I love the mountains! I grew up seeing Pikes Peak every day of my life. As a child, we spent many weekends camping in the Rocky Mountains and exploring the majesty of Colorado. When I first thought of living in France my search centered in the Dordogne region of southwestern France. It is beautiful and impressive there with limestone cliffs and troglodyte villages, caves with amazing prehistoric artwork, deep ancient forests and winding rivers. On our first visit there in 1996, Andy and I were in love with the area of the Lot river.
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| Pikes Peak and the Garden of the Gods |
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| Rocamadour in the Dordogne Region |
However, there are no mountains in sight as the Dordogne (also called the Perigord) is too far north of the Pyrenees to be able to see even a small glimpse of them. I did not realize how important the mountains are to my mental health until I lived in Liberal, Kansas for two years to help care for my mom. I couldn't wait to head West and get my first sighting of the Front Range. I always thought about the pioneers who headed West in their covered wagons and what that must have been like for people who had never seen the Rockies. Watching them get closer and closer had to have been a great motivator as they crossed those bleak, empty plains of western Kansas and eastern Colorado.
I hope that Katherine Lee Bates will forgive the change of adjective in her famous poem which she wrote from the top of Pikes Peak (did you know that?) and which was set to music to become one of our country's most beloved songs. When you look at the Rockies you can see why she would call them "purple". Our mountains are rugged and when you mix the colors of the granite and the blues of the spruces and pines you have a definite purple tinge. So why did I change the color?
The Pyrenees are so green!!! They are such different mountains than the Rockies. They are almost tropical although that isn't a good description, but I can't think of another word to explain how green everything is. There are waterfalls everywhere. There are ferns and ivy growing along the roadsides. The trees are mainly deciduous so I suppose that during the winter they are not particularly green as they would all lose their leaves. But everything is also covered in moss and that may survive the cold winters. So many shades of green - like in that box of 64 crayons that I loved getting every Christmas!
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| Approaching the Pyrenees |
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| Getting greener |
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| Some mountains in the distance |
The rainy, misty weather that we've been having here in Colorado Springs reminds me of the day Andy and I spent in the high Pyrenees when we were in SW France last September. I want to share some of those photos with you in this blog so you can get an idea of why I'm now in love with this area of France. I need my mountains - whether in Colorado or in France. But I'll choose France because I'm also in love with the history of the area which dates back to prehistoric times. This area of France has been continually inhabited for thousands and thousands of years. I would like to be one more "blip" on the Pyrenees' timeline.
Our day began by driving south from our gite (holiday house) and making a loop around the area known as the "Haute Pyrenees" (High Pyrenees) as we went in search of the Cirque de Troumouse and the Col de Tourmalet. Every turn in the road brought about "Wow" and "Oh My" and "Look at that"! Our first stop was at Cauterets with its steep mountain walls and narrow valley created by a swift glacier stream. At one time there was a mineral spring spa here, but now its simply a tourist stop with a small gift/snack shop, public bathrooms across the road and magnificent views of the valley and surrounding mountains.
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| At Cauterets |
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| The steep cliffs at Cauterets |
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| The beautiful azure glacier stream |
Along our route there were numerous opportunities to enjoy the mountain majesties - waterfalls, rushing streams, hiking trails and those magnificent mountain peaks. This is an area of France that is always a part of the famous cycling race, the Tour de France. Andy and I tried to imagine taking these switchbacks and narrow roads on a bicycle! Along the roads we saw where riders' names had been painted - one of those being for the popular rider from Luxembourg, Andy Schleck. We made sure my Andy got a picture with his name!
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| A "swinging" bridge? |
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| Andy and his own stretch of road! |
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Finally we made it to the huge ski area known as La Mongie. This whole area is an agricultural region meaning that pastureland is all around and one often has to yield to the local cows, goats and sheep. We saw plenty of those - some not particularly welcoming to tourists!
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| Goats said this was their road |
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| The unhappy cow |
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All of these roads are Tour de France routes as well. And I've seen them packed with cars, campers and crazy cycling fans that scare me when they get within arms reach of the riders!
Then we got to the most amazing sights of the day - the Col de Tourmalet and the Cirque de Troumouse. It was pouring rain by the time we got to the Cirque de Troumouse. We were surrounded by clouds and mist and it was magical. Andy wanted to hike so he took off despite the weather. I stayed in the car and ate lunch and read more about the area and where we would go next. When he got back to the car about 45 minutes later he was drenched to the bone! But loved the adventure. He said he heard more Spanish spoken than French along the trail which makes sense as we were quite close to Spain at that point.
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| Cirque de Troumouse |
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| Cirque de Troumouse |
See, even above timberline, the Pyrenees are green. There are some rugged peaks in the background. We felt that the misty overcast conditions added to the beauty and majesty of this mountainous area. Don't you agree?
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| Col de Tourmalets |
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| Col de Tourmalet |
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And, of course we stopped at as many waterfalls as we could see from the road. It was a long day which ended with a wonderful meal at a little cafe in a small village near a stream. We had the "poulet en brochettes" - grilled chicken pieces on skewers with onions and peppers. It was served on a slate serving platter with grilled vegetables and bread (of course!). Absolutely delicious! A great way to top off a most enjoyable - if a little wet - day. But that's why this weather reminds me of that day in France. Not a bad thing to be reminded of. And talk about finding out what was "around the next bend"! A perfect day for that kind of adventure. All I had was a map and a guide book and we had one glorious surprise after another. I'd do it again in a heartbeat!
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| Waterfall near Tourmalets |
Just in case you were wondering if I'm getting any work done on my house, the answer is "yes"! I've started scraping the 10 ft ceiling in the addition. It's actually going better than I thought. It seems to be easier to scrape the popcorn off of the sheet rock than it was off of the plaster ceiling in the older part of the house. I think the newer popcorn was not put on as heavily. I still have a ways to go, but at least I'm seeing progress and hope to have it all done (except my bedroom and bathroom) by the end of this week.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read my blog. I always welcome your thoughts and comments and your company on this journey. As you can tell, France is never far from my thoughts. Until next week, I bid you "au revoir" and Merci!
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