Part 24
I have omitted so far to speak of the inns in the Sobrarbe. That of Venasque is the largest and most used to travellers. Like all Spanish inns the life of the people is upstairs and the life of the animals below. It is clean and seems to be continually full of people, for there is quite a traffic to and from this mountain town. The inn has no name in particular that I know of, but you cannot miss it. Guide books call it “Des Touristes,” but I never heard anyone in Venasque give it that name. You have but to ask for the Posada, however, and anyone will show it you. It is in the first street on the left out of the main street as you come into the town. As to the cost of it, it is neither cheap nor dear; but (as I have said is common to the Spanish inns) it is a little on the side of dearness. A friend of mine with three companions and two mules found himself let in for over £3 for one night’s hospitality; on the other hand, I myself, some years after, with two companions, passed two nights and the day between with everything that we wanted to eat, smoke, and drink, and we came out for under £2. The mules perhaps consume.
In all Sobrarbe there are but the inns of Bielsa and Torla (I mean in all the upper valleys which I have described) that can be approached without fear, and in Bielsa, as in Venasque and in Torla, the little place has but one. At Bielsa it is near the bridge and is kept by Pedro Perlos; I have not slept in it but I believe it to be clean and good. El Plan has a Posada called the Posada of the Sun (_del Sol_), but it is not praised; nay, it is detested by those who speak from experience. The inn that stands or stood at the lower part of the Val d’Arazas is said to be good; that at Torla is not so much an inn as an old chief’s house or manor called that of “Viu,” for that is the name of the family that owns it. They treat travellers very well.
This is all that I know of the inns of the Pyrenees.
VIII
THE APPROACHES TO THE PYRENEES
A traveller from England, on considering his approach to the Pyrenees, must first appreciate the road heads or starting-places whence his travels to the Pyrenees may be made, and it is convenient to regard that one to which access can be had by rail. These points are eleven in number—St. Jean Pied-de-Port, Mauléon, Oloron, Laruns, Argelès, Bagnères-de-Bigorre, Arreau, Bagnères-de-Luchon, St. Girons, Foix, and Villefranche, which last is the highest point to which the rail will take one from Perpignan.
One can get nearer the main range by light railways in certain places. Thus from Mauléon a steam tramway will take one some miles nearer the hills, to Tardets. From Lourdes the train goes up the valley several miles, and light railways go to Cauterets and Luz, and from Foix there is a considerable reach of rail, as far as Ax-les-Thermes, all up the valley of the Ariège, from which lateral valleys on every side enter the high mountains. Nevertheless, if one knows how to approach these eleven stations, and something of the hours of arriving at them, the slight extensions in the three cases named can easily be looked up, and there is no need to burden these pages with them.
Of these eleven, the first four, St. Jean Pied-de-Port, Mauléon, Oloron, and Laruns, belong to the western section of the range, and are approached from Bordeaux. Another four, Arreau, Bagnères-de-Luchon, St. Girons, and Foix belong to the central and eastern section of the range, and are approached by way of Toulouse, while the two intermediate ones, Lourdes (and its extension up the valley) and Bagnères-de-Bigorre, may, according to the convenience of trains, be approached with equal facility from either direction.
There remains Villefranche, the chief station under the Canigou, and the centre for the extreme eastern end of the range. The approach to this short and distant part of the Pyrenees is through Perpignan.
By whichever road one approaches the Pyrenees, and from whatever town at their base one proposes to make the ascent of them, one leaves Paris by the Orleans line, choosing for preference the great new station on the Quai-d’Orsay, though if one is driving across Paris with no time to spare, it is better to catch the train at the Austerlitz station a mile or two further down the line where all the expresses stop, as the departure from that station is ten minutes later than from the Quai-d’Orsay. But the Austerlitz station is old-fashioned; all the conveniences of travel are gathered at the more recent terminus, and if one has any time to spare it is always from the Quai-d’Orsay that one should start.
