Parc National des Pyrénées Occidentales Travel Guide

 kokoryko Says:  Cauterets is a very good starting point for hikes in the mountains, but also, if you do not like to walk a lot, or have small children with you, there are possibilities to go quite high in the mountains and visit Lac de Gaube (Gaube Lake) or the Cirque du Lys.You can drive... 

 kokoryko Says:  The Pyrénées have a quite long history and telling this in a short tip is not exactly serious and not the purpose of VT-pages! But, when we walk in nature, we love to look at the landscapes, as well as at flowers, trees, big or little animals, lakes. . . . . ; we make sort... 

 kokoryko Says:  The hiking trails are sometimes very crowded, and traffic jams are not unusual, specially during bad weather. I met one day these trail-users on my way back from Pombie hut and Col de Suzon; they did not dare to cross the little river which had grown with the rain and were... 

 kokoryko Says:  Cheese in the things do do? Yes, of course, I mean “eat cheese”, the wonderful Pyrénéan sheep cheese! I use a computer , I am happy with and do not know how it works, so am I with the cheese, I know very few about cheese making, but appreciate it a lot!The western Pyrénéan... 

 kokoryko Says:  We have seen lots of little churches in our village tour; a last one? OK! We are now in Luz St Sauveur; I adapt Victor Hugo: “Charming old city (. . .) ideally located in a deep triangular valley. When the smugglers, coming from Aragon, catching sight of the bright light... 

 kokoryko Says:  A last little hike up, along the road and we enter Sazos, a rather “big” village, built on the slope of the mountain. On the main picture is the St Julien church, of the 17th century, closed when I visited with a camera, which is –unusual- not in the centre of the village,... 

 kokoryko Says:  We follow now the road, look from far at the village of Vizos, on the mountain slope, cross the Gave on a bridge and follow the left bank upstream and arrive at Sassis and discover. . . well, another Roman church! It is a 12th century building where a few of the modillions... 

 kokoryko Says:  Here again, in Esquièze, a massive tower, a recent church (17th century), but the construction style is traditional, like the very old roman churches. There is a small cemetery you can enter through the small arch, and from there, you have a great view to the snow covered... 

 kokoryko Says:  There are many options to arrive to the Pyrénées!By plane you can arrive to Biarritz, Pau, Tarbes or Toulouse; if you arrive from overseas you may go to Paris (Roissy-CDG or Orly) then take a connecting flight;For Biarritz, if you also want to visit Basque land, there are a... 

 kokoryko Says:  Sheep herding is a very important local economic activity in the Pyrénées, and you may meet a lot in the National Park from May to October, grazing on the alpine meadows. All the little white dots on picture 1 are sheep enjoying the new spring grass in the small Magnabait... 

 kokoryko Says:  If you are a little bit masochist (just a little bit like I am), there are wonderful bike tours to make in the Pyérénées, with the climbs of world famous passes (famous because of the Tour de France!), the incredible downhill races on the “difficult” roads where you overtake... 

 kokoryko Says:  I am not (really not!) an addict of the so-called “extreme sports”, which, I feel, are very often only “assisted sensation providing” activities, but I have to admit that when I discovered rafting I liked it; but may be it was only because I had a nice day with colleagues... 

 kokoryko Says:  The central area of the Parc National des Pyrénées Occidentales is located on the highest areas of the Western French Pyrénées, (map: picture 2) in the so-called axial zone of the mountain chain. The elevations vary from about 900m to 3298m (Pic du Vignemale), which is not a...