All language subtitles for The Pyrenees with Michael Portillo - 1x02 - A Physical Challenge

I have all these peaks and valleys

entirely to myself.

I'm going on a journey of
self-discovery...

What a place.

..walking stretches between
the summits of the Spanish

and French Pyrenees.

My word.

Approaching three score years and
ten, I have much to reflect on.

What is the secret of being happy
in life, do you think now?

So I'm challenging myself on
an ambitious mountain adventure.

Ooh-agh!

I'll start at the Atlantic Ocean,

crossing borders
between Spain and France

and end at the Mediterranean Sea.

Meeting the people who live here...

Working on the land together,
everybody's equal

and that's when you really bond.

It's like falling in love again.

I began to get this sense of
total peace.

..I'll test myself physically.

Oh, this is no joke.

..and have time
to contemplate the past...

Somewhere through these hills,

my father walked to leave Spain
as a political refugee.

..open to whatever
this personal quest may teach me.

It has impressed upon me
how free is the human spirit

to choose its own way,
and that is inspiring.

I'm in France...

..where the Pyrenees
have become steeper,

rockier, more fearsome,
craggier, starker,

more formidable, higher, colder,

icier and more of a challenge,

and my lungs are burning
on the ascent

from the thin air
and the coldness of the air.

But I'm rewarded with this
fearsome beauty.

For the second stage of my
Pyrenean journey,

I'll need to push myself physically

as I venture across
an unfamiliar land.

These are the French High Pyrenees,

terrain where nature takes
no prisoners.

What a place.

I've left behind

those gentle green slopes
of the Basque region.

Here everything is steep
and angular,

high.

France is not a country with which I
have a particular affinity of family

or anything like that.

My French is not particularly good.

So... oh, and then I'm in
a land of people carrying skis

and ski boards and heading off
to winter sports,

a world and a series of activities
of which I have no understanding

and for which I have
no particular longing,

so I'm even further
out of my comfort zone.

I'll need to exert myself to
the maximum in this beguiling

but treacherous landscape.

Over the next three days,
I'll cover around 30 miles...

Argh.

..and ascend more than
a thousand metres.

I begin my French Pyrenean hike

at one of Europe's most
spectacular natural barriers,

the Cirque de Gavarnie.

I'll pass through rugged terrain

and meet an Olympic
cyclist who'll prepare me for

the highest road pass
in the entire mountain range.

I'll ascend to the 2,877-metre-high

Pic Du Midi...

..for the best views of
this dramatic landscape

and the greatest starscape
in Western Europe.

I have the pleasure to be in the
French national park of the

High Pyrenees,
and this little stream is tumbling

into the grandiose
Gorge de Gavarnie,

and one of my objectives is to visit
the great Cirque de Gavarnie.

And no mountain peak
is going to stand in my way.

I'm walking one of
the most beautiful paths

in the national park,
dominated by the Cirque de Gavarnie.

This natural wonder has inspired
many artists and writers,

including the author of
Les Miserables, Victor Hugo.

I saw this amazing geological
feature ahead and thought,

it's a wall,
which seemed a bit banal.

But I have drawn comfort from the
fact that that great 19th century

French poet Victor Hugo
had the same thought.

He wrote, "It is both a wall
and a mountain.

"It is the mysterious edifice
of a celestial architect.

"It is the Colosseum of nature."

And this he included in an epic poem
that could only be called God.

At 1,500 metres and with a
circumference of almost nine miles,

the colossal Cirque de Gavarnie
has UNESCO World Heritage status.

It's a marvel to behold.

A novice like me could not even
attempt a walk here were it not for

the efforts of those who put this
uncharted territory on the map.

I'm meeting someone who has a long

and deep knowledge of this area,
Julie Durdos-Pitchelu,

head guide in this part of
the Pyrenees National Park.

Julie, we've been walking towards

the most extraordinary
geological feature,

and this is just like
a vertical wall.

This is the Cirque du Gavarnie.

It's the heart of the national park

and the cradle of the Pyrenees.

There isn't any other places like
this in France or in Europe.

It's very high, it's very big and
it's very vertical.

And there is a very big cascade

So it's more than 400 metres high.

How fantastic.

The Gavarnie falls are
the highest in France

and when released from the ice,

the waters tumble 420 metres.

Even frozen, they inspire awe in me
as I contemplate formations

sculpted by huge glaciers
50 million years ago.

The rocks was underwater at
the beginning and then with all

the movement, the rocks comes up
and it's now around here.

