After arriving in Pau we caught the shuttle bus to Pau station where we caught a train to Lourdes. In Lourdes we had an hours wait before catching the small bus into the mountains which took us to Cauterets. We decided to camp at the campsite above the town called Mamelon Vert where there were very good, welcome showers. After pitching up we headed into the town and had dinner at a small bar just off the main square.

Dithered about in town trying to get to Pont d'Espagne without carrying the bags. No buses and no telesiège - in hindsight we should just have hitched a lift. We eventually began walking at 11am. It was an interesting, although hard, walk through woods and past waterfalls to Pont d'Espagne where we arrived at 2pm and stopped for a half hour lunch. Our backs and shoulders were aching - who packed all this stuff!

Next we walked through the Vallée Marcadou which was very pretty with a bubbling river, it was getting quite hot though. We arrived exhausted at Refuge Wallon at 5.30pm and, instead of our original idea of camping, decided to get a room and dinner in the refuge.

The food was excellent (or maybe we were just very hungry): vegetable soup, pork with peas, cheese and a cème brulèe. Over dinner we talked to an Irish girl called Emily who was hiking by herself - the next day she was heading to Refuge Bayssellance which would mean she would initially be taking the same route as us to Col d'Arratille. We checked with the warden of the refuge and he assured us that although the snow at the col was deep it would be passable without crampons as the snow was soft.

This morning we had to decide whether we would take the route over the col into Spain or instead do a circuit of the lakes above the refuge and return that night. In the end we decided to push on over the col. As we set off we initially had a large group of French hikers for company and we spent the first couple of hours continually overtaking each other. However, just before Lad d'Arratille they turned back and then there was not another soul around.

At Lac d'Arratille we had to cross the fast flowing river which issued from its northern side and in doing got our feet a bit wet so we stopped on the other side to dry our boots and socks in the sunshine. As the warden at Refuge Wallon had said the snow line was at the lake and would get deeper up towards the col. Luckily, Emily had made an earlier start than us which meant we could follow her footsteps all the way to the col which gave us a sense of security.

We reached Col d'Arratille at 3pm and there appeared to be a storm brewing. There were fabulous views all around us especially of Vignemale. For a while we tried to traverse across the snow to edge our way down slowly to the east bank of the Rio Ara below but this proved quite tricky. We were just getting frustrated when we saw a set of footprints going straight down from the col to the west bank of the river and we followed these all the way down to below the snow line on the Spanish side. Unfortunately, since we were now on the west side and because of the snow melt the rivers were quite high and we had a number to cross - this meant walking back up many small valleys to find safe places to cross. We eventually setup camp at 19.30 on a small patch of ground next to the river. A quick wash in the very cold water followed by noodles for dinner - we were both asleep soon afterwards.

After a great nights sleep we awoke at 8.30am and were packed and moving by 9.30am. We both still had wet boots after yesterday and they would remain wet all day. We continued down the west bank of the Rio Ara until we reached a footbridge to the east bank further downriver. There were a lot of small streams and waterfalls to cross on the way down the valley.

Just north of Bujaruelo it started to rain and by the time we arrived at the bar in Bujaruelo we were very soggy and since the bar was full of dry people we decided to push on south to Torla following the road. It stopped raining just before we arrived in Torla at 4.30pm and after grabbing some cash we went down the hill and across the river to Camping Rio Ara. The campsite is excellent with spotless showers and toilets, a supermercado and (most importantly) a bar. For dinner we had tuna pasta.

Did our laundry first thing and then headed up the hill to Torla and the supermercado. We had lunch back at the campsite: cheese and bread with a bottle of Enate. For dinner tonight we had pasta and meatballs.

We went to the campsite bar to watch the first half of the England vs France match. There were not many people in the bar so at half time we went into Torla and met up with some Norwich City fans in a bar to watch the second half. England threw it away 2-1, we had to have another beer to recover.

The Norwich City boys set off early this morning - they were on their way to Refuge Goriz. We decided on a day hike into the Ordessa Gorge and set off from the campsite, through the woodlands on the east bank of the Rio Ara. We had a simple lunch of bread and sausage in the gorge, just past the car park, and then did a circular walk near the river in the gorge before hitching a lift back to Torla. We picked up some spicy pork from the butchers and ate it with rice for our dinner.

Today was another laundry day. Afterwards we went into Torla to the Bar El Rebecos and played canasta (which Paula lost). Lunch was bread pate and cheese back at the campsite and afterwards we played more canasta (Paula won a game!). For dinner we had pea and ham risotto before going to the campsite bar to watch the Germany vs Netherlands. There was lots of good humoured banter between the Germans and Dutch staying on the site. Ruud Van Nistelrooooooooooy!

We packed up and were walking by 10am heading northwards back to Bujaruelo. This time, instead of following the road we took the GR15 and GR11 through the woods next to the Rio Ara. At Bujaruelo we had a lunch of sausage and bread whilst watching some children zip-lining across the river.

