Fancy a galactic break in France? Dana Facaros goes stargazing at Pic du Midi Astronomical Observatory in Hautes-Pyrénées, Occitanie, southwest France.
The two,877m/9,439ft Pic du Midi isn’t the best mountain within the Pyrénées, however as we drove south of Tarbes, capital of the Hautes- Pyrénées, it actually appeared prefer it: a pyramid towering excessive over its neighbours. Nearer, we clocked some odd-looking bits on the summit. That was the place we and 25 different fortunate souls have been going to spend the night time.
A starry night time on the roof of the Pyrénées
The Pic du Midi’s astronomical observatory has a hallowed historical past. It was right here that scientists mapped the moon in preparation for the Apollo landings. Its Bernard Lyot 2m telescope is the largest in France.
But in 1995, the Ministry for Increased Training and Analysis introduced it could shut for lack of funds, sending scientists, lecturers and the regional authorities scrambling to discover a technique to fund it and maintain it open. First, they constructed a brand new cable automobile to make the summit accessible to the paying public for the primary time, then in 2006 they added the prospect to spend an astronomical night time on prime. These Nuits au Sommet have grow to be so in style it’s a must to reserve a 12 months or so upfront, I realized once I tried to guide one as a shock for my astronomy-loving husband’s birthday – so we ended up going for his subsequent birthday as an alternative.
At La Mongie, the scrappy resort on the base, the highway was coated with pale graffiti from the Tour de France’s current ascent of the Col du Tourmalet. We boarded the jaunty white and blue cable automobile, and inside minutes have been dashing up in direction of what appeared like a clutch of eggs beneath a large needle, casting a racing shadow over tiny white dots of sheep far, far beneath.
Fifteen minutes later, the automobile docked with a reassuring click on and out we clambered. Up shut, the eggs and needle proved to be an enormous, fortified bunker draped over the summit, effervