photos of animals such as chamois or brown bears; owls, eagles, vultures, flowers and also mountain pictures with sun on the high peaks.

Sunday

We woke up to high cloud with a hint of sun and decided to set off to Gavarnie, a village at the head of the valley. This is one of the sights of the area, with 3000 metre plus mountains all round. It is called the Cirque de Gavarnie and you can walk about an hour from the village to a viewpoint at the bottom of immense cliffs. There are three massive horizontal bands of rock and a waterfall coming down the rock face. The cloud was high but sat along the top of the mountain all the time we were there and the air was cold, with a hint of blue sky and sun occasionally. At the end of the walk is a “Hotel” where you can get a drink and a sandwich. I think this was a quiet day for them, it feels very much here end of the season as we experienced yesterday, although there were still plenty of people walking up and back. We made our way back and had a late lunch in the village at one of the few places still open, Graham had Tartiflette in honour of the Alpine walking and I had ” baby sheep with a bone in”, according to the waitress, which was good although not very hot and served with cold Dauphinois potatoes and a cold herb souffle. A good day in the mountains.