GR10 Day28

Over the next couple of days we again have to walk on the GR10 variant as there is no staffed accommodation on the GR10.  The book recommended walking from the refuge to Eylie-d’en-Haut and then to Bonac.  Then the next day from Bonac to Esbintz.  The first day would take nearly nine hours and the problem was there was no accommodation available at Bonac because of a festival.  The village just to the west of Bonac had nothing either, but there was accommodation at the next village east.  Rather than doing nine hours we decided to follow the GR10 to Eylie-d’en-Haut, then walk along the road to our stop for the night, about 15kms along the road and much faster than following the “approved” route.  This was all planned, and accommodation booked, before we left England.  

In the refuge I was looking at my map and realised there was an alternative route down to the road which would save about an hour of walking so we took that path; it was a well-maintained path on a gentle descent.   On the way down, we saw two runners intently studying the opposite hillside and pointing.  We reached them and asked what they were looking at.  “A bear crossed that open bit of hillside and then went into the woods”.   We kept watching but the beat never reappeared.   We reached a village and stopped at the shop for a coffee and cake.  I now checked on the location of our accommodation for the night and realised I had booked somewhere far away from our planned destination, I think because it had the same area address.  Rapid searching on Google identified a suitable gite, which we were able to book, and there was another call to our original accommodation to apologise and say that we wouldn’t be turning up.  Our new accommodation was further on our route, but was still on a road.  Having sorted everything out we started walking again.  We kept on the quiet road rather than following the GR10 variant and had a pleasant walk as the road descended slowly downhill.  At the bottom of the valley we turned to head up the next valley and had about 5kms to walk to our beds for the night.  In total we walked 24kms, but averaged about 4kph, so a not bad day.  The gite is owned by a Dutchman who moved to the village, is a keen photographer and walker, and has a huge collection of books about the Pyrenees, including some of his own.  So everything finally worked out well, and our walk tomorrow is going to be relatively short.  (Time was also spent rechecking all our stops for the week ahead!)