Summer Holidays (2015)

First week.

Huesca

On our way to meet the family in Hecho, we stopped at Huesca, a place we like to stop to have a coffee...

The central square.
The city has many huge paintings on buildings.
Partly as a way to cope with decadence of the old center.
En la Plaza de la Universidad. The building at the end is nothing famous.
The view in front, by the side is the museum.
Julia concentrating.
The new Huesca, here on the square of D.Luis López Allué.
In memory of Orwell: Tomorrow we’ll have coffee in Huesca’ had become a standing joke throughout the army. If I ever go back to Spain I shall make a point of having a cup of coffee in Huesca.
Julia having her first coffee... a single drop.

Camping de Hecho

Meeting her uncle Lionel.
The children's favorite at the camping.
This was a good one.
Another favorite in such a place.
With all the children: Antoine, Julia, Ambre & Georges.
Julia making her first crawling steps.
Family traits.
Dad and son.
Sad to leave (on the last day).

Urdues

Discovery of the river.
By the old bridge.
The compulsory throwing of stones.
On the way to Urdues.
Brother discussions.
Julia.
A peculiar stone.
Ambre prefers pinecones.
The village in sight.
Its cute bell tower.
Typical house.
The church.

Jaca

Elena explaining.
View from the portal.
Detail.
The cathedral.
Coffee pause.
Georges and Ambre.
Jaca architecture.
An interesting discovery.
Julia first time on the swing.

River

The Río Aragón Subordán is a fantastic place with natural pools and much to explore, with no crowds of tourist as you could expect given the spectacular and fun settings of a river flowing, whirling and cascading through the mountains.

Antoine.
Georges.
A river in the Pyrenees.
Explaining one's intentions to bring this piece of wood (actually a boat) up there.
Upper in the stream, big stones in the flow.
Going up.
Natural pools.
Still going.
More pools
and more showers...
Never-ending exploration.
Ambre following.
This is the farthest we've been upstream, not without a few slides down this natural toboggan.
Back with everybody.
At the foot of this mountain.

Mountain

With Lionel and Georges, we attacked the Pico de los Valles Occidentales, starting very early in the morning and coming back in the early evening in one of the most challenging hikes of my that is, Fabrice's. life. I couldn't reach the highest local maximum, only my brother did achieve this, and on the account to stay with the child who didn't want to complete the ascent either and the lack of time to later go by myself, I let my legs shake as in hope they would bring me back to the camping.

Hecho in the early morning.
On our way to the Pyrenees.
Through the woods.
The mountain in direct sight.
At the foot of the mountain.
Now only to climb it.
It's a gentle but long slope.
Now as high as the sky.
At the end, a precipice to let pass the river, and then another mountain.
Heading for the top of our side of the precipice.
Steeper near the top.
Where we stopped with Georges. Lionel (visible on right) going for the toppest top.
The other side. France is at the end.
Georges playing.
Stones of gold and silver.
Time to go back.
Last time looking back.
Clouds raising as we start to leave.
Still a long way to go.
A last embrace to everything beautiful.
On the way back, everything looks new again.
The forest to cross to get back.
The same, in reverse order.
Back to our starting point, Hecho, now in the early evening.

Frontier

The next day of our great excursion, we went now all together on an easier hike at the frontier between Spain and France, passing through the Col de Pau.