So these are sedimentary rocks.

These were laid down on the floor of

an ocean at one time in layers,

and then over geological time,

they've all been forced up
to these enormous heights.

We know it because we find in
different places fossils.

Sea fossils?

Sea fossils. Sea animals?

Yes, up there.

That's an amazing thought,
isn't it?

Yes.

So you find, I don't know,
a squid or something up there.

It's very difficult to imagine.

Until the 1920s, the Cirque
was entirely unmapped,

a situation rectified by
Julie's ancestor.

Tell me about your
great-grandfather.

He explored the Pyrenees,
did he not?

Yes. His name is Alfonse Mellon.

He discovered the Pyrenees
during his holidays

and he was drawing maps, so he'd
done one of the most precise at the

beginning of the last century.

Very interesting. You must be very
proud of your great-grandfather.

Yes, I'm very proud of him

and I'm very proud to continue
in a way his work

because it's a few years that
I'm working in the national park.

Yes. So he draw the place

and I continue
to preserve this place.

And we should be very grateful to
those pioneers. Yes.

Today, it is very easy to come here.

When you talk about the Alps,
you think about climbing,

technical practice of the mountains.

I think here in the Pyrenees,

it's more like a poetic way
to discover the mountain.

It's more human.

If the Alps are for the, as it were,
the professional climber,

the Pyrenees are for
the amateur walker.

The person who wants to hike and
enjoy a little tranquillity

and a little peace and
allow time to slow down.

That's a very nice thought.

If you've known the mountains
since you were a tiny child,

I suppose one of the things you
learn is respect for the mountains.

Is that true?

Mountain is always dangerous.

In winter, there is avalanches,

but also at the other seasons

because rain can come very quickly.

People have to think
about it before.

Good shoes, water in the bag.

Do you want to assess my dress
for the Pyrenees?

Do you think I'm properly dressed
for the Pyrenees?

Ah, you have a cold jacket,

so, it's good, a hat, it's good,
good shoes.

I have layers.

One layer, two layers, then a shirt.

And the very important one.

I got this in the Spanish
Basque country.

This is called a maquila,

and it has now become
my constant companion.

I don't know how you do it
only on two legs.

I need, I need this third leg,
you see, as I come along.

Like animals, four.

I'll take that as a compliment.

Yeah, it's better for the knees.

Well, Julie, thank you very much.

It's been a real privilege to speak
to a member of a distinguished

Pyrenean dynasty.

My pleasure.

Thank you so much. Thank you.

Bye-bye. Bye.

Guided by Julie's advice,

I head back from the Cirque
to the Plateau de Saugue

to continue my adventure
in the high Pyrenees.

Here, a human being really is
very much reduced in scale.

We are absolutely overpowered,
overwhelmed by these vast mountains.

We feel, we feel really
quite insignificant.

Here, there's no doubt at all

that the elements are in charge.

I'm on a quest,
testing my physical capacity

as I journey through
the snowy mountains

of France's high Pyrenees.

Part of my life experience, oddly,

maybe the opposite for most people,

has been to be less in charge
as my life has gone on.

So I spent the early part of
my life making a lot of decisions,

and I've really enjoyed the latter
part of my life where I just

drift along, bob along.
And so actually,

the feeling that here
the elements might be in charge...

..I mean, obviously
it would be scary if it got bad,

but of itself, it doesn't worry me

and I think it's rather
a nice feeling, actually, to be...

...subordinated.

One person who refuses to be
subordinated is Marion Clignet,

a French Olympic cycling champion

who loves nothing more than
to test her stamina in this region.

Hello, Marion.

Hello there.

How lovely to see you.

Likewise.

A nice day for a ride?
Yes, very nice.

We're lucky it's not raining.

Beautiful air today. Yes.

And who's your friend?

This is Fire.

Excellent. Fire's my daughter.

She... yeah, she looks like me,
we can tell.

She keeps up with you.
Yes, she does.

She's amazing. Yeah, yeah,
she's got lots of energy.

She's 11, so she's not
such a young lass any more,

but she does a lot of sports.

There's hope for us all!
Yes, there is.

Oh, and I have an
assistant mechanic.

Thank you.

At 58, Marion looks unstoppable.

But she was almost written out of
competitive sport aged 22

because of her epilepsy.

I'm keen to learn
how the human spirit

can surmount such an obstacle.

You sound, to my unaccustomed ear,
like an American,

but you competed for France.
How did this happen?

Yes, my parents are from Reims,

where they make champagne,

and they moved to Chicago.

So I was born there and...

born and raised,
actually, in Chicago.

And I started riding when I was 22

after losing my driver's licence for
a year due to an epileptic seizure.

So I was diagnosed and the
neurologist told me to keep quiet

about it because it was very taboo
and not to do any sports,

not to go out alone
and blah, blah, blah,

so I did just the opposite.

Oh, really? So, I was really...

I just got hooked on the fact that
I could regain my independence

and that I felt that it was
doing me good for the epilepsy

rather than, you know,
not doing anything,

and that I still had some control.

Tell me, I mean,
did your epilepsy represent

a danger to you, for example?

So, I felt having epilepsy
pushed me to push myself harder.

I think epilepsy was a plus.

If I hadn't had epilepsy, I might
not have become a bike racer.

Marion has now moved
to the Pyrenees,

to enjoy cycling on terrain so
challenging that it's included in

the Tour de France.

How much do you like the Pyrenees?

Ah, I love the Pyrenees,
far more than the Alps,

just because I find them
more wild, you know.

The climbs are harder,
they're more difficult,

they're steeper. Because steeper.
Because they're steeper.

And sometimes the roads,
like riding up this,

I mean, it's not meant to be a road
to come up for the Tour or anything,

so it's a bit bumpy.
But it's an amazing climb.

And to conquer this on a bike
is just full-on.

I mean, you feel like you've really
accomplished something

when you get to the top.
DOG BARKS

Ah, Fire!

It feels kind of natural
to talk to you on a mountain peak

because that's the metaphor
for your life, isn't it? Yeah!

You've climbed the peaks.
SHE LAUGHS

So, Michael, how do you feel
hiking across the Pyrenees,

maybe being out of your comfort zone
a little bit now and again?

What you mean is
fundamentally unfit!

I mean, I... you know,
although I walk a bit,

you know, on the flat and in town,

I'm not really very fit.

So, no, it's quite a strain.

You probably heard me puffing
as I was coming along beside you.

You, of course,
were not puffy at all.

But I was puffy.
Do you have any tips?

Yeah, a little bit of
strength work to help.

Walking lunges, like this.

What's that doing to you?

That strengthens your quads,
your calves, your glutes.

You can do what we call
pistol squats.

How are your knees?

My knees are fine,
it's my right hip that's a mess.

Your right hip that's a mess.

But my knees are good.

Also... and stretching too.
There's some stretches like this.

You, kind of, put your hip out,
cross one leg over the other.

I probably will put my hip out.

And... ha-ha, yeah, you will.

Ooh, yes, I just feel a bit of...

And then stretching your quads.

Well, I don't think I can do that.

Aargh!

It'll come, it'll come.

That's at the limit of my activity.

Oh, this one's better.

Well, yeah. The stretching will help
loosen up your muscles a little bit.

Give you a little more pizazz.

And core strength, you know,

the planks and stuff like that,
the... Planks? Planks.

Planks are, you go like this and
keep your back straight

and you hold it for 30 seconds.

You've got to be kidding.

And then on the side this way
and on the other side.

No, it's phenomenal
for your obliques,

for your abs, for everything.

How does it make you feel?

I feel good.

Yeah? I feel really good, actually.

The air is so great, isn't it?

And it's much nicer than
politics, no?

The way up is less greasy.

When the electorate got rid of me,

the morning after my defeat,

the phone rings and
it's Margaret Thatcher.

And she's no longer Prime Minister,

but she calls up
and I pick up the phone.

She says, "Michael!

"The fightback begins now!"

We knew we were out
for 10 or 15 years, right?

But the fightback begins now.

So I think maybe, as I go up
the hills, that might be my mantra.

The fightback begins now.

There we go!

Marion's temperament and
physical ability are phenomenal.

These imposing mountains
would intimidate most,

and yet she's motivated by
their challenge.

Whilst I can't compete with
Marion's fitness,

I will continue my adventure,

impelled by her strength
in the face of adversity.

All my childhood memories of snow
are happy,

fuzzy and romantic.

But the reality of this stuff
is different.

It's horrid slush.

My feet plunge into it, my stick
disappears, progress is difficult.

My socks are now wet

and I would much rather be in front
of a log fire.

As I head north along
the Sentier des Pyrenees,

the path gets steeper,

and the snow deepens.

Inspired by Marion, I'm determined
not to be defeated by the terrain.

I have put on a pair of snowshoes,

which have made my big feet
even huger

and spread my weight and
improved my balance.

