Day 42: Nay - Gavarnie, France

Today was our second USAC excursion of the semester.  It was pretty awesome day.

This is Ryan.  He works in the USAC office in Pau and he plans our trips.

We met at 8h 45 and took the bus to Nay, about 30 minutes away.  Here, we visited the Musée du Béret.  Yes, there is a beret museum, and yes, we went there.  All we really did there was watch a movie about berets, and how they fit into different cultures in the region. Berets were first worn in the nearby(to Pau) Bearn region of France.  The factory in Nay has been producing berets since 1819.  They have a new building now, and the museum is in the old.  Now, there are only two beret factories in France, each producing about 500 berets a day.  About 80% of these go to the military of France and other countries who's military wear berets.  More info: Museum Website

This is how big berets are when they are first knitted.  They are then shrunk in hot, soapy water, rendering them (mostly) water proof.  You could say the resist water, I suppose.

After the beret museum, we took our bus to Gavarnie, which is the the highest city in the Pays Haute, which is the neighboring region to Pau's south.  

FUN FACT: The only city in France with more hotel rooms than Lourdes(see day 28) is Paris.

When we arrived, we had lunch at the Cafe Les Cascades.  It was a restaurant that specializes in Garbure, a local stew.  It mostly contained duck, and something that seemed like corned beef, as well as lots of vegetables.  It was VERY good.

It got broughten to us in big pots.

I ate it from this bowl.

Friends eating lunch, and a great view. 

We also had these really delicious pastries for dessert.

After lunch, we hiked to la Cirque du Gavarnie, which is a big circle of rock, at the head of a valley.  It was a really beautiful hike, and it came at a great time.  It was really great to relax, and get away from Pau.  I got to spend a lot of time hiking on my own, and reflecting, or whatever it is you do when you are alone.  It was a really difficult place to prend photos because the sun was pretty low in the sky(relative to the ridge, so the sky was really bright, and the valley was all in shadow. I did get a few good ones:

This is the stream running down from the waterfall at the top of the valley.

This is me, about one third of the way up the valley.

Looking across the valley.

Looking back to the base of the valley from about half way up.

Neat.

I took this as we entered into the main part of the cirque.  The walls are up to 1500 m tall, and the waterfall, La Grande Cascade do Gavarnie is the tallest in France, at 422 m. (I know it looks like it is at the top, but it starts at about half way up.)

It was very cold and windy at the base of the falls.  Here, I am about 10m above the very bottom of the falls, and about 15m in front of the falls.

This is looking back down the valley from the back wall, next to the falls.

There is absolutely no scientific explanation as to why these rocks are strewn about the valley floor.

There is something wrong with the trees here.  They are turning all kinds of weird colors.

We crossed the stream again walking back down.

The trail we took back, went straight down the valley floor, instead of along the side.

Here is most of the town of Gavarnie.  It is very tiny, but they receive about 1 million visitors every year.

The hike up to the falls was quite difficult, and all in all, it was a very difficult hike.  I was pretty exhausted by the end.  Also, my heel hurt REALLY badly.  I don't know what is going to happen to these boots....


I was supposed to go out to the bars with my friends tonight, but I just didn't feel much like going out, so this will likely be my final activity for the night.