Waking up in a sunfilled paradise valley, washing in a freezing mountain stream, wandering down through peaceful woods, kids getting donkey rides (I wanted one), coffees and epic views at a refuge, battling through sticky mud patches, emerging into sunny meadows, a giant cicada, cheese and chips & crème brulée & rosé in the quirky town of Lescun (good bunting and arty signs everywhere) up over the col de Barracq through woods and past angry patou dogs defending their flock of sheep, all the way down to Borce where we've pitched our tent at an awesome gîte where there is a veggie falafel van and much real ale for Gavin and an owl hooting us to sleep.
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The Refuge de l’Abérouat were more than happy to serve us huge bowls of coffee mid-morning. We sat and sipped them in the hot sun, marvelling at the incredible views of rocky mountains that could be seen from the terrace.
We managed to find an excellent vegetarian lunch at a very friendly restaurant in Lescun (the name of which completely escapes me now), despite there being nothing advertised on the menu. It’s always worth asking restaurants if they can prepare an “assiette vegetarian”, even in tiny villages. The usual response is a dramatic gasp, a series of “ooh la la!” exclamations, a look of horror and then a perfectly lovely sounding suggestion. Make sure to emphasize that vegetarian does not mean you eat fish, or indeed ham.
The gîte d’étape in Borce, Le Communal has gone down in legend in our cross-pyrennean hike. The staff were really friendly, they charged us just 2 euros to bivouac in their back garden, the bar featured an extensive range of beers and ales, the shop had a huge amount of useful supplies and was open the whole time the bar was so you could turn up late/early and still get food. The best bit was the Falafel van that was parked outside – it was, quite simply, one of the best veggie meals we ate for the whole two months. The guy even had a vegan burger on the menu! We had one of those and some falafel, with tasty potatoes chips drizzled in his homemade garlic mayo and it was seriously delicious. All made with local, homegrown produce and served with a smile. He was there for one month this year (2015) - if you’re luckily enough to catch the Falafelo man in his falafel van in the future, consider yourself a lucky hiker indeed...
The vital statistics:
Total hiking time:9h39
Peak: 1611m
Total ascent: 1909m
Total descent: 1806m
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