And with a couple of poles,
I'm now much faster,

as unstoppable as a yeti.

Huh!

Ha-ha, yeah.

Argh! Oh!

The fightback begins now!

It is painful up here,
and painfully beautiful.

I'm not often forced out of
my comfort zone.

But here, I certainly am.

I'm on the second leg of
my Pyrenean adventure,

this time in France,

and as I walk along
the Sentier des Pyrenees,

I'm testing my physical limits.

My normal life is in London, where
we have such enormous peaks as

Hampstead Heath and Primrose Hill,

and now I look out on
these huge peaks,

which are absolutely grandiose.

For most, walking is the only way
to experience the Pyrenees.

But in 1859,
a railway was opened here,

bringing the most important man
in France to the area.

And he marked his visit
with a grand commission.

The French Emperor
Napoleon the Third

designed this bridge and decorated
it with his initial "N" just here.

So you might call it a monument
to his overarching vanity.

He loved the Pyrenees.

But how the mighty fall.

He must have pined for
these beautiful mountains

as he ended his days in Chislehurst,
in Kent, in England.

In 1859, the Emperor's troops
fought a bloody battle

against an Austrian army.

Napoleon III commemorated those lost
in the town of Luz-Saint-Saveur.

Here is a charming and
touching chapel,

which was erected as a memorial
to the savage battle of Solferino

of 1859, which was
the decisive encounter

between Austria and France in the
struggle for Italian independence.

It was a pretty old-fashioned battle
in that each side

for the last time was led
by its own emperor.

And there were thousands killed

and many more thousands wounded.

And a Swiss, Henry Dunont,

moved amongst the injured,
bringing them help,

and his work led by degrees to
the foundation of

the International Committee
for the Red Cross,

which brings much-needed humanity
to the modern battlefield.

Being out here by myself,

and surrounded by these
ancient mountains,

I've time to reflect on my own past.

That war between Austria and France
was about grabbing territory,

about nationalism and megalomania,

and war has now returned to Europe,

and I would say
for the same three reasons.

It makes me think back to
when I was Defence Secretary

shortly after the collapse of the
Soviet Union in the mid-1990s.

Being Defence Secretary
was extraordinary,

because you are
at the heart of events

where war is or might be involved.

So, you know, that really is
at the heart of

the way the world is moving,

and the period when I was there was
extraordinarily interesting because

the Soviet Union had collapsed,

and Eastern Europe was gaining
its freedom and becoming democratic

and entering the European Union
and entering NATO,

and we really believed that
we were creating a new world.

And I look back on that as
a period of enormous joy,

even today with what's happened
in Ukraine.

Much of Eastern Europe is free,
which it had not been before,

and that is something to celebrate
so profoundly

and just to have a, you know,
a walk-on part in those events

and to be a witness at a lot of it

and to be at the table with
some very interesting people,

making decisions as best they could,
it was a terrific privilege.

And I can't quite believe
I was there.

My mind may be drifting back,

but I must stride forward
to the Pic du Midi,

passing through an area
known as the Pays Toy.

Once an autonomous republic,

this region remains
fiercely loyal to its roots,

traditions and identity.

The spa town of Bareges,
just below the Pic,

is part of the largest ski area
in the French Pyrenees.

And trudging through the snow,
like the skiers,

I'm ready for a hearty lunch.

I've never practised winter sports.

I'm out of my comfort zone
in a ski resort

and its pleasures are
a closed book to me.

But I do think skiers
like good food,

and so I'm hopeful of
what I shall find here -

Chez Louisette.

The restaurant has become
a local landmark

and has been run by the same family
for three generations.

Bonjour, madame.

Bonjour, Monsieur.

Louisette welcomes me
with a local brandy

flavoured with plants picked at
an altitude of 3,000 metres.

A votre sante.
A votre sante.

Here, 120 years ago, Louisette's
grandmother turned her dairy farm

into an inn for tourists.

When she started preparing
locally produced food,

the restaurant gained a reputation
for simple but exquisite dishes.

Head Chef Adrien
is going to show me why.

Adrien, I'm so pleased to meet you.
I'm Michael.

Hello, nice to meet you, Michael.

Beautiful products. Local?

Yeah, mostly, yeah.
The cheese, for example.

Yeah, the cheese is from a farm
not far from here.

You bake your own bread?
We do our own bread

with our own sourdough
as well, yeah.

Local flour as well.
From Southern France, yeah.

And tell me about your pigs.

There's two type of pigs here.

One is very local and it's from...

It's a boar Noir de Bigorre,
which nearly disappeared,

and now it became
quite delicacy around here.

And the other one is from
Basque country,

from another supplier
that we do really like as well.

Today's special is a local delicacy
called garbure,

a meat, bean and vegetable soup.

It's made with ham hock.

It's a ham hock broth from pig,

half salted and vegetables that are
cooked for four to five hours.

And then with that broth
we make a soup with...

we add cabbage,

we add potatoes and the famous
local beans,

the haricot tarbais which
has to soak overnight as well.

My goodness, that sounds as though
it would be a very filling,

a very nourishing meal.

It is after a day of skiing
in the cold,

it's... yeah, people really like it.

Especially, we do sell
more of it on rainy days.

Is there anything I can do
while I'm here?

Sure. Let's serve our friends
some garbure.

Mm, this does look wonderful.

Do we just serve it like this?

Well, in the traditional way,
we serve the soup first in the pot

and then we bring the ham hocks...

Ooh!
..with the thyme.

Ah, are they the ham hocks?
Yeah. Here we are.

Thank you.

They look gorgeous.

So what do we do with those?

We're gonna put
a little bit of thyme...

Actually, spike some in there,
in the skin.

And now what?

Then we're gonna light them up.

Oh, my goodness.

Pyrotechnics!

Thank you very much.
And...

O-ho!

Oh! And we serve them smoking
to our guests

to bring them good luck.

Here we go.

La bonne chance!

Oh, my goodness, ca fume.

Ca fume, it really is smoky.

Excellent.

Merci, Louisette.

Et bon appetit.

My garbure is wonderful
traditional country food.

I have in here carrots and onions
and cabbage and apple,

and that's all in the broth,

which has been made from
the ham hock,

because Louisette says you cannot
have a soup without the stone.

In this case, you cannot have
a soup without the ham hock

being the basis of the whole thing.

Mm, that is good.

It's absolutely wholesome,
nourishing, hot.

Just what you need after a day of
floundering in the snow.

After my nourishing meal,

I'm ready for the next part of
my adventure,

the Col du Tourmalet.

At over 2,000 metres,

it's the highest mountain road pass
in the Pyrenees.

Look at this.

I have all these peaks and valleys
entirely to myself.

Not another human being in sight.

All this beauty

and only I can see it at
this moment.

As my French High Pyrenean
journey concludes,

I'm at La Mongie,

a purpose-built ski area
nestled amongst the peaks.

But even if I were a skier,

here my attention would be diverted
to the stars.

I'm heading for the formidable
Pic du Midi de Bigorre.

Bonjour.

It's a steep five-hour trek
on foot to the peak -

too wearying for me.

Fortunately,
there's an effortless alternative.

When is a skier like a sardine?

Answer - when packed into
the cable car

headed towards La Pic du Midi.

Luckily, it's a half-hour journey
across two cable cars

rising from 1,800 metres

to 2,877,

taking us appreciably nearer
to the heavens.

Whoo!

Ha-ha-ha.

Nice little shake of the cable car

just to make sure
everybody is awake,

and they certainly are now.

Well, the slopes below
are very steep, steeper,

I think, than anything
I attempted on foot

and this is just marvellous,
isn't it,

to be wafted through the slopes
without any effort at all.

And the view just getting
better and better, moment by moment.

Scientists were climbing
the Pic du Midi

to conduct high-altitude experiments
as early as 1884.

Above the cloud,
above every other peak

and sailing towards what looks like
a domed city of the Orient.

Five, four, three, two, one,

and the capsule has docked.

The summit offers a 360-degree vista

across 186 miles of
the Pyrenean range.

My goodness,

the Pyrenees are so much more
wonderful than I had expected.

My idea was that
they were a narrow chain,

and I thought coming here in spring,

maybe a few peaks would have
a little snow left.

But what I find is something
quite different.

I find a mass of mountains,
deep as well as long,

innumerable peaks,
far too many to count,

and a great snowy outback,
a fabulous place.

One of the wonders
of Europe, surely,

and one of the wonders
of the planet.

Well, this walkway, wow,

is not designed for people
who suffer from vertigo.

The mountain offers views
down upon our planet,

whilst its observatory
scans the universe.

And now I see that when all
the Pyrenees are covered in cloud,

uniquely the Pic du Midi
emerges cloudless,

and that is why they've built this
collection of scientific buildings

under the clarity of
a black night sky.

