Go Back  Fodor's Travel Talk Forums > Destinations > Europe
Reload this Page >

Trip report: A holiday in south-western France, with the Ile de Ré thrown in for good measure

Trip report: A holiday in south-western France, with the Ile de Ré thrown in for good measure

Old Sep 29th, 2007, 11:38 AM
  #21  
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 15,395
Likes: 0
Received 11 Likes on 4 Posts
I'm not positive, but I think we ate dinner at the same restaurant where you had lunch in Bayonne. Small world.
Nikki is offline  
Old Sep 29th, 2007, 12:17 PM
  #22  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 2,719
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Wow, that would certainly be a coincidence!
hanl is offline  
Old Nov 8th, 2007, 12:44 AM
  #23  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 2,719
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Apologies for the hiatus. Should have finished this report ages ago -and of course, I'm now having a few problems writing the rest of it, as I didn't take any notes at the time and am having trouble remembering what we did and when!

Sunshine, walking the Pilgrim's way, the Cirque de Lescun, and some mysterious swimming snakes

The next day, the sun was blazing and the sky was a cloudless blue - a perfect day for walking in the mountains. After a breakfast of coffee, fruit, croissants and madeleines, spent poring over the book of regional walks I'd picked up in Pau, we decided to go on a moderately easy 2 hour walk that would take us along part of the Pilgrims' way (Chemin de Saint Jacques de Compostèle). W and I had decent walking shoes with us, Mum had sturdy trainers, but D had only brought a pair of brogues which he insisted were comfortable for walking, so we had to be careful to choose a path that wouldn't be too difficult in those shoes.

The departure point for the walk was the pretty village of Escot, a few kilometres from Lurbe, along a winding country road. We parked the car in the shade of the tiny village hall and set off. The walk took us down a country road past a beautiful old church, across a main road and under a viaduct, where we joined a footpath leading through woods and past streams and fields and thence to the village of Sarrance. The walk was lovely in parts, though not as picturesque as we'd hoped as much of it passed through thick woodland which obscured the views of the mountains. Still, we crossed paths with a few pilgrims, complete with scallop shell (coquille St Jacques) attached to their backpacks. I couldn't imagine walking all the way to Santiago de Compostela, but clearly many people attempt it every year. One old chap who stopped for a chat on the path looked not a day under 70, and he assured us he'd be walking all the way to Santiago. We were impressed.

The path was muddy and slippery in parts, and D began to realise that his brogues, though sturdy, were not really suitable footwear as he slipped and slid on a few occasions. When we reached Sarrance he decided to sit and wait for us there, rather than attempt the path in reverse, so we set off back in the other direction to get the car, while he wandered around the village in search of a shady spot where he could sip a cool drink.

The sun was high in the sky by the time we reached the car and collected D, and the Pyrenees were spread out around us in all their glory.

We nipped home for a bite to eat (bread, cheese and rillettes) and then Mum, W and I decided to head off to Lescun to visit its famous "cirque", while D decided he'd rather sit on a sunlounger by the millpond and read his book.

The drive through the Vallée d'Aspe to Lescun was very pretty, with mountains looming on either side. The road up to the village itself was steep and winding, but fortunately for me, not too hair-raising (I'm not a fan of roadside cliffs).

We managed to find a parking space in the busy village, and then set off in search of the famous cirque. At this point we discovered that none of us actually knew what a cirque was, in the geological sense of the word, or where it might be found.

But the views as we walked out of the village were spectacular, with mountains soaring all around, green valleys, tiny farmhouses dotted here and there, and a blue sky tempered by grey clouds which draped themselves over the highest mountain peaks.

As we walked along the road (hardly a car or another person to be seen, despite the busy village), we heard the sound of bells and looked up to see a number of horses grazing on the slopes above us. In the Pyrenees, horses are put out to pasture and allowed to wander like cattle. I'd never seen horses with bells round their necks. The sound of the bells ringing and the birdsong all around us was lovely, and we stopped every twenty metres to breathe in the mountain air, take photos and just enjoy being up there.

As we walked along I suddenly saw something move in a ditch by the side of the road. As I looked closer I realised that there were two black things swimming frantically around in a puddle of water. First I thought they were newts, but then on closer inspection I realised they were snakes.

One doesn't see a lot of snakes in Brussels, so I was intrigued as to what they might be, and, childishly, rather excited. W filmed them so that we could try and identify them on our return, and secretly I hoped they would be some kind of rare and dangerous Pyrenean mountain snake (I like to bore my friends with stories of wildlife I've spotted).

We wandered slowly back to the car, still none the wiser as to what or where the cirque de Lescun might be. The views had been so beautiful that we all agreed that we didn't care whether or not we'd seen the cirque. (Later we realised that we had in fact seen it, as it was the impressive circular array of mountains all around us).

