22 - Pic a boo - Bagnères-de-Bigorre

 Monday, December 18, 2023 - Bagnères-de-Bigorre

It was a morning of checking off a list of things before starting my road trip: buy laundry tokens, do laundry, pack up most of my stuff for the trip, start the dishwasher, take out the trash, etc.  I was on the road around 10:30, with my first stop being the Biarritz airport to renew the monthly contract for my car rental.  Funnily, it was exactly the same woman at the desk as my last visit so she remembered what was going on and complimented the improvement in my French 😁.  The rental business was quick and I was back on the road headed towards Hôtel La Voie Lactée (The Milky Way) in Bagnères-de-Bigorre.  

After bringing my bag up to the room and throwing on some extra layers, it was just about 3PM.  With the sky clear and winds low, I made my way to the ticket office (billetterie) to get my ticket to visit Le Pic Du Midi.  It was a long ride up but the téléphérique was incredibly smooth and offered some interesting views.  Many of the people that rode up with me had special tags and bags; I'm guessing they had signed up a long time ago to spend a night at the peak.  

The peak sports a historic and active observatory with many different telescopes; I guess they realized they could make more money from tourists than astronomers with a few of the extra beds at the observatory.  Aside from the observatory, there was a museum, a terrace, and a pontoon bridge.  The museum talked about the pic's history as well as space research, the dark sky preserve around the Pic du Midi, and included a planetarium.  I did a walk through of the museum but spent most of my time on the terrace and bridge soaking in the view since I only had 2 hours before the last cabin down to town.  While it may not be as tall as the Aiguille du Midi next to Mont Blanc, I found the Pic du Midi to be thoroughly enjoyable on a day with clear skies.  

The drive included a great view of the mountains today 

Don't look down!

I swear I've seen this as a villain's base in a Bond movie

The pontoon looks out to the north and hangs over the abyss, fun!

An old coronagraph for observing the sun's beer

The last télépherique ride home was just before le coucher du soleil but I still managed to nab some of the colors.

For many years, the observatory was reliant on a group of mountaineers for not just construction but also continuous resupply.  Apparently many of the astronomers were associated with the university at Toulouse.

I guess I snagged a pretty good deal on the hotel, it's quite snazzy and hip for $100/night and it comes with free access to their sauna and hot tubs.  Parking is at a free lot further up the mountain but theres a shuttle (une navette) that runs very frequently.  As I write this in the restaurant, I'm thinking that maybe, just maybe, my good deal is because the skiing season hasn't yet hit it's full stride; the concierge convinced me to make a dinner reservation as not many restaurants are open yet but I count only 6 people here right now 😆.  Maybe I ordered the wrong things, but the food at the hotel's restaurant was tasty but I wouldn't say remarkable.  

The snowy little resort of La Mongie

Decorations!

Quick sauna session to take the chill from the Pic off

Followed by a spa soak before dinner

Not too many places open on this Monday night, but the place with fondue and raclette on the menu seemed pretty busy.  I suppose I'll give that a try tomorrow.

My phone has Night Sight, which takes longer exposure photos.  Normally I can't use it in Jersey City due to all the light, but here I was actually able to see a good number of stars with just my naked eyes.

Tomorrow I'll see about renting ski gear and a lift ticket!