Snapshot Saturday: Wanderlust for the mountains

Ariège, Pyrénées, Travelling in France, WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge

This is a bog-standard view of the Pyrenees as they looked near where we lived.

I can’t look at a picture of the Pyrenees without wishing I were there.

When we lived in France, these mountains were the constant backdrop to our lives.  They were our playground, where we would enjoy flower-studded meadows in the spring, clear bright summer heat, autumn colours to rival those of New England, and glittering winter snowscapes.  Winter and summer, we walked these mountains, climbing hundreds of feet to be rewarded over a leisurely lunch-time picnic by views of valleys, forests and dramatic rocks, before we had to descend to the foothills once more.

Caraybat, near Foix, at this time of year.

They were a natural boundary – often a barricade – between France and Spain, and the few roads linking these countries make wonderfully scenic journeys in their own right.

Travelling to our French town from England, we always knew we’d arrived ‘home’ when we caught sight of the Pyrenees once more – almost always as the sun was setting.  The first glimpse of those jagged peaks, whose shapes and names we came to recognise so well always made me as emotional as if I’d just met once more a long-lost friend.

The Pyrenees in summer: near Saint Julien de Gras Capou.

‘Wanderlust’, this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge, means a strong desire to wander, travel and explore.  I know I’ve hardly begun to know the Pyrenees.  They are where I want to travel, to wander, and above all to explore.

Intent on satisfying our wanderlust: hiking near Montaillou, French Pyrenees.

33 thoughts on “Snapshot Saturday: Wanderlust for the mountains”

  2. My friend Lesley lives in Essex but is Yorkshire born and bred. She always says she feels like she is ‘back home’ when she sees the Ferrybridge cooling towers! X

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  9. I feel exactly the same and especially emotional seeing your photos of places we know so well. The plan was to go next week after CC elections and son’s wedding. Mrs May put an end to that!
    Will your radio slot become a regular feature of the schedule?

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    1. Mrs. May’s putting an end to a great deal. Unbearable. I hope however that even she won’t be able to put a dampener on your son’s wedding, and that you all have a wonderful day. No, I just got lucky as far as ‘Ramblings’ goes. I was just in the right place at the right time.

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  10. Pingback: Wanderlust: Rosetta Stone | What's (in) the picture?

  14. I’m still tempted with the mountains but can’t persuade Andrew to go that far south. Mind you a sleeping policeman looks high in The Fens!

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  15. Oh my goodness – thought recent snowy weather in Scotland had dropped south and hit Yorkshire! Slap on the wrist should have known that’s not Yorkshire. Beautiful photos of the valley, very evocative.

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