Back at the mill, I can't remember what we did that evening, though I'm pretty sure a bottle of champagne was opened and I know that we kicked back and relaxed. We also managed to look up the snakes on the Internet (we had our laptop and a wi-fi connection) - in the end they turned out to be young grass snakes - i.e. one of the most common and most harmless snakes in Europe and fairly widespread even in the UK. I was most disappointed!!

Next: A hair-raising drive over the mountains to Spain, lunch in Ochagavia, and a surprisingly good dinner
hanl is offline  
Old Nov 8th, 2007, 12:50 AM
  #24  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 2,719
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
A hair-raising drive over the mountains to Spain, lunch in Ochagavia, and a surprisingly good dinner

The next day the sun was shining brightly (again!!), and we thought it would be a perfect opportunity to drive up over the Pyrenees and into Spain. As we hadn't made it to San Sebastian or Hondarribia, I was keen to at least stick our noses into Spain as it was so close. Mum is a real Hispanophile too, so she was as keen as me! We studied our various maps and guidebooks, trying to decide which would be the most scenic and interesting route to take, that would still be doable in a day. Eventually we opted to drive west and then south, take the Port de Larrau pass over the mountains, drive down through the Salazar valley to Ochagavia for lunch, then take a route back through the Roncal valley, over the Pierre St Martin pass, and thence back to Lurbe St Christau.

The drive started well, through rolling hills and past babbling brooks, along the valley floor. After Lique-Athérey we started to climb, and as we wound up hairpin bend after bend, I started to feel a teeny bit nervous. I'm not exactly afraid of heights, but I don't like roads that have a sheer drop on one side!

Still, the views were stunning and I did manage to peer out from between my fingers from time to time. Here and there, the road was spray-painted with pro-Basque separatist slogans, and also with messages of support for various cyclists taking part in mountain stages.

About two thirds of the way up, we pulled into a large parking place surrounded by high mountain plains. The sun had disappeared and it was decidedly chilly, with the mist (or clouds) whirling around us. In all directions were mountains, and the plains were studded with grazing sheep and, nearer to where we were parked, a number of horses. These Pyrenean horses are a hardy breed, much smaller than your average horse. They were a beautiful sight, grazing on the mountain side with their bells ringing and the serrated edges of the Pyrenees rising behind them. Suddenly we spotted a couple of very large birds of prey wheeling around behind us. Despite following them with binoculars and the video camera, we couldn't work out whether they were eagles or vultures. Whatever they were, their wingspan was huge and we watched in awe as they circled in the sky.

We weren't dressed for chilly, windy weather so it wasn't long before we piled back into the car and continued up into the mountains. Eventually we reached the border - I was surprised to see that it wasn't marked España but, rather, Navarra. We stopped for a short while to enjoy the view - more birds of prey and horses - and marvel at a number of exhausted looking cyclists who had clearly just reached the top of a very long and difficult climb.

As we drove down into the Spanish side of the mountains, we quickly saw how different it all looked - the weather, the plants and trees, the colours... we immediately felt that we were in a different country. I thought this was really interesting, as you don't get that impression when crossing the Alps.
The Spanish side of the Pyrenees is much dryer and the trees seem to be mainly conifers, at least in the valley we were in. The French side seemed much greener and lusher, with deciduous trees growing even at quite high altitudes. The sun was shining brightly and the clouds and mist shrouding the French side of the mountains disappeared almost as soon as we'd crossed the border. I assume that these differences are due to the different rainfall patterns on the north/south sides of the mountain (which would explain why you don't see such stark differences on either side of the Alps, which run north-south rather than west-east).

Anyway, we were pleased to be in Spain! It was a short drive from the border down into the valley to Ochagavia, which, I'd read in several guide books, was supposed to be one of the prettiest towns in the area. We drove into the town along the main road which flanked the river Salazar, and soon found a place to park in the shade.

The town did seem quite pretty, with red geraniums spilling from pots and window boxes outside every house, and the mountains in the background. However, there was some kind of work going on to dredge or clean the river bed (which looked almost dry), so the various diggers and heavy machinery sapped some of the charm from the scene. (Just meant we had to be more creative with the angles we took our photos at!)

We headed first to the tourist office to get a map of the village and ask where we could find a good lunch. It transpired there were only three places that served food, so we headed to the nearest place, located on a square across the river. We couldn't find the restaurant part of the establishment and so sat at a table in the bar and ordered tintos de verano (a refreshing mix of red wine and gaseosa or lemonade, one of my favourite things to drink in Spain in the summer).

For the Spanish timetable, it was a bit early to eat lunch anyway (1 pm) so we decided to have our drinks and some olives and then go round the corner to another of the 3 restaurants for our meal.

