Hiking the Spectacular Cirque de Gavarnie
Off the Beaten Path Experience #3
As part of her 50th birthday celebrations, our best friend enticed us with a hike to the Cirque de Gavarnie, one of France’s natural wonders. Located in the Pyrenees Mountains in southwestern France, the Cirque is a spectacular rocky cliff face that forms a magnificent curved amphitheater. Atop the Cirque lies the border between France and Spain. Numerous waterfalls tumble down the wall to create the rushing river Gave. The highest falls, la Grande Cascade de Gavarnie, has two tiers, plunges 1,385 feet and is the tallest in France.
We drove up to Gavarnie the night before our hike and stayed in an old favorite hotel of ours, Le Marboré, one of several lovely options in Gavarnie village. We were up bright and early, a little disappointed by a damp, heavy fog that encircled us. We headed out from the hotel armed with water and food supplies, including the quintessential bottle of red wine gifted to us by the hotel owner; after all, we had to have something to celebrate with when we reached the summit!
As the morning opened up, so did the weather. Slowly but surely small pockets of blue sky nudged the persistent clouds out of the way. As we climbed above the lower cloud level, we had to keep stopping for photo ops and to admire the truly stunning, sun-drenched scenery all around us. There were very few hikers that day such that we had the Cirque nearly all to ourselves to enjoy in all its glory.
It takes about 90 minutes of relatively easy hiking to reach the base of the Cirque. Make sure you stop at the conveniently located Hôtellerie du Cirque restaurant for refreshments and a wonderful location to admire your breathtaking surroundings. A couple of the more hardy hikers in our party carried on to the base of the gorgeous waterfall that you can see from the restaurant, adding about 1.5 miles to the distance climbed.
After refueling, we headed back down towards the town using a lovely gently track that follows the path of the river Gave. Not being able to tear our eyes away from the Cirque, once back in town we positioned ourselves at a lovely brasserie to watch the sun go down, conjuring a myriad of colors across the craggy, imposing wall of rock in front of us.
There are plenty of hikes in the area to suit all levels and abilities. If you prefer four legged transportation, donkeys and horses can be rented for the ascent. Gavarnie is quite a popular destination, so traveling there in the “off season” (March – June or Sept – November) is advisable.
