Pyrenees 2008
Preparing the tripThe idea of crossing Pyrenees in Segway did not emerge just like that. I had been able to realize the extraordinary potentialities of the Segway machine (see Equipment), and hushed up by studying my exams, I started dreaming of a 200 km's walk, being accompanied by some friends bicycling. I asked Xavier who was soon very interested. Thinking of it gave substance to our plan. We needed additional batteries, and those weren't easy to find. We realized that such a trip could not be improvised and that, while we were at it, we may as well do things on a grand scale. We decided to leave three weeks after our exams of July, so that we could be back on time to take again the possibly missed examinations in September.
We wanted a mountain walk, within a country where we were able to speak the local language. We therefore chose the Pyrenees, this chain of mountains between France and Spain, designed in red on the small map of Europe. As it was necessary to convey the equipment on site, and considering the difficulty to travel by train with a Segway machine, we decided to go first to Bordeaux, a place than can easily be reached by TGV (a full speed train) from Brussels
So, we decided to make a triangular itinerary: going from Bordeaux to Bayonne (close to Spanish frontier on the Atlantic coast), then from Bayonne to Perpignan (near Spanish border on the Mediterranean coast), alongside Pyrenees from west to east, and ending the trip by going back to Bordeaux. But as mentioned further, we had to change our plans while travelling. We still had to find lodgings. The idea was to try to contact the priests of the villages we planned to go through, and ask them whether they knew a parishioners' family which would agree to shelter us for one night. We therefore met Pierre Hannosset, priest of the student parish church of Louvain-la-Neuve. He used to visit me during my hospitalization. He agreed and wrote a letter of recommendation for us. A word of him can be seen on the page they said about us. As our plan began to be well set, we wrote on April 18th to « Segway France » and ask them to lend us a Segway machine for Xavier (I provided mine) as well as the absolutely necessary additional batteries. On May 28th, they answered positively, and, moreover, they offered as a « bonus » the GPS we also needed (see equipment). Provided with Pierre's letter, we then start giving countless phone calls, and most of the priests, in spite of their old age, make a huge effort to find us places where we could rest (their parish area are often composed of several villages, located on dozen's of miles) Go back to the top of the page Living the trip
Prior to my narration, I would like to thank all persons who provide us board and lodging (it was indeed real gastronomical holidays) or helped us in either way. Telling one anecdote for each day is impossible (the story is already rather long just as it is now), so keep in mind that we do not forget your welcome. Xavier and me often exchange thinkings that start with something like I would tell you to cross the unnecessary annotations out but there aren't any. For once, I drink cheers! We left in the morning on the 6th of July. The journey by high-speed train was long and testing. Of course we had informed the SNCB that I was handicapped and that I moved around with a Segway. We had send pictures of it with its dimensions and weight. But when we arrived on the platform, we had to convince the escort to let us get on the train.
The journey takes quite a long time when the train is on time, but our's was three hours late. Luckily, the Segway agent of Bordeaux who had to give us the equipment, M. Symphor, nicely took us to our first step, several kilometres from Bordeaux with his van. We slept there, in the presbytery. Our trailer was the trouble spot of our trip. We hadn't reckoned that to change the batteries would take us so long, but each time we had to unstrap the trailer, change the batteries, than strap it back up. The first days, we had to stop after 100meters a lot because the bag wasn't fixed well. Because of that, we had to change our fist project of doing two stages of 50 kilometres and to recharge partially the batteries at midday. De Moreover, the attache of the trailer that had been done before we left by a coachbuilder was too fragile.
On July 9th, we broke it for the first time. We did a homemade mending and we finally arrived to Capbreton on the Atlantic coast. We slept there in a Belgian family's home who had accepted to accommodate us. Fortunately, they knew someone who knew someone who had a solder post. The next day, at midday the attache of the trailer was mended and ours hosts insisted to pay it, thanks again to them. But it was late in the day; we were tired, our hosts were insisting for us to stay a night more. They were very nice and they had a swimming pool, so we slept there another night.