It wasn't exactly charming (a plain dining room with simple tables and paper tablecloths) but the menu of the day was excellent value - somewhere around 10 euros per person including water and wine! The dishes were simple Spanish/Basque cuisine: we started with salad (me and mum) or soup (D and W), followed by stuffed peppers in bechamel (me, mum and D), and eggs with Basque sausage (W). For dessert W and I had natillas (a kind of vanilla custard) and Mum and D had junket (something I loathe with a passion). This was all washed down with some decent red table wine and sparkling water. The bill came to under 50 euros, including coffee, for four of us. Definitely our cheapest meal of the holiday!

We had another wander around the town after lunch, snapping a few pictures here and there, before deciding that we would head back to the car. I must admit to being slightly disappointed with the town overall, probably because it had been talked up too much in the guidebooks, leading me to expect somewhere incredibly stunning, rather than just the pleasant but sleepy town that Ochagavia really is.

Our next stop was Izaba, in the Roncal valley. This town didn't get much mention in our guidebooks, and yet we found it to be extremely pretty and charming, perched on a hill and capped with a lovely church with a clock tower. We found a parking space and went for a short but calf-straining stroll through the steep, narrow streets.

The drive back to Lurbe St Christau was less hair-raising than the drive there, as the pass at Pierre St Martin wasn't quite so high, the roads were wider and there were fewer sheer drops.

Back at the mill, we decided that we'd take a punt on the third restaurant to be recommended in the vicinity, a place called Lacassie Anna, a short drive from the village. We called and booked a table for 8pm. Following vague directions from the guest folder (somewhere near the old station by the railway line), we pulled up in front of a dilapidated looking hotel (Hôtel de la Gare or some such). Through the windows we could see an enormous dining room, totally devoid of customers, with chairs stacked up on tables. The overall impression was of a very decrepid old hotel that hadn't seen a customer since c. 1974.

I was all for turning tails and heading back to the mill, but Mum and D pressed ahead, and as we entered a smiling waitress appeared and led us through to another, smaller, rather dingy and old fashioned looking dining room towards the rear of the building. One other couple sat at a table, speaking in hushed tones. I was definitely regretting that we'd decided to eat in this rather depressing place.

How wrong I turned out to be!! We had a delicious meal and the service was delightful. The dining room even filled up a little, adding a bit more ambience to the place as the chatter of diners and the clink of wine classes started to fill the air. Various Béarnais style menus were on offer, most of which featured garbure, a kind of thick vegetable and ham broth that is a regional speciality, and various meat dishes.

I decided to order à la carte, while the others ordered one of the set menus each. As they tucked into their garbure - a huge tureen of which was set down on the table for them to help themselves to - I enjoyed a huge, generous plateful of the best smoked salmon I've had outside Scotland. After their second starters (unfortunately I can't remember what they had), our main courses were served - lamb for Mum and W, while I had the most succulent sole meunière I think I've ever eaten. After that came various desserts (apple concoctions I believe) and cheese for me. We were all utterly stuffed when we waddled out of the place and, if I remember rightly, the whole meal came to under 100 euros for all four of us. So all in all, we had a pretty good-value day, food wise!!

Next: Last day at the mill, another walk in the mountains and - yikes - is that bear fur?
hanl is offline  
Old Nov 8th, 2007, 01:57 AM
  #25  
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 57,091
Received 5 Likes on 3 Posts
hi, hanl,

what a lovely description of your drive over the Pyrenees - they are hair-raising aren't they?

you reminded me of a trip i did with DH in that area years ago, when we had toiled for a cuple of hours to get to the other side of some pass or other. for some reason, DH decided to check something in his jacket, only to find he hadn't got it! panic! we finally worked out that he must have left it in the cafe we'd stopped at just before we started up over the pass. money, passport, everything was in that jacket. So we turned round, and drove in complete silence all the way down to the little town where the cafe was, recovered his jacket from the back of the chair where it still hung, amazingly with contents fully intact, and in the same silence, drove all the way back up the pass again.

strangely, DH has forgetten all about this episode, and i haven't.

looking forward to more,

regards, ann
annhig is offline  
Old Nov 8th, 2007, 02:14 AM
  #26  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 2,719
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Gosh, Ann, that was lucky your husband managed to retrieve his coat - and I'm glad we didn't have to do our drive over the mountains more than once each way!!

Incidentally, it sounds like your husband's memory is as good as my husband's (who managed to forget an ENTIRE holiday that we took together a few years ago).
hanl is offline  
Related Topics
Thread
Original Poster
Forum
Replies
Last Post
rhon
Europe
44
Jan 19th, 2019 12:26 PM
boots08
Europe
74
Dec 7th, 2018 06:35 PM
clevelandbrown
Europe
17
Oct 8th, 2013 02:31 PM
Kate_W
Europe
11
Aug 2nd, 2006 07:23 AM
jmv
Europe
4
Jan 12th, 2004 09:05 AM

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are On


Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information -