Arrived whether at Bordeaux or at Toulouse, one changes from the Orleans system to the Midi. This is not an absolutely accurate way of putting it, because, as a fact, the Orleans only enjoys running powers to Toulouse, along the main express line, but this is roughly the best way of putting it to make the reader understand the way in which the systems join.
With these connexions, the first journey is made to Bordeaux, to Toulouse (or, in the exceptional case of the extreme east end of the Pyrenees, to Perpignan), and the journey forward from each of these towns is calculated upon another time table, and is often taken on a different train.
To reach St. Jean, one goes on from Bordeaux to Bayonne and changes there. To reach Mauléon, one goes on from Bordeaux to Puyoo and changes there; to reach Oloron or Laruns, one goes on from Bordeaux to Pau and changes there.
Roughly speaking, those who want to take the journey easily, without night travel, will find it necessary to sleep in Paris, to sleep again at Bordeaux (or somewhere further down the line, as at Bayonne or at Pau) and only on the third day to proceed to the towns from which they will begin to climb, whether that town be St. Jean, Mauléon, Oloron, or Laruns. For this purpose they must take the morning train which leaves Paris (Quai-d’Orsay) at an hour which changes but approximates eight to half-past, and gets to Bordeaux well before dinner. It is then possible to go on the same evening to Bayonne, and, if one goes first class, to get on the same night also to Puyoo or to Pau, but in all cases arrival at the foot of the mountains will not be possible until the next morning.
Those who are content to suffer night travel will find an excellent and convenient train leaving Paris in the evening, reaching Bordeaux in the early morning, and putting them at any one of the mountain towns at, or a little after, noon. Thus, a person leaving London upon Saturday morning, will, if he travels only by day, reach any one of the western approaches to the Pyrenees on the mid-day of Monday, but if he will consent to a journey by night, he will save exactly twenty-four hours and arrive at noon (or in the early afternoon) of Sunday. The gain of twenty-four hours, by an apparent sacrifice of only twelve, is due to the nature of the connexions between the small mountain lines and the main lines. His return tickets, going in the cheapest manner, second class from London to the mountains and back will vary according to the mountain town chosen, from a little under £10 to £12, of which the French second class return fare from Paris is about or a little over £4 and the rest second return London to Paris and incidental expenses.
The approach to the intermediary towns of Lourdes and Bagnères-de-Bigorre, is of the same sort and is usually better done through Bordeaux than through Toulouse, but one gets in a little later. Unless one takes the early night train from Paris just after eight one does not reach Lourdes until the late afternoon, nor Bagnères-de-Bigorre until night.
The approach through Toulouse involves a longer train journey, and is made both by a night and a day train, as in the case of Bordeaux, and from the same station as I have said above. You can lunch on the day train, but you cannot dine upon it. Sleeping at Toulouse, one goes on next day by a morning train, starting a little after nine, and going through Tarbes, will get to Lourdes at about half-past one, or to Bagnères-de-Bigorre a few minutes earlier. Similarly, starting from Toulouse by the same morning train, one can get to Bagnères-de-Luchon just after noon, or to St. Girons at a little before one. It will be seen that these arrivals towards the centre of the chain are much at the same time as by the western approaches through Bordeaux. One gets in towards the middle of the third day in either case.
Moreover, going through Toulouse resembles the journey through Bordeaux; if one undertakes to travel by night, one saves time in much the same manner, save that the night train is earlier. One must leave Paris about half-past eight in the evening, reach Toulouse at much the same hour the next morning, and one will find oneself at the foot of the Pyrenees about mid-day of the day after leaving London, changing at Toulouse for the morning train to Lourdes, Bagnères-de-Bigorre, Luchon, St. Girons or Foix, respectively. There is, however, an exception to this apparently general rule that the shortest journey to the Pyrenees, even if one travels by night, must take well over the twenty-four hours.
