Vultures seem to appear out of the blue; they are entirely silent and move remarkably quickly across the deep valleys and along the high slopes. Each bird watches everyone else and when one arrives there are soon more in train. At Col de la Core, the gateway to Mont Valier a group of upto 15…
Tag: Lammergeier
Le gypaète barbu du Quié
At the top of a long and bumpy track there is a wonderful view of the Ariège valley; the sounds of the traffic travel up from the village in the morning air. Soon they are drowned out by cowbells as a herd of cows and calves comes over the ridge; they graze for an hour…
Le rat-trompette
The Réserve Nationale de Faune d’Orlu is magnificent; a single track runs up through the hanging beech woods and moss-covered boulders, where Camberwell beauties now hold territory in sunny glades, to a wide valley surrounded by rugged escarpments and snow-capped peaks. The route follows the small river that crashes down through the steep valley swollen by…
Le Quié
Some mountain’s in the Pyrenees comprised of sheer, smoothed limestone are stunning; my local one is known as Le Quié de Lujat or Quié de Sinsat or more simply Le Quié. The best view is from the winding road up to the Plateau de Beille on the opposite side of the Ariège valley, especially when the sun comes out…