October 2020

I have been postponing one of the final articles about 2020 travels for a while now, it’s just that I was too oppressed by hundreds of photos that needed a more careful selection but enough is enough. 2023 is on its way, so it’s the high time to finally post about our 5-days trip to Bardenas Reales from Pau. Bardenas Reales have been on our radar for several years already, at some point it became a real magnet for a lot of bloggers, so we couldn’t skip such a perfect geographic opportunity, especially considering that another lockdown was to be announced in the end of the month and our departure to Toulouse was drawing nearer too.

Lescun

Dividing the big (or at least intensive in terms of photos) trips has also become my new tradition, so this one will consist of three parts too: going to Bardenas, the Desert and the way back to Pau. Choosing the pictures was still a tough job!

So, on our way to Spain we took the road through Vallée d’Aspe – one of the valleys that we hadn’t crossed yet, and even if the weather didn’t smile to us all way long, we received our dose of green mountain beauty.

Almost a full year in Béarn but we were still looking and studying the details as if we saw them for the first time. Like signs or small architecture details or even scallops shell – Lescun is one of the villages on the Camino de Santiago routes – so they are everywhere!

Yes, even if we are not such big fans of dogs (the only pet we both approve are chickens!), these fluffy guys deserved their share of attention.

Fort du Portalet

However, we didn’t stay too long in Béarn as the plan was sleeping after crossing the border. The density of different landscapes rapidly changing because of the altitude, picturesque roads and some historical landmarks (like this amazing castle!) I felt a Lord of the Rings vibe, especially with these dark green colors. They followed us until Spain, and even if I never expected the sudden change of scenery, it was still surprising seeing bits of Spain out of the Mediterranean context.

Canfranc

Spain for us started with a town called Canfranc that we absolutely wanted to cross for this railway station. It was supposed to be a visit of an old mountain railway, I would say even giant; we were both looking forward for a burst of aesthetics. Unfortunately, all we got was a view through the fence… Well, the Wikipedia pictures had to do the job. 😁

Sigüés & Balneario de Tiermas

Sigüés & Balneario de Tiermas

Our stop for the night was a spontaneous camping near a lake. We quickly discovered though that the lake was an unusual one, it was kinda sorta Icelandic blue lagoon, and from the land we could see the fume rising from its surface. The camping was not empty, so it all felt bitnik road-trip more than ever. It was a good night.

The morning was even better though. Started with a full rainbow and amazing light, followed by a natural spa in the lake – what a joy to swim in milk-warm water while it’s cold outside! It was too good to be true and just in a few minutes we had to pay.

Yes, so far, it was as romantic and beautiful as it looked! Besides, we were almost the only ones to dare to undress with that chilly air.

Warm and clean, we had to confront… wet and sloppy road up, which our van didn’t like AT ALL. In fact, nobody’s car could climb it without a whole circus around, and our Robbie took twice as long as a simple car. An adventure we could easily do without, that’s for sure. In the meantime, I hope to see you in the next article – it will be about the juiciest parts about Bardenas and totally different colors. As well as some more misadventures. 😉