As to the approach from Perpignan, this is useful for that little corner of the range which overlooks the Roussillon which is less than one-tenth of the total length. Only one important height is to be found here, the Canigou. The railway journey is very long. If one goes by day, it is imperative that one should break it somewhere. It would be more accurate to say that one can make it by day only if one breaks it somewhere, and if one makes it by night, one must leave Paris in the evening in order to get to Perpignan for lunch, or at half-past eight to get in at two. It is no way to approach the Pyrenees, unless one happens to be taking a journey down France for other purposes which will lead him towards the districts of Narbonne and Perpignan. It must be noted that since the war there is an excellent cross-country train from Bordeaux and Toulouse to Narbonne, where change for Perpignan.
No other approach to the Pyrenees save these by railway from the north will be of use to most travellers from England.
The new, good and fast day train from Toulouse is now at eleven in the morning.
The approaches from the south, in the rare case of a traveller who may take the Pyrenees on the way back from Spain, are all difficult with the exception of the line from Saragossa to Jaca. A main line leads of course from the capital to Saragossa, there one must cross the Ebro to the station upon the northern bank. The train to Jaca goes by Huesca and it takes all day, but it is worth doing in order to get within a day’s walk of the main range.
From every other centre, except from Pamplona, the Pyrenees are hopelessly distant. Seo and the Catalan valleys depend upon Barbastro as does the valley of the Cinca in Aragon, but it is a most tedious journey in stuffy omnibuses followed by an equally tedious day and a half or two days upon a mule before you find yourself in the high Pyrenees. Pamplona is, roughly speaking, one day’s walk from the heart of the mountains, and no other town, excepting Jaca, upon the railway on the Spanish side is worth considering as a rail-head.
It should be noted that there is during the summer months a motor car service between Pamplona and Jaca, which goes along the valley of the Aragon and covers the distance in the better part of a day.
INDEX
A
Accous or Bédous, plain of, 159-160
Agra, river, mentioned, 20; valley of, 147
Aiguestoites, Port de, 181
Albigenses, crusade against, its meaning and results, 49
Alfonso el Batallador, 54
Alpargatas, 122
Alps, contrasted with Pyrenees, 25-26
Andorra, history and character of, 192-193
— forms with Catalan valleys a district of Pyrenees, 187-198
— how reached from Ariège, 187-193
— posada of, 232
Anicle, Col d’, 171-172
Anie, Pic d’, its position on first axis of Pyrenees, 6
— boundary of the Basques, 38, 154
Aphours, brook of, 150
Aragnouet, 181
Aragon, river, mentioned, 20
— valley of, easy connexion of, with valley of Gallego, 158; described, 161
— kingdom, named after river, 20; and Béarn, their position on the range, 37
Aran, Val d’, _see_ “Val”
Arazas, valley of, 169-170; Inn there, 233
Ariège, sources of, 191
— valley of, position of on axis of Pyrenees, 8; forms old county of Foix, 15; in connexion with that of the Tet, 204-209
Ariel, Pic d’, 205
Arles, on Tech, 213-214
Arras, Col d’, 215
Arreau, hotels at, 227
Arrouye, Pic d’, 182
Aspe, Val d’, 158
Aston, upper, adventure of author upon, 108-112
— river, advantages of district of, 187-188
