In Bayonne, France

• Posted by: Geo Kearley
• Comments: 1

We had a fun last hike in Innsbruck before leaving on the train that night for Bayonne to visit my sister, brother-in-law, niece & nephew.

The last hike took us all the way down the Brenner highway, then branched off into a small, steep side valley just inside the Austria / Italy border. Our hike started at the very end of this side valley, and we slowly climbed up one of the valley walls, switchbacking up 830 m. to a hut in the bowl between two mountain ranges at the foot of the reminenets of a glacier. It was nice to have the cooling effect of the glacier in the heat of the day.

We could hear marmots whistling all around us on the trip up, but none were to be seen. The only other evidence of animal life on the hike was the musical resonance of cow bells rising up from the valley floor. It’s a good thing those cows have bells – these cows were the colour of the rocks – if you were the farmer, you’d never find your cows in that valley without the auditory clues. Apparently the farmers enlist the help of the military to drive the cows down from their summer grazing in the mountains. The military use helicopters to direct the cows home. This may give you some idea of why it’s a proud achievement to have climbed higher than the livestock in these mountains.

After a filling lunch of kaiserschmarrne (a dish of heavy, torn pancakes topped with a seasonal fruit compote) we hiked down to the valley floor and followed a glacial stream out to the mouth of the valley. It was a beautiful hike on a beautiful day.

There were 31 people hiking in our group today; there were people from the US, France, Belgium, Canada, Italy, Germany, Denmark, Australia and Austria. It was quite an international group, and the conversation was at times as interesting as the scenery. I met the first US citizen on our trip so far who agreed with the “war on Iraq”, several other people who put forth poignant arguments against the war, people who work for an organization called “Food, Not Bombs”, and university kids who were convinced they were advanced leftist thinkers and radicals because they considered themselves to be part of the peace/surfer culture in California. (I didn’t have the heart to tell them that being a part of a group of people who all think the same and act the same does not make one a radical non-conformist). Regardless, they were an interesting group, and there were no Americans who refused to talk to me because I’m Canadian (we’ve run into 4 people who fit into that category on this trip so far…)

We left Innsbruck after supper, and took three trains to get to Bayonne to visit my sister. We’ve just been goofing off here, indulging in some fantastic Bayonne chocolate, stepping over dog crap in the streets (tip-toeing through the tulips?), taking side trips to San Sebastian in Spain to see the beaches and historic town center (the only people in the water on the beaches are the tourists – the locals all know that the oil from the Spanish oil tanker that went down off the shore last year is still seeping toxic waste into the water, so it was “look but don’t touch ” for us.), and playing with my niece and nephew. George is doing what he always does with other people’s kids – he gets them all wound up, then takes off out the door! The kids love him.

We have one more night in Bayonne before we take three trains back to Innsbruck to do some more hiking, and to say goodbye to some of our friends who we hope to see again next year. As usual, we miss our families, friends and dogs…

Post Information

Date posted :	Aug 7, 2003
Last modified :	Dec 20, 2007
Categories :	France, Western Europe
Tags :	Australia, Austria, Bayonne, Belgium, California, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Innsbruck, Italy