Cirque de Gavarnie

In fact, there is plenty of charm with this bygone hotel: hearty meals being the top of the list. This would be the only day we were able to walk without the full load of our backpacks.

Five-minutes-walk on main street leads to the outskirt of the village, where Gave de Gavarnie gushes by. Morning is always foggy here. Clouds move in and out, creating a playful Kaleidoscope partially unveiling different features of the colossal stone amphitheater. For an instant, you may exclaim: the grand cascade! But nothing really lasts. As soon as you are camera ready, the veil drops, the canvas is cleared, and you wonder when you will see that the otherworldly place again.

We started our traverse of Cirque de Gavarnie from a steep climb on a winding rocky path. Without the full load, I felt as nimble as a gazelle, albeit a heavy-footed one. After about 500 meters of climb, we reached a balcony walk along the flank of the ridge. The village beneath us, with its signature white cloud floating above, looked charming but distant. The path, covered with pine needles, was gentle and pleasant. We haven’t had such easy walk since we started! The path guided us through the pine forest, then a passage chiseled out of the rocky face of the ridge, a couple of streams. Finally it ushered us to the entrance of Cirque de Gavarnie. From there, we joined many tourists on a separate path to the heart of the Cirque, where we could touch and feel the mist of its grand cascade. This is certainly not an off-beaten path craved by some hikers. But this is a place where everyone with a youthful heart would enjoy. Grandma and kids alike; hopped on stones to cross the streams; labored on the grinding slope; and exclaimed when the cool mist touched their faces. I was very impressed by the perseverance of the grandmas.

We finished the circular walk early in the afternoon. A relaxing day for us. Late in the afternoon, rain poured down like a bucket of water. Our hotel was built right on top a “Gave”. When we first saw it, the stream was crystal-clear and energetic. But after that rain, the “Gave” turned yellow and explosive. It roared like an angry lion, ready to flatten everything in its way. It would take more than a night to calm it down. The waiter explained that as popular as Gavarnie is, when the nature changes its mood, the town could be locked up without supply for days either due to snow storm or flooding.