Ax, way from, to valley of Tet, 206-208; hotels and baths of, 230
B
Bagnères-de-Bigorre, hotels at, 226; de Luchon, _see_ “Luchon”
Baigorry, valley of, 145-146
Balatag, wood of, on Canigou, 212
Bambilette, port, 152
Bargebit, Pic de, on Canigou, 213
Barrosa, stream of, 174
Barroude, pass of, 181
Basque, place names found throughout Spain and Pyrenees, 38-39
— Valleys, a district of the Pyrenees, 145-154
Basques, their position on the range, 37; Pic d’Anie, boundary, 38
— no Roman record of, 45-46
Bathing, dangerous when fatigued, 143
Batallador, surname of Alfonso, 54
Bayonne, road from, to Pamplona described, 96-99
Béarn and Aragon, their position on the range, 37
Béarn, Roman name of, 44; with Navarre and Roussillon, last exceptions to French sovereignty north of Pyrenees, 49
Bédous, Hotel de la Poste at, 160
Bédous, hotel of, 222
— or Accous, plan of, 159-160
Belhay, Port de, 152
Belver, head of Urgel road, 203
_Benarnensium Civitas_, modern Béarn, 44
Bicycling in Pyrenees, 104-105
Bielsa, Port de, 181
— second stage in way from Panticosa to Venasque, 170; described, 171; inn of, 233
Biescas, mentioned as example of a town in a Spanish valley, 19
Bigerriones, original name of inhabitants of Bigorre, 44
Bigorre, originally land of “Bigerriones,” 44; Pic du Midi de, _see_ “Pic”
Blankets, 122-123
Boella, Col de, 215
Bonaigo, Pass of, nature of, 28, 31, 197
Bota, _see_ “Gourd”
Boucacers, Col de, 211
Boucharo, French name for Bujaruelo, 169
Boussens, amazing cooking at, 230
Bread, proper rations of, 125-126
Brèche de Roland, 173
Bujaruelo (Boucharo) in Sobrarbe, 169
Burguete, hotel at, 221
C
Cabanes, use of, as shelter, 123
— village and station of, starting-point for passes of Peyregrils and Fontargente, 188
Cabillere, Pic de, 188
Cacouette, gorge of, alluded to, 16, 152
Cadi, Sierra del, mentioned, 20; aspect from St. Croz, 196; aspect of, from Cerdagne, 200
Cady, brook of, 213
Cambret, brook of, 214
Camphor, sovereign against bugs, 223
Camping, rules for, 128-133
Canal Roya, example of difficulty of finding a col, 110-113
— valley of, and col, 158
— entrance to, 161-162
Canfranc, 161; poor hotel of, 223
Canigou, hotel near summit of, 231; district of, 210-216; peaks of, ways up to, 211-215
Canillo, village of, 191
Carlitte, group of mountains, 204
Casteil, hamlet on way up Canigou, 212
Castellbo, first stage in way from Urgel to Esterri, 194; delicious inn of, 229
Catalans, their position on the range, 36
Catalonia, origins of, 54
Cauterets, hotels of, 226
Cerberus, Cape, eastern limit of second axis of Pyrenees, 4
Cerdagne, political anomaly of, 57-58; described, 199-203; why annexed by Mazarin, 201
Chaitza, stream of, 151
Christians, reconquest of Spanish slope by, 50-54
Cinca, valley of, with Broto and Esera make up Sobrarbe, 167
Cinqueta, affluent of the Cinca, 167
Cirere, Col de, 213
Climate of Pyrenees, 33-35
Coidenes, bridge of, 188
Col, or pass, _see_ under particular names
Comminges, modern name of district of Convenæ, 43-45
Compass, variation of, in Pyrenees, 60; necessary in equipment, 127-128
Consevanni, modern Conserans, 44-45
Conserans, Roman “Consevanni,” 44-45
Convenæ, 43-44
Coumette, Pic de la, 188
Cruz, Col de la, 174
Cuberre, bridge of, 176
D
Dalmanya, torrent of, 213; village of, 213
Dastan, Val, 185
Distance, best reckoned in mountains by time, 76-78
“Double Col,” most dangerous example of ambiguity in a pass, 137-140
Driving in Pyrenees, 105
E
Eaux Bonnes, chief hotel of, 225
