Thursday 29th June: Weather 8°C to 14°C
Chalet du Soulor to Lac d'Estaing: 15.6k walk: 5hrs 30mins from 8.45am to 2.15pm
Altitude Gain and Loss: Total Ascent 520m: Total Descent 826m
Accommodation: Gite d’Etape Viellettes
Goodby Chalet du Soulor
Highlight today was walking down the D918 road to the prettiest little village of Arrens, with hundreds of cyclists coming up towards us on the way to the Col du Soulor and the Col d’Aubisque, an iconic route of the Tour de France.
A lazy morning. Today is an easy day with a 500m down hill on the road, a small 300m col to climb then an easy downhill to the Valley d’Estaing. After a quick phone call home, we have a late breakfast at 8am of bread, cakes, muesli and jams with hot tea. At 8.45am we’re walking down the D918 road, recently bituminized and we suspect to get a good nomination for the Col d’Aubisque in next years Tour de France. We’re confronted by hundreds of cyclists riding towards us on their long haul to the Col du Soulor (1474m) and Col d’Aubisque (1700m). From Arrens, the village below at 800m, that’s a 900 metre climb for those cyclists, some of it quite steep. And it’s a freezing cold 8°C with wind chill.
The D918 is an historique route of the Tour de France since 1910
View down to Arrens
Cyclists coming up the road
Pretty twin village Arrens Marsous
Lunch out side Magasin in Arrens
Views back to Arrens
Green mountains and blue skies
Col de Borders at 1156m
Threatening rain clouds
Lunch at entrance to Marie
Gite d’Etape Les Viellettes
There’s all shapes and sizes, young and old, men and women, peddling up the mountain, many obviously with a tour group complete with their own bus and entourage of cars travelling behind them. All this and with views to the mountains across the valley with a fresh powder coat of snow from last night's storms.
By 10.15am we’ve walked the 7k down hill into the pretty little village of Arrens. It’s clearly a cyclists village and has a small Magasin of provincial food - local cheeses and vegetables, a Boulongerie and Charcuterie. There’s also dozens of deserted wives wandering around, waiting for their husbands to descend from the mornings cycle to the Col d’Aubisque. i would probably have looked harder for accommodation in the villageof Arrens had I known it was so pretty and a cyclists hub, but there was nothing on booking.com and the Chalet was so that’s how it was. We’ll know next time!
We spend an hour walking around the village buying bread, cheese, butter, sliced ham and tomatoes and find a nice spot outside the Magasin to have a hot cup of coffee and cake left over from somewhere. It’s still only 12°C and we have several layers on. There’s clouds rolling in over the mountain. We know it will be a wet walk this afternoon.
It’s an easy walk through the forest the the Col de Borderes at 1156m, hardly a climb, rather a saunter through the forest, with views back to Arrens and Marsous. It starts to rain as we head down the other side on the road towards the pretty village of Estaing with several camping grounds. There’s more cyclists on the road. It’s raining and cold and at 1pm Ian spies a spot on the verandah of the Local Marie - the local council chambers. There’s no one there and soon we’re eating fresh bread, butter, cheese and tomato with a hot cup of tea sitting on the floor of the entrance, tucked in behind a low wall.
The rain continues as we walk along the road following a fast flowing stream. It’s pretty in this narrow valley with green mountains all around. The sun flits in and out, and my thermometer shows 17°C for a brief instant in the sun, but soon drops back to 14°C. At 2.15pm, a sign to the Refuge/Gite Les Viellettes appears. The building is only 100 metres off the road, and our French friends from last night are already there. We sit inside for a while until the young French girl phones the manager of the Gite and sorts out that we each have a room in the A frame part of the building upstairs - they have the left, we have the right.
It’s very comfortable with a double bed and 3 bunks - the room intended for a family. Time for a hot shower and some washing before curling up in bed under the doona to blog and read an ebook.
We’re downstairs at 6pm and meet Renate from Germany, a 60 yr old lady doing some of the GR10 by herself. There’s also our French friends from last night who are staying here. We have a really nice red wine made by Melindas Grandfather - and at 6.50 euro for the bottle, it’s superb. Dinner at 7 is sliced dried ham with a slither of cheese followed by hot thick casserole.
It’s freezing cold as we go back outside around to our room. Early to bed at 9am.