Three years on, I returned to the Pyrenees, this time accompanied by Julie. We were only there for three nights, taking a leisurely route down via Versailles and Le Puy-en-Velay in the Auvergne and then returning via a night in the DOrdogne and then three nights at Ouistreham near Caen. I'll post some photos of the rest of the trip on facebook. Weather throughout was hot but at least in the Pyrenees the altitude made it much more comfortable. We also made the very good decision to pack a full size fan which was used in most hotel rooms. I didn't manage a run until the day before we returned to England and that was only a 40 minute run on the flat - the first two miles of the GR36 then back : maybe one day I'll return to complete the rest of the GR36 through to its terminus at Bourg-Madame on the Spanish border, nearly 1000km away. I could only manage 10 minute miling for the first two miles : I'd probably not woken up as it was 7.30a.m. and about 26ªC. Later in the day it hit 40ªC on the way back from a beach.
I didn't manage to make it back for Saturday UTUP. The anticipated horrors of Friday afternoon traffic from Portsmouth meant we'd arranged to stay with Julie's sister in Staffordshire overnight.
Congrats to the great turnout for Coope's Dozen - looks like 14 starters, 12 full completions? to add to Ed, SN an yours truly a few weeks earlier. And congrats to our internationally renowned photographer, following her front page of the Runaround with the cover of the Fellrunner.
The first photo is from our walk from Le Puy-en-Velay in the Auvergne - to give TLoB some inspiration. The rest from the Pyrenees where we covered some of the GR10 on the first day and headed up and out of the valley towards Spain on the second day.
Our walk from Le Puy-en-Velay included some of the Camino Santiago (Chemin de St. Jacques).
Le Puy is one of the four starting locations, finishing at Santiago de Compostella.
Julie relaxing with a glass at our campsite at Estaing.
On the road approaching Lac d'Estaing.
No wind at Lac d'Estaing
One of the views
Interesting artwork on rocks along the way
Warming up as the cloud lifts
Just before lunch approaching the Lac du Plaa de Prat
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