July 11. The landscape began to change. We were leaving the Landes, there big pine forests and the strait roads for the first foothills of the Basque Country and the Pyrenees. We broke the attaché of the trailer a second time. We soldered it again two hours later for 5¬ .. We didn't know where we were going to sleep that night, we were a little worried but fortunately we found a lodge for the Compostelle pilgrim. We met a nice Argentinean pilgrim there.
July 12, things turned serious. We crossed our first pass through a thick fog; and we met our first free-roaming cows. In this region,herds of cows, sheep and horses are free, with each wearing a bell around the neck. As you can see on the picture; they were quite frightened by us. July 13, still in the fog, we began the descent, after spending the night at the pass. This is where we experienced for the first time the strange phenomenon mentioned in Equipment: the Segway with the trailer wouldn't go down. Later, we figured out the reason: its batteries were overloaded. The Segway pulling the trailer is heavier and hence its batteries unload faster uphill and reload faster downhill. Right then, we were worried. We stopped a car and the driver agreed to take our trailer and leave it on the side of the road at the entrance of the next village. But the Segway still would not budge. We stopped a second car and my Segway and I got a lift to the next village, 10 km downhill, where I found the trailer as arranged. A few minutes later, I spotted a smiling Xavier riding down the road, and its batteries were still fully charged after 10 km. The sun was shining brightly in the valley. We resumed our trip, and eventually we figured out what happened. The same day, in the evening, the trailer connection broke for the third time in the middle of nowhere on the Sunday before July 14, a French holiday. We managed to reach a hostel where we rented a room. Then we sat on the side of the road and contemplated the broken trailer connection, wondering what to do. We concluded that we would have to wait two days and that Xavier would hitchhike Tuesday to the nearest town and get the the connection soldered (the connector is small enough to fit in a pocket). Right at that moment, the campground manager comes to have a look at our machines. As usual, we have him take a ride on a Segway and explain our situation. Ten minutes and three phone calls later, the manager takes Xavier and the connector in his all-wheel drive to a friend of his who is a handyman. This man, who was entertaining guests, engaged in a long conversation with the manager in Basque XXX. Xavier caught only one word (handicapé ie disabled) which apparently is the same in French and Basque. Fifteen minutes later, Xavier was back with our connector that had doubled in size with an impressive soldering job. This man left a word in our guestbook partially in Basque: Thanks to this Auvergnat-Basque, (Georges Brassens, you drink) we left the next morning.
the following days, we slept in stage for Compostella's pilgrim where we met two flamish compatriot,a Parisian Hindu osteopath, and two policeman who kindly show us the way(they, were not going to Saint Jacques) !!translation still in progress!! Je ne résiste pas au plaisir de vous lire le mot qu'ils ont laissé dans notre livre d'or. Je n'y ai rien changé, mais comme on n'est jamais trop prudent avec ce qu'on écrit sur Internet, j'ai effacé les noms propres, sauf celui du lieu-dit.
Ensuite, nous sommes passés par Lourdes. Un peu par hasard en fait. Lourdes est un passage obligé si l'on veut éviter le col du Tourmalet qui est une route nationale que nous jugions trop dangereuse car trop fréquentée. Mais tant que nous étions là, nous nous sommes dits qu'on allait aller voir la célèbre grotte des apparitions de la Vierge et nous y recueillir un moment. Il faut bien dire que nous détonions un peu à Lourdes, au milieu des autocars de religieuses polonaises et des scouts d'Europe tirés à quatre épingles, bannières au vent. Nous avions l'habitude d'être regardés comme des extraterrestres, mais là, nous ne nous sentions vraiment pas à l'aise. Avant d'aller voir la grotte, nous nous sommes arrêtés sur un grand parking désert, pour changer les batteries à l'ombre. Moins de cinq minutes plus tard, une dame arborant fièrement un badge d’hospitalière est venue nous dire que nous devions partir, que le parking était une propriété privée. Je lui explique que bien sûr nous n'allons pas rester, que nous comptons repartir dès que nous aurons changé les batteries, et pour l'amadouer, je lui dis que je suis handicapé et que nous venons voir la grotte. Immédiatement, la dame nous déclare d'un air pincé qu'il est hors de question d'aller voir la grotte avec ces engins. J'explique que bien sûr, Xavier ira à pied, mais que moi, je ne peux pas y aller autrement. Rien à faire. Après quelques minutes de discussion, le ton monte : - - - - - - - Entre-temps, Xavier avait fini de changer les batteries. Je lui ai demandé s'il pouvait secouer la poussière de mes sandales, puis nous sommes partis en remerciant la dame pour son ombre. On n'a jamais vu la grotte. Voilà comment certaines personnes pensent que les handicapés devraient se tenir : Je ne pense pas avoir jamais été aussi en colère que ce jour-là, et croyez-moi, je peux être très en colère. Donc, nous nous sommes fait virer de Lourdes où affluent chaque année des milliers de personnes handicapées, et dans le Pays basque où les sites touristiques sont régulièrement la cible d'attentats à la bombe, nous n'avons rencontré que des gens charmants qui nous ont accueillis comme des rois. Alors quand on me dit que les Américains sont très accueillants, ou qu'au contraire, ils détestent les étrangers (on nous soutient régulièrement les deux versions avec une égale vigueur), je souris, je hoche la tête et je repense à la soudure basque basque et à l'hospitalière de Lourdes.