Next we turned eastwards following the steep switch back path towards Puerto da Bujaruelo where we were planning to camp on the Spanish side. However, we made better time than anticipated and reached the planned campsite at 3.45pm and with the weather still good decided to try and get all the way to Gavarnie. As we reached Puerto da Bujaruelo we were hit by a sudden shower of rain and had to take to the stone shelter to avoid getting soaked in the wind and the rain. There was not much snow at the col, perhaps 15m or so, the advantage of being on the Spanish side.

As we crossed over to the French side we were 'buzzed' by a golden eagle which was playing on the thermals. We followed the short tarmaced road to the carpark so we could try to find the path into Vallée de Pouey Aspe. At the the carpark was a viewpoint where we watched three skiers on the snow on Saradette across the valley. As we were about to set off down into the valley a French family pulled into the carpark and striking up a conversation Paula managed to arrange a lift for us down into Gavarnie although the family seemed a bit mistified as to why we would want to go there. When we got to the campsite we were in agreement with them and decided we would only be staying one night instead of the planned two. Gavarnie was a bit of a dump, dominated by tat shops selling whistling marmots and with flies everywhere.

We couldn't really leave Gavarnie fast enough but following the long day yesterday we were a bit slow rising and so were not packed until 10am. We then walked through the town, past the multitude of souvenir shops and their whistling marmots to buy some bread and cheese. Although Gavarnie is a bit tatty the view of the cirque down the main street is still spectacular.

We followed the road for a short distance northwards before branching off east and following a zig-zag gravel road up the side of Pain de Sucre. At the top was a pasture which held some goats and a very curious horse who followed us to the point where we started our 700m descent to the town of Gedre. It was a very hot day and we thought about getting a bus the rest of the distance but, after enquiring in the tourist office, it transpired there were no buses today and the taxis were a bit pricey. Instead we continued to trudge northwards on the road trying to hitch a lift - it took about an hour but eventually we were picked up by 3 frenchmen in a minibus who gave us a lift all the way to Camping Toy in Luz.

Camping Toy was a very tidy looking site with quite a few caravans and motor home (some of which had satellite TV). We found a shady spot next to the river to pitch our tent before heading into town to but food - tonight's tea was chilli and rice.

Whilst washing up Paula befriended an English couple called John and Diane. They were camping in Luz for six weeks (and had a good stock of gin to see them through it) and offered to give us a lift back to Cauterets on Saturday, which we gratefully accepted.

Another washing day. Since we were getting a lift tomorrow rather than walking we could afford to spend the day lazing around. We visited Eglise des Templiers which didn't really have anything to do with Knights Templar. Bread and cheese for lunch and chilli for tea again.

We got a lift this morning from John and Diane to Cauterets. John insisted he didn't mind since it gave him an excuse to go to a pâtisserie which he claimed made the best Gateau Basque.

It was drizzling in Cauterets as we once more pitched up at the Mamelon Vert before heading into town. Even though only a few days have passed it seemed a lot busier than last time we were here and a lot more places were open. We went into the market and bought a nice piece of rare beef for lunch, although it turned out to be enough for dinner as well.

We spent the afternoon watching international rowing on EuroSport, playing cards and having a snooze. After a dinner of beef and new potatoes we went into town where we watched the Netherlands vs Czech Republic in a bar with a couple of Dutch guys. The Netherlands managed to lose 3-2 after leading 2-0 - they were gutted.

It rained again. We went into town and bought table tennis bats and balls from Intersport and spent the afternoon playing that and cards (Paula lost at both). Dinner tonight was at Le Paris - galettes. We watches Portugal vs Spain in the Aragon bar.

Today we hitched a lift back up to Pont d'Espagne from an Aussie guy in his camper van. From there we took the chair lift to the Lac de Gaube and walked the few kilometres back into the snow line and up to Refuge Oulettes de Gaube where we had lunch. Unfortunately we didn't have a good view of Vignemale as it was covered in cloud but we could see the glacier on its lower slopes.

We took the same route back down and hitched a lift from the car park at Pont d'Espagne with an elderly French couple in their camper van. He drove like a maniac and we were soon back in Cauterets surrounded by the smell of burnt brake pads.

Tonight we ate at Le Petit Bleus - tarteflette. There was some sort of music festival going on in town and a band called Caffeine were performing on a small stage in the square. We couldn't watch the England match tonight as all the bars were showing the France vs Switzerland match.

We took the steep path from Mamelon Vert westwards up through the woods above Cauterets heading for the Refuge Llhéou. Since we only had day sacks on we found the going relatively easy and made good time to the road near the ski station (obviously closed this time of year). From there we followed the gravel track up to the refuge (1988m) where it was surprisingly busy.

Retracing out route we reached the road near the ski station just in time to hitch a lift back into town with a French couple.

Today we headed back home, retracing our route form Cauterets to Lourdes on the small mountain bus. From Lourdes is was a short train ride to Pau station where we waited a while for the airport shuttle to pick us up. Then it was back to Stansted and from there back to Cambridge.