To understand this
extraordinary place,

I'm meeting the observatory's
deputy director, Nicolas Bourgeois.

Hello.
I'm Michael.

Nicolas has worked
here for over ten years.

You know, I never imagined
that with my feet on...

on a flat surface,
on a firm surface,

that I would be able to see
this extension of mountains.

They're an enormous range,
aren't they?

Yeah, yeah,
and from the Pic du Midi,

you have the greatest view
on the mountains.

You have 400km of mountains

and from here, you can see

the greatest and biggest mountains
of the Pyrenees.

And for some reason not only a great
place from which to view the Earth,

but also the skies.

Yeah, the Pic du Midi is like
a window to the universe.

Because here, we are just up the...
the pollution and the clouds

and the dust, and thanks to
the position of these mountains,

you have stability of
the atmosphere,

a great stability of the atmosphere.

So we have beautiful sky
to observe for the astronomy.

The Pic now attracts

around one and a half million
visitors per year.

We enter in the maze.

But for Nicolas it's his workplace.

Oh.

And here you are in the oldest
corridor of the Pic du Midi.

I think Theseus went through
a simpler labyrinth

on his way to the Minotaur!

Yeah, and you have 3km of corridors,

so it is a big maze. No!

That's unbelievable. Yeah.

Do you use a piece of string?

Yeah!
HE LAUGHS

And you have 3km
and you have 12 levels.

Oh, my goodness. Yeah.

Construction of the observatory
began in 1878,

with the first dome built in 1908.

Nicolas, now that I've arrived here,

I realise what a fantastic
construction the observatory is.

It was the first on this generation
and you have to imagine,

at this period,

it was impossible to go on
the summit with a cable car.

It was impossible. The only means
was by foot and with mule.

What brought you, Nicolas,
to this mountain?

I fell in love with stars
when I was a child

and I discovered mountains when I...
when I was 20,

and the Pic du Midi,
it's the place with...

where you have mountains and stars.

There is... only place like that
in France, it's the Pic du Midi.

So when I discovered this place,
it was sure for me.

The observatory at the Pic du Midi

played a vital role
in 20th-century history.

In the '60s,
its scientists mapped the moon

in preparation for
the Apollo landings.

Nowadays, it's possible
to overnight on the Pic.

Do you sometimes stay up here
at the observatory,

and for how long might you stay
at the observatory?

For me, stay here is just to live
in the midst of the Pic Du Midi,

and see all the Milky Way
and the dance of the stars

around the observatory.

And just for that,
I stay sometimes many days,

just for to enjoy this ballet,
this star ballet.

The Pic du Midi can accommodate
up to 27 guests.

I have the great privilege of
staying up here

on top of the mountain
at nearly 3,000 metres.

This is the way to my room.

But it has more the feel of
a battleship or a bunker

than of a hotel.

Oof!

My word.

That must surely be the best view
from any hotel room in the world.

I am lucky.

Out into the darkness.

In a few moments outside,

I've got very cold.

But my eyes have also become
accustomed to the darkness

and I'm seeing...

..a vast number of stars.

Infinitely more than I see
at home in the city.

And more particularly, beyond them,

I'm seeing that milky cloud,
which is presumably made up of...

..millions or billions of stars.

And earlier today, I thought

these mountains were one of
the biggest things I'd ever seen.

And so, for me, the concept of
infinity is impossible to grasp.

It's lovely to think, though,

since I can just about grasp
the idea of the sun and the moon,

that here in the Pyrenees
at this observatory,

they've made great progress in
understanding our moon and our sun.

Tiny, insignificant though they are
in the universe.

This part of my journey
has brought so many superlatives.

Highest, steepest, slipperiest,

thinnest air and
the most beautiful views,

and of course,
all that attracts many tourists,

but somehow without damaging the
natural wonders of the national park

or the traditional way of life
of the mountain people.

And my fear that I would feel
uncomfortable here

amongst sporty skiers and
struggling with the language

has proved groundless.

I have been embraced by
the gentle charm

of the French people
in this Pyrenean region,

when I haven't been basking
in solitude on the high peaks.

Next time in the French
Ariege Pyrenees,

I meet a city couple
who've escaped to the mountains...

We were seeking
for something more in life.

..I take refuge from
the relentless rain...

Through the fog,
the smudge of a building.

It looks dry. So welcome!

..and battle my way
to a hilltop castle.

Ha! I made it!

What drama, the blizzard swirling
around the ancient battlements.

.