Pic du Midi – Taster trip

The clear blue skies and low winds meant that today’s Taster-Valleys and Views trip to the Pic du Midi observatory, at 2877 metres, was exceptional.

We went via the Col du Tourmalet, stopping for a look at the Col, made famous by the Tour de France, and being awed at the twisty route up to it the cyclists take.

We then headed down to La Mongie (Bareges-La Mongie form the Grand Tourmalet ski resort, the largest in the Pyrenees) to get the breath-taking cable car up to the Observatory.

View towards Gavarnie and Spain

We like to give our guests coffee with a view…

The Observatory was slowly constructed over 120 years. It has been used as an observatory for the last 60 years. In the 1960s, it was observations from the Pic du Midi that helped NASA formulate its moon landings. Today it still plays an integral role in world-wide space observation, with parallel observations taking place; the sun and the solar system. It especially focuses on the moon, the celestial objects, Venus, Mars, Saturn, and Jupiter.

The Pic du Midi observatory

Part of one of the original telescopes

View towards the Col du Tourmalet and Valle de Bareges

Cable car up to the Pic du Midi

Locals to the Col du Tourmalet