— Chaudes, 164
— hotel of, 225
Elizondo, 147-148
— hotels of, 220
_Elloronensium Civitas_, modern Oloron, 44
Elne, 42
El Plan, posada of, 233
Embalire, pass of, 31; easiest entry into Andorra, 191-193
Encamps, village of, 191; inn of, 231
Equipment, description of necessary, 115-124
Erro, 148
— inn at, 221
Escaló, village of, 196
Escolier, Pic d’, 150
Escuain, Col de, 171
Espousouille, hamlet of, 208
Esterri, hotel of, 229
— mentioned as example of a town in a Spanish valley, 18; described, 197; way to, from Urge, 194-198
Europe, grouping of peoples unchanged in, during recorded history, 1-2
F
Fillols, on way up Canigou from Villefranche, 212
Foix, county of, identical with valley of Ariège, 15
Fontargente, tarn of, 191
— pass of, into Andorra, 190-191
Forata, Peña, 165
Formiguères, village of, on way from Ax to Tet valley, 206
French measurements, English equivalents, 74-77
— slope of Pyrenees, formation of, 10-12; names and character of valleys on, 10-15; multiplicity of roads on, 79-82
Frontier, political, its present connexion with watershed, 54-58
G
Gabas, 164
— excellent hotel of, 224
Gabediou, Pic de, 182
Galbe, stream of, 208
Gallego, valley of, position of, on axis of Pyrenees, 7
— valley of, 166
— valley of, easy connexion of, with valley of Aragon, 158
Gari, valley of, 185
Garonne, curious source of, 186
Gas, Pic du Col de, 189
Gascon, name of, supposed to be Basque, 39
Gaulis, Col de, 170
Gavarnie, example of a high-valley village, 21; town of, 226
— Port de, 31
— Cirque de, 181
Gerbats, Pic de, 182
Gistain, Col de, 175-176
Glacé, lake, 186
Glaciers, absence of, 33
Gnoles, torrent of, 206
Gourd, or bota, description of, 117-120
H
Hayra, forest of, 146
Heas, stream and village of, 181-182
Heights and distances, French, way of turning into English feet and miles, 74-77
Helena, original name of Elne, 42
Henry IV and Mazarin complete French sovereignty north of Pyrenees, 49
Hix, 202
Hospitalet, of Ariège, 191; of Luchon, 184
Huesca, Sancho’s attempt on, 53; road to, 99, 103
I
Illiberis, old name for Elne, 42
Inns, of the Pyrenees, 217-233; Spanish and French, contrasted, 218-233
Iraty, Spanish valley, head-waters in France, 56
Isaba, 153
Ispeguy, pass of, between Baigorry and Baztan, 146
J
Jaca, mentioned as example of town in Spanish valley, 18; one of three mountain bishoprics on Spanish slope, 46; counted as French during Mahommedan occupation, 48; early independence of, 53; excellent hotel of, 223
“Jasses,” nature of these flats, 15-16
“Jeous,” local name, 26
K
Kilometre, estimate of, by time, 141-142
Knapsack, _see_ “Pack”
L
Labourd, valley of, 145
Lakes, character of, in Pyrenees, 32; of Maladetta, Encantados, etc., 32
Lakes of the Carlitte, 204
Lamoux, lake of, 205
Larrasoaña, 148
Larrau, 151
Laruns, 164; hotel of, 225
La Tour Carol, 202; inn of, 231
Laurhibar, village of, 149; stream and village of, 149-150
Lecumberry, 149
Le Tech, hamlet of, 214
L’Homme, Pic de, western limit of second axis of Pyrenees, 4
Licq, 151
Llavorsi, village of, 196
Llivia, 200-201
Lourdes, hotels of, 225
Luchon, valley of, with valleys of Tarbes, makes separate district in Pyrenees, 179-186
— hot springs of, 183
— way to Venasque from, by Port d’Oo, 185-186
— valley and district of, 182-186; road to, from Val d’Aran, 197-198; wealth and hotels of, 228-229
Lys, valley of, 185
M
Magdalena, river of, 195
Maggi, provision of, 125; method of using, 127
Maladetta, view of, from Port de Venasque, 185
