Pyrenees HRP - 2004 - Day 30

 

Sue and Martin's Big Adventure

 

Day 30 - Tuesday 24 August 2004 - Rest Day in Luchon

Postcard Summary 

Luchon – all day

Half term holiday in poor weather
So we luxuriated here for a day and a half – half way across the Pyrenees.  Time to relate our daily routines:

HRP (Haute Randonnée Pyrénéenne) Days

6.45 – Sue’s alarm – ignore.

7.00 – Martin’s alarm – he gets up and puts a brew on.

Muesli for breakfast.

Sort gear, pack tent, leave 8.00 – 8.15.

After about an hour – stop for mountain mix (nuts/fruit)

~ 11.00 – brew stop (½ hour).

~ 13.00 – 13.45 – lunch – baguette and tinned fish and pâté.

~ 16.00 – 18.00 (well, sometimes as late as 19.30) destination reached – usually after ascending and descending around 1000 metres per day.

~ 19.30 – 20.00 – camp meal of soup, pasta, tuna, chorizo sausage, sauce, etc.

~ 21.00 – 21.30 – bed time (it’s dark).

REST DAY

6.45 – Sue’s alarm – ignore.

7.00 – Martin’s alarm – ignore.

8.00 – put brew on and by 9.00 have breakfast of yoghourt + banana + croissant (rest days are near shops).

Morning – wash and dry clothes and bodies so far as possible, between coffee breaks.

13.00 – 14.00 – lunch of baguettes, tomatoes, cheese, pâté, coke/orange.

Afternoon – shopping to re-stock supplies, coffee/beer/postcard writing/reading, etc

Evening – meal at nice restaurant.

22.30 – bedtime

 

 

Diary Entry (by Sue)

After rain during the night, a lie-in until 8.30 was very welcome. Breakfast was a civilised affair - banana, yoghurt and pain au raisin around the table - but in humid, cloudy conditions. (And with Julie's unsteady hand operating the camera - see top picture.)

 

The day was generally spent pottering - postcards, diary, cutting long fingernails (me) having showers. Later in the morning, we walked the High Street again, obtaining gas and socks, then sitting on a terrace for coffee.

 

Another nice lunch, again around the table on the campsite. During the afternoon, a trip to the two supermarkets to restock, plus more film and suntan cream. The low cloud lingers all day, threatening to rain at any time and not helping my socks to dry.

 

 

 

Around 6.30 pm, another trip into Luchon - we have plodded the main street several times now! A beer in a bar with a widescreen TV gives us the chance to see a tantalising glimpse of the Athens Olympics. The coverage is poor - we see the 200 metres sprint heats but a list of competitors is not provided.

 

Dinner is good - salads to start, then duck, then 'Champignon Glacé' ice cream, with Chantilly, a meringue on the top (giving the 'mushroom'), and warm chocolate sauce. Julie and I share some of Martin's as he doesn't feel 100%.

 

Bed about 10:30 p.m.

 

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