Valley of Chistau

Parador of Bielsa, Spain--Yesterday was a trip into the higher elevations and tiny villages.   The Valley of Chistau was nearly abandoned forty years ago but a well-advertised invitation to visit by a group of young men who were seeking ways to revitalize the valley brought a hoard of visitors and the place is now a tourist destination.  Heading into it requires a small bus that fits through the small tunnels.  But when we arrived we had a stop that allowed us to see two of the three unique species of vultures, far too distant for a good photo, but we were very lucky. 

The valley has five villages, and we visited two of them.  One, Gintain, is truly alpine with steep streets, lots of manure and a few BnBs along its winding streets.  Very pretty.  Our guide told us that the tower in the shot below was a competitive venture hundreds of years ago as to which of two or three residents would build the tallest.  A bit of mine is bigger than yours!

We also got a history of this valley as a place where the Maquis against the Fascists during and after the 1936-1939 Civil War were able to maintain contact with the outside by the three hour hike over the mountains to nearby France.  This bridge, called the Bridge of Sins, from which the decapitated body of a despised noble was thrown hundreds of years ago, was also central to the movement of the anti-fascist Maquis.

Now of course there is no border between Spain and France and hikers move over the the Pyrenees at will.  We saw a couple climbing a mountain face, too.  Instead of lunch in a restaurant, we decided to picnic in a Bielsa square, stopping at a supermercado to buy local yoghurts and a sheep cheese.   We finished off the day with a treat of local vermouth, courtesy of Marco, our guide, and a good dish of local lamb for John and mountain trout for Ben.  A very good day.  Now it's off to Barcelona.