The Pyrenees (Pt 2)

This is our final night in the Pyrenees, so here is Part 2. We head off tomorrow for Bordeaux then fly to Venice the next day (we'll be there for 5 days). The last 3 days we've had a good look at Luz and surrounds. The weather has been pretty dodgy, but improving over the past 2 days. We've seen some very big mountains! We've also coincided with an annual festival here at Luz which has been very interesting and good fun. Here are some pics.......

Thursday was wet so we spent the day around Luz, including a few smaller walks. This is part of Luz from the ruined castle above the town. Luz has an alpine character similar to Switzerland or Austria....

The castle above town (Chateau Sainte-Marie Esterre) - with Marian and Laurie at the entrance....

Next to the castle is a little building (pictured) converted to a restaurant where we had a great lunch - exceptional Blueberry Tart (Tartelette Myrtilles).......

Luz-Saint-Sauveur was/is a spa town, where people come to take the waters. It was very popular in the mid 19th century. This is the part of town (Saint-Sauveur) with hotels and facilities supporting the spa....

In the middle of the old town, surrounded by small residential streets, is a fortified church (Eglise des Templiers). It is very unusual as the church is completely surrounded by crenelated defensive walls. They were put there by the Knights Hospitaller in the 13th-14th century. They were a Christian militia which survived the Knights Templar (this church is incorrectly named the Templar Church)......

On Friday we drove over the Col du Tourmalet, which is famous as a key stage in the Tour de France most years. There were plenty of bike riders struggling uphill. The scenery is huge....

A little museum at the top has some of the original bikes that made the journey - this one from the 1915 Tour de France - no gears!...

There is a ski area either side of the Tourmalet and a cable car up to an observatory high in the mountains (Pic du Midi de Bigorre). We took it up, hoping the weather would stay clear....

The view from one side of the observatory was awesome.....

The view from the other side not so much!....

As the weather was uncertain we only did a small excursion in the mountains from the Col du Tourmalet. We had planned a much bigger walk but given the visibility there wasn't much point. The little walk we did had a great alpine feel. Marian and Laurie are in this view.....

The festival started on Friday and continues to tomorrow (Sunday). It is historic, based on the shepherds bringing their stock down to market from the high country. It has drawn a huge number of people and, surprisingly, a large number of brass bands!....

Lunch time fun - very large man scaring the kids....

Sheep being run through town .....

Drumming group......

Today we headed up further above Gavarnie to the very high country near the Spanish border. It was initially cold, cloudy and snowy - but as the weather improved the mountains revealed themselves - spectacular. On the way up we met this chap (Marmotte) by the roadside (they're very cute and look like a Wombat sized Guinea Pig!).....

A short walk to a lake near the car park was very alpine indeed. The snow only lasted a few hours and melted after lunch....

We walked along the route on the right to the Spanish border. On the opposite side of the glacial valley was an awesome mountain face - I've marked a group of people who were specks next to a large rock....

This is looking into Spain from the border, high in the Pyrenees (2,210m)....

Finally, we walked along a different direction to a viewpoint way down into the Cirque de Gavarnie (which we visited in Part 1). You can see the 420m waterfall in the distance....

Looking back the other way to where we walked earlier. Our path is on the right....

Walking group....

More festival fun tonight. The town was so busy with music, drinking and partying. There seemed to be dozens of brass bands playing on every street corner....

Finally, unlike the pyrotechnics in Sarlat, you may try this at home. You'll need a large piece of cardboard for the hat, some streamers and feathers, a large sheep skin and two very large cow bells......