Pyrennes

Pyrenees We spent several wonderful days with our friends Paco and Belen, in the house of Belen´s parents in the Aragonese Pyrenees. Belen´s brother Ivón and his girlfriend Monica, as well as Paco and Belen´s son David and his friend Alix were with us. The house is a three story stone affair, which Belen´s parents completely reconstructed. They tore down everything but the original walls and rebuilt from scratch. The place is in a little village (10 houses) called Chisagues, 10 kms from Bielsa and 12 from the French border. The near complete silence here is broken only by the murmur of the snow-swollen steams and the occasional tinkling of the sheep’s´ and goats´ bells.

Friday, March 14

At 5 o’clock I picked Blanca up from school. It was difficult to get out of town because there was a bike race. We drove up to Castellón and spent the night at Blanca´s mother’s. The next morning I was treated to a long session of gossip from Maria Teresa. But I felt good that she was able to confide in me.

Saturday.

Paco and Belen picked us up in their Landrover, and we drove to Aragón, passing through Catalonia. The trip took about 5 hours. After Lerida, much of the highway followed a series of dams and reservoirs, all of them spanking clean and emerald green.

On arriving at the village, we encountered Antonio, a shepherd who reminded me of the peasant in the sheep episode in Woody Allen’s ¨Everything You Always wanted to know about Sex.¨ The guy stands planted in the same spot all day long, gazing into space. He’s missing half his teeth and looks like he hasn’t has a bath since he was six. Needless to say, there was no lack of sheep jokes during the weekend! (“Aquí hay oveja encerrada!”)

One of the most interesting (and bizarre) aspects of the village was Teresa (60ish). She and Antonio—brother and sister—live a small hovel, which forms part of a barnyard, filled with chickens, goats, and manure (both animal and human). I’ve never seen such squalor in my life. The main room is the “kitchen,” a small space with an open fire in the middle. The smoke is overpowering. The place is absolutely filthy. Teresa and Antonio have no sanitary facilities whatever, and there is no running water. One light bulb, dangling from a cord, is the only source of illumination in the dusky interior. The place is right out of Tolstoy´s peasant scenes. She told us that during the winter, which was quite severe, she had been the only woman left in ¨town.¨

Sunday.

Cañon de Añiscola. We took a pleasant hike up the mountain, alongside of cascades and streams. That night, Teresa paid us a visit. During the course of conversation it became clear that she had no idea where America was. When the smoke was bothering my eyes, I took out one of my contact lenses. The woman was amazed. ¨How small it is! ¨ she marveled.

Monday.

We first went up to the ¨Parador¨ at the foot of Monte Perdido. The snow was quite deep, and we decided not to try the ascent. We repaired to the Valley of Chistau, where we followed a snow covered road to the point where we couldn’t go any further. We ate lunch by the side of a stream, framed by snow-capped peaks.

That night, we had a birthday party for Ivón. We hung up balloons and the boys made a sign, while he was occupied outside making a paella.

There was a beautiful full moon, which we were able to observe through the Belen´s father’s high-powered telescope.

Tuesday.

The National Park of Ordesa and Monte Perdido is one of the most popular destinations in the Aragon Pyrennes. We hiked in for about 3 hours, having to traverse a good many snow fields. We arrived at the waterfall of the Cola Del Caballo, a beautiful spot indeed. Then it started to snow heavily. We retreated to a small lean-to, where we ate our sandwiches and drank wine from Paco´s ¨bota.¨ Then we started down, since it was beginning to get dark and the snowstorm was intensifying. Blanca spent some time on her ass (´´culoski´´), as we slid down the slippery path. But she gradually picked up the trick of running in the snow, and we got down in very good time. Altogether we were about 6 hours in motion. Everyone got down without incident. I was a bit worried about Paco, who has a serious problem with his hip. But he had no major difficulties. It was a super excursion. The boys had a good time. Alix had never been in a snowstorm before.

On the way home, we passed by the charming village of Ainsa. We picked up two sacks of feed for Teresa’s chickens and then explored the beautifully preserved medieval complex.

Wednesday.

It took us quite a while to pack up eight people, but we were on the road by 12:00. We first drove through the tunnel into France, in order to see the contrast between the mountains on each side of the border. Then we headed south. We picked up our car in Castellón and were back in Polop by 10:00. It was a wonderful trip: great company, spectacular scenery, and a glimpse into ¨España profunda.¨