Vallées des Gaves

The Vallées des Gaves is one of the most remarkable places on earth. Saint Savin, the village we live in is right in the middle. The term Vallées des Gaves is used to describe the valley of the Gave de Pau and its many tributaries between Lourdes and their source high up near the Spanish border. Gave is the Gascon word for a mountain torrent. At the southern end of the city of Lourdes a narrow gorge leads you up into the valley of Lavedan. From here to the Spanish border is 45km as the crow flies, of which the first 20 are Lavedan. Lavadan is the widest part of the valley, at Argeles-Gazost it is just over 3km wide, this is where it is joined by the Val d’Azun at a right angle which gives the impression of a much wider space. In places it is less than 50 meters wide, just the width of the river and the road. The major tributaries in Lavedan are Val d’Azun and Val du Cauterets. The Val d’Azun is the valley between Argeles-Gazost and the Col du Soulor.

After Lavedan the valley climbs up the narrow Gorge du Luz to enter Pays de Toys and the town of Luz, where it is joined by the Vallée de Basten which leads to the Col du Tourmalet. On up above Luz is Gedre and then Gavernie, where the Gave de Pau has its source in a most spectacular fashion. The great French writer Victor Hugo wrote of it “You may have seen the Alps, the Andes, all mountain ranges; you may have had the Pyrénées before your eyes for weeks; but, whatever you may have seen, that which you now behold resembles nothing that you may have met with elsewhere….It is at once a mountain and a wall. It is the most mysterious edifice of the most mysterious architects. It is the Colosseum of nature – Gavarnie.” A wall of rock over 1km high bars the end of the valley from the Spanish province of Aragon. The first sight of the river is the 422m high waterfall. To the right is the small valle d’Ossoue which leads to the Vignemale the highest peak in the French Pyrénées at 3298m. There is a vast array of landscapes, habitat and climates between the 380m low point at Lourdes and the glacier on the Vignemale. The Vignemale has a great historical connection with an eccentric Irish man named Henry Russell, he spent most of the second half of the 19th century climbing the peaks of the Pyrénées and lived in a cave he dug near the summit of the mountain. He is also credited with the invention of the sleeping-bag.

The valley has over 70 species of wild animal from the mighty brown bear to the tiny Desman. There have been no wolves here for nearly 100 years but they are making a comeback. The last wolf in France was shot in 1927. In 1992 wolves were seen in the Alps having crossed over from Italy, they have since spread all over the southern Alps and the Massif Centeral, their presence was noticed in the eastern Pyrenees in 2003. It was initially only males that were detected for the first few years but they have been joined by females and 2010 has seen the birth of pups. The wolf has been seen in Araige 200km east of here. It is estimated that within 5 or 6 years they will be right across the range from coast to coast. The Lavedan Valley has the highest concentration of wild birds of prey anywhere in Europe; large birds like Golden Eagles are a constant presence over our heads. 5 species of vulture can also be seen including the massive Griffin with a wing span of 3 meters, the cliffs just outside Lourdes are a popular nesting site for them.
The top of the valley at Gavarnie and Troumouse are a UNISCO World Heritage site on account of the outstanding natural beauty, the unusual glacial valley formations known as cirques which are unique in Europe and for the pastoral form of agriculture which is practiced there. The valley is known since ancient times for the many thermal springs which pump hot healing waters from the ground at temperatures of up to 80 degrees centigrade. The principal spa towns Bereges, Luz and Cauterets, have drawn tourists to the valley for centuries and have played an enormous part in the region’s history. They have also played a significant role in the development of the Tour de France, a topic I will return to in another post.

Tourism is the major industry and employer here. The city of Lourdes is second only to Rome as a Christian pilgrimage site. In 2008 over 9,000,000 pilgrims including pope Benedict came to pray at the shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes. An estimated 2,000,000 more visit the upper end of the valley to see the Cirque du Gavarnie and the Pont d’Espagne. In winter there are 6 ski resorts to choose from including the Tourmalet which is the largest in the Pyrenees. Every summer there is also a bike race that passes through the valley, it usually attracts 600,000 spectators but there has been years with as many as 1,000,000.
The valley has 7 climbs that have been used by the Tour de France and almost 30 more less famous ones, enough to keep any cyclist more than occupied for several weeks. There are great climbs in the National Park unknown to most. The tour is not allowed into the park so most people have never heard of Troumouse or Col du Tents, but believe me they are fantastic rides, there is also Couraduque and Spandelles which would be a great edition to future tours. The Pic du Midi, an observatory and TV transmitter perched on a mountain peak at 2800m altitude, to cycle up it is no mean feat. Ride the Col du Tourmalet and then add on 5km at 9% on a dirt road. The road through the valley has seen more Tour de France than any other; more than 80 times the Tour has been here since that first epic stage in 1910. Of the 7 Tour climbs here, 5 have been mountain top finishes. I think you will not find as many in such a small area anywhere else.

The history here is equally as rich as the landscape; the area has change hands many times over the millennia. From ancient Basques and Celts, to the conquest of Julius Caesar in 56BC brought it into the Roman Empire. The Visigoths, the Moors and Charlemagne fought for control in the early medieval period. For a time it was the independent Bigorre, or a county of the province of Gascony, the Norman English held sway briefly in the 14th century before the Kingdom of Navarre dominated. In 1590 King Henri III of Navarre born at Pau became King Henri IV of France and finally in 1620 Bigorre became part of France and during the revolution in 1793 Bigorre became Hautes Pyrénées. The valley is also the ancestral home of the Benodette family, the kings of Sweeden.
The people here a mix of Gascon, Basque, French and Spanish, all 4 languages are spoken here regularly. They have a rich cultural heritage gained over many millennia. They have a passion for cycling and rugby football. So, you see, a visit to La Lanterne Rouge is not just about pain and suffering on two wheels, though there is as much of that as you can take!

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Tagged as: Argeles-Gazost, hautacam, La Lanterne Rouge, Lavedan Valley, Le Tour de France, Lourdes, pyrenees, Saint Savin