14th July 2025 La vallée d’Ossoue sits below the Col des Tentes and runs west from Gavarnie; it is a long valley of two halves with flower rich grasslands full of pinks and field gentians beneath a huge cliff, that after a tortuous section of road runs into a wide valley with track that runs…
Tag: Pyrenees
Col des Tentes, Hautes-Pyrénées
13th July 2025 Below the col, the subalpine grasslands are short-grazed and full of wheatears that nest in gullies and low cliffs. Pairs have recently fledged young so the adults frantically try to divert us with rasping calls and bold distraction displays. There is also a range of ringlet Erebia butterfly species including a dazzling…
Col du Tourmalet
July 12th 2025 This is the highest pass in the Pyrenees at 2,115m and the one revered by cyclists both for its challenging ascent as well as its consistent inclusion in the Tour de France. The wonderful sculpture at the summit is the Giant of Tourmalet (Le Géant du Tourmalet), or simply Octave in memory of Octave…
Cirque de Gavarnie
Tourism has transformed the pretty, mountain village of Gavarnie; its huge car park is filled by mid-morning. Most visitors run the gauntlet of shops and cafes and then hike up the valley to the immense cirque with its 400m high waterfall; this entails walking the track up through the pine forest and pastures to the…
Postcards from the Ariège – March 2022
I spent March 7th to May 19th 2022 and May 20th to July 8th 2023 based at Luzenac in the Ariège Mountains. This then is the first monthly review; a chance to take a another look at this great, mountain wilderness that is so rich in biodiversity. March in 2022 is surprisingly warm and often…
Above El Pas de la Casa, Andorra
The scenery in eastern Andorra under a midday sun is stark; bald, alpine grasslands within a panoramic, mountain landscape littered with all the ski-lifts and other paraphernalia to support winter sports tourism. The montane flora above El Pas de la Casa in mid-June is unaffected, diverse and different from the Ariege valleys to the north.
Great storms and butterflies at Trimouns, Luzenac
Above Luzenac near the end of the road to the huge talc quarry, there is a track that runs east below some mature beech woodland. There are fine views to the south across the valley of the high mountain chain and the storms that build over them each afternoon. The clouds run in from the…
Ariège Landscapes
The wild and vast mountain landscapes are always impressive; normally benign and welcoming but at times dark and threatening. This year the weather has been a mix of the two – beautiful mornings with crystal clear skies and dewy meadows, quickly overtaken by innocent, white puffy clouds that then gather into great grey masses that…
Summer in the Ariège
20th May 2023 The weather is wet and cold and summer is late. There is hardly a butterfly on the wing and the bumblebees and other hymenoptera are moribund on thistles and asphodels. Early spider orchids are still out and there are no signs of spring gentian although trumpets are in flower. Surely temperatures will…
Col d’Agnes
15th May 2022 On the route up to Port de Lers the road runs through dense woodlands to the open ground where waterfalls crash down by the road and woodland browns chase along the fringes of the beeches but never land in plain sight. In a flush by the road, a single De Prunner’s ringlet…
Château de Miglos
8th May 2022 The crumbling Château de Miglos is surrounded by equally ancient, limestone grassland rich in flowers and insects. The steepest slope, down which there is an overgrown footpath, faces west looking up the Vicdessos valley. There is a magnificent view from the small hill above the castle, including one looking south to the…
Above Caussou for the last time…
25th May 2022 The steep limestone grassland above the village has provided endless riches, a fleeting Apollo perhaps the pick of the many butterflies but there was also an array of orchids and other vibrant flowers on this large patch of pelouse calcaire. With the advent of spiked speedwell it is not surprising to find…