Gavarnie

Gavarnie is a small mountain village and is a real summer tourist trap, it consists entirely of hotels, restaurants and gift shops, mainly gift shops! Its only claim to fame is that it sits at the bottom of the most picturesque cirgue in the Pyrennees; but it was my late wifes favorite place.

I went there today to light a candle in her memory but it was closed!! The village I mean; nothing was open not even the little pilgrims chapel (the village is on one of the pilgrims routes to Compostella). There were a few parked cars about but I didn't see another person. There is a shrine in the graveyard and I had gone prepared with a candle in a pot, so I lit that.

Clearly my fears of yesterday about the snow were misfounded, the snow line was considerably higher than the village but the cirgue itself was beautiful, snow covered and towering above and almost round the village and not a soul to appreciate it.