Maps, for the range, 59-78
Marignac, forest of, 184
Mauléon, capital of the Soule, 149
Mazarin annexes Roussillon to France, 49
— annexes Cerdagne, 56-58
Mediterranean, civilization of, in connexion with Pyrenees, 42-43
Merens, example of a high-valley village, 17-18
Metres and kilometres, way of reducing to feet and miles, 74-76
Midi, Pic du, d’Ossau, 160; de Bigorre, 180
Moines, Col des, 157-161
Mollo, _see_ “Prats”
Monsech, Sierra of, distance of, from main range, 9, 20
Mont Louis, pass of, mentioned, 30; hotel of, 231
Motoring in Pyrenees, by the “lower road,” 84-87; by the “upper road,” 86-93; across the range, 93-99; from Pamplona to Jaca, 99; to Saragossa, 99
Mountain, ranges of, often regarded too simply, 2-3
Mules, not always obtainable in inns, 219
N
Names, fantastic, of Pyrenees mountains, 24
Napoleon III, makes Somport road from Urdos, 161
Navarre with Béarn and Roussillon, the last exceptions to French sovereignty north of Pyrenees, 49
Navas de Tolosa, battle of, 54
Nive, French river, rises in Spain, 56
Noguera Pallaresa, 196
Noguille, lake of, 204
Novempopulania, Roman district north of Pyrenees, 41-45
O
Olette, town of, 208
Oloron, Roman name of, 44; main road from, to Saragossa, described, 93-96; hotels at, 222
Oo, Port d’, 222
Ordino, town of, 190
Orgeix, 205
Oriège, valley of, 205
Orleu, 205
Oroel, Peña d’, 161
Ossau, Val d’, 164; Pic du Midi de, _see_ “Pic”
Otxogorrigagne, Mount, 152
Ourdayte, or “Urdayte,” Port d’, 31, 152
Ourdissettou, Pic d’, 181
P
Pack, type of, in equipment, 121-122
Pallars, name of Esterri valley, 196
Pamplona, Roman bishopric on Spanish slope, 46; road to, from Bayonne described, 96-99; hotels of, 221
Pannikin, description of, 115-116
Panticosa, way to Venasque from, through Sobrarbe, 167-178; numerous hotels of, 224
Passes over Pyrenees, nature of, 27-32
Path, importance of faint indications, so called, in Pyrenees, 113-115
Pau, Gave de, valley of, position of, on axis of Pyrenees, 6
Pelayo, heads the Reconquista, 51
Peña, Sierra de la, mentioned, 19
Perpignan, hotel and restaurant of, 231
Peyregrils, pass of, into Andorra, 188-190
Pic du Midi d’Ossau, 160; approach from Gabas, 164
— de Bigorre, 180
Pinède, cliffs of, 172
Pique, river of, in Luchon valley, 184
Pla de Guillem, pass of, in Canigou, 214
Place names, Basque, in Spain and Pyrenees, 38-39
Plan, El, village of, 177-178
“Plans,” larger form of Jasses, 15-16
Port Vendres, 42
Portaillet, Col of, on shoulder of Canigou, 214
Porte Blanche, pass of, into Andorra, 215
Porté, 204; inn of, 231
Porteille, notch between county of Foix and Roussillon, 208
“Ports,” or passes, over Pyrenees, nature of, 26-30
Posets, Pic de, 174
Pourtalet, pass of, mentioned, 30; modern road over, 163-164
Prades, town of, way up Canigou from, 212
Prats de Mollo, 214
Puigcerdá, 202
Puigdarbet, peak of, on Canigou, 213
Puillouse, marsh of, 205
Puymorens, Col de, limit of the Catalans, 37
— pass of, 204
Py, on Canigou, 214
Pyrenees, physical nature of, 1-35; double axis of, 3-8; length of chain, 4; original formation of, 8; contrast of northern and southern slope of, 9; climate of, 33-35; political character of, 36, etc.; form the bastion against Islam, 47
— Treaty of, 49
Q
Quazémi peak of, on Canigou, 212
R
Railways, start far from main range on Spanish side, 21
Rain, distribution of, in Pyrenees, 33-35
Ranges, mountain, _see_ “Mountain”; secondary, perpendicular to main range on northern, parallel to it on southern slope, 9, 19