Les jours suivants se sont déroulés de la même manière. On a encore brisé l'attache remorque, et il a fallu en faire refaire une nouvelle tant la première n'était plus qu'un amas de soudures tordues. On a aussi cassé quatre ou cinq fois les vis de l'attache remorque, et il a été difficile de les extraire puisque la tête de vis était cassée mais qu'une moitié de la vis était toujours en place. Le 26 juillet au soir, nous sommes arrivés à Perpignan. Nous y avons déposé nos affaires dans une auberge de jeunesse, puis nous sommes allés à la gare. En effet, nous nous étions rendus compte depuis longtemps que nous n'aurions pas le temps de retourner à Bordeaux par nos propres moyens. Nous nous sommes donc arrangés avec la SNCF (Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Français) et nous avons acheté un ticket de train pour Bordeaux pour le lendemain matin. Nous avons ensuite poussé jusqu'à Canet-Plage où nous tenions absolument à voir la mer. Malheureusement, nous sommes arrivés lorsqu'il faisait nuit, nous n'avons donc pas de bonnes photos de la Méditerranée.
Le 27 juillet, nous avons pris le train très tôt matin pour Bordeaux. À la gare de Perpignan (centre du monde)(Salvador Dali, tu bois), Xavier était un peu inquiet étant donné le peu d'enthousiasme qu'avait montré la SNCB pour embarquer un Segway à Bruxelles et qu'il fallait ce jour-là en embarquer 2. Mais nous venions justement de faire connaissance avec trois militaires français qui patrouillaient dans la gare et qui nous avaient
dit qu'ils nous donneraient un coup de main pour embarquer. J'ai donc répondu :
Et effectivement, le personnel de la SNCF s'est montré d'une gentillesse à toute épreuve. On peut voir sur la photo l'élévateur destiné à embarquer les chaises roulantes. En fait nous avons pris cette photo pour l'envoyer à la SNCB. En effet, j'ai pris le train quelquefois en Belgique, et j'ai toujours eu des ennuis, alors qu'en France, c'est limite si on ne déployait pas le tapis rouge. Il m'en coûte de le dire, mais bravo les Français. Nous avons rendu le matériel à Bordeaux à l'heure dite et en bon état, et après 13 heures de train (Perpignan-Bordeaux, Bordeaux-Bruxelles), nous étions de retour chez nous. Le voyage en chiffresNous sommes partis trois semaines, mais nous avons passé deux jours dans les trains, et nous avons fait 3 pauses d'une journée, nous avons donc roulé pendant 17 jours. Nous avons parcouru 980 km (Allez, disons 1000 puisque nous n'avons pas compté le col que j'ai descendu en stop) ce qui fait une moyenne de 58 km par jour. Nous avons franchi 19 cols de montagne. Ce qui nous a coûté le plus cher, c'est certainement le train. La nourriture et le logement (puisque nous avons souvent logé dans des gîtes d'étape) nous reviennent à 0,35 € par kilomètre et par personne… Retourner au début de la page |
