The Rough Guide to The Pyrenees

ISBN: 1858287014

Author: Dubin, Marc

Condition: Used

INTRODUCTIONAnyone could find their perfect retreat in the Pyrenees, a range that encompasses in its four-hundred-kilometre length a diversity of landscapes rarely equalled in Europe. Between the balmy beaches of the Mediterranean and the more turbulent Atlantic coast lie regions of lush meadowland, peaks permanently clad in ice, sun-beaten canyons of sinuously sculpted rock, swathes of dense broadleaf forest, weirdly eroded limestone pinnacles and valleys so sheer and overgrown that scarcely a ray of light penetrates them.These mountains challenge and invite rather than intimidate. Generally rounded and crumbling, most of their peaks are attainable even to people with little experience of such terrain. Aneto, at 3404 metres the highest summit of the Pyrenees, stands within reach of any determined and properly equipped walker, as do all the next ranking peaks Posets, Monte Perdido and Vignemale. Other natural wonders of the range are also available to the averagely fit. The Valle de Ordesa, the most spectacular of many canyons, can be traversed on nearly level footpaths, as can the great glaciated amphitheatre of the Cirque de Gavarnie, just to the north. The stalactite-draped cavern of Lombrives is the largest cave in western Europe to which theres unrestricted public access, while a visit to the Sala de la Verna, the largest chamber in one of the worlds deepest cave systems the Gouffre Pierre-Saint-Martin requires no great physical effort. If you join an organized group, there are any number of lively rivers to raft down on both sides of the range, including the Noguera Pallaresa in Catalunya and the Gállego in Aragon, as well as several tamer ones on the French side. Canyoners of all ability levels are similarly well catered to in the "pre-Pyrenean" Sierra de Guara, also in Spanish Aragon.Walking the entire range from end to end has become a classic endeavour, and thousands of people have followed the Haute Randonnee Pyreneenne (HRP) just to either side of the watershed, or the more circuitous, but less demanding, Grande Randonnee 10 (GR10) entirely within France. These long-established footpaths were supplemented during the 1980s by the equally spectacular Spanish Gran Recorrido 11 (GR11); maps for every part of the Pyrenees show numerous other, briefer itineraries, suitable for hikers at all levels.The wildlife of the Pyrenees is exceptionally rich, despite the devastating impact of human activity on many of its most engaging species. Populations of deer and wild boar hide in the forests, and in certain dense woodlands a dwindling number of brown bear still manage to survive despite the depredations of hunters. In contrast, the ubiquitous isard or Pyrenean chamois is on the increase, as are shy wildcats; marmots are plentiful (and audible); while majestic birds of prey circle in the skies. The capercaillie, a game bird now extinct in the French Alps, still thrives in the Pyrenees, and the tiny desman, a sort of aquatic mole, is unknown anywhere else in western Europe, except the Picos de Europa.Traces of human habitation in the Pyrenees predate recorded history by thousands of years, with artefacts found (and often displayed) at a half-dozen caves in the Ariege, the Couserans and the Comminges regions. The prehistoric painted caves around Tarascon-sur-Ariege are rivalled only by those of the Dordogne and the Spanish province of Cantabria, with the paintings in the Grotte de Niaux rated as the best examples open to public view anywhere in the world.Architectural highlights of the Pyrenees are its extraordinary Romanesque churches and monasteries, of which there are literally hundreds, including such renowned examples as Saint-Martin-du-Canigou, Serrabone, Santa Maria de Ripoll, Sant Climent de Taull and a host of others in the Vall de Boi, Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges, Saint-Lizier, San Juan de la Pena, and Saint-Engrace in the Haute-Soule. So-called "Roman" bridges still linking isolated villages are even