3 days hiking in the French Pyrénées

A week after coming back from the Alps we decided to visit another French mountain: the Pyrénées

20, 21 and 22 August, 2013

Lourdes and Cauterets Pont d’Espagne are among the 4 major Resorts of the Hautes-Pyrénées

Picture dated June 21, 2013

Lourdes the very famous commune of the 

Catholic pilgrimage site has been left devastated in June 18, 2013 by the river Gave de Pau, which has burst its banks

La basilique Notre-Dame-du-Rosaire today, after less than 2 months works rehabilitation

The Massabielle cave where the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared to 

Bernadette Soubirous was partially flooded 

Before (left) and after (right) the flood

One of the few still apparent damage

Cauterets Pont d’Espagne

 The Pont d’Espagne (1496 m) is a protected place 

         of Pyrenees National Park 

        

The most beautiful waterfalls that can be seen in the Hautes-Pyrénées







That place gives access to the Gaube valley, with its lake ...


... the Lac de Gaube which is approximately 1hr and 30 minutes walk from Cauterets 

or can be accessed by a chair-lift from the Pont d'Espagne

The top end of the valley leading to the lake is closed off by the north face of the Vignemale, the culminating point of the mountain range on the border with Spain

The Cirque de Lys is accessible by cable car from where there are panoramic views over the Pyrenees

The crests of the Cirque du Lys with the lakes and high surrounding peaks

Faraway the Ilhéou lake

Summer 2013 vacation in the French Alpine area

For 10 days, from Aug 3 to Aug 13, 2013, we spent this year vacation in the Alps mountains

Notre Dame de Bellecombe , the typical Savoyard architecture of the center of village...

Le Village’s apartments where we stayed,
are in traditional wood buildings

...situated in the mountains at an altitude of 1150m,    15 km from Megève 

Chamonix and its Valley of Mont Blanc located in the Haute Savoie department of the Rhone-Alpes region, 45 km from ND de Bellecombe

The “roof of Europe”, the highest peak in the Alps and Western Europe, has an altitude of 4810.90 

meters

The Mer de Glace, the Ice Cave and the Montenvers Train are one of the biggest attractions in the Chamonix valley 

Departing from Chamonix, the famous little red rack railway brings you to the Montenvers site at 1913 m. 

Panorama of Chamonix from the train

The Mer de Glace, the largest glacier in France, 7kms long and 200m deep, is one of the worlds 

most visited natural sites 

Cable-car station

The Ice Cave/Grotto accessible either by a path (about one hundred step between the cable-car station and the Ice Cave entrance!) or by cable-car.

Ice sculptures

The Ice Cave takes you into the heart of the glacier: carved every year since the glaciers are moving about 70m every year, the ice sculptures illustrate scenes from alpine life in the early 19th century. 

Puygros

The vacation ended in family in Puygros, a little village located in the Savoie department at an altitude of about 770 meters.

We have visited the "Puygrolains"
(the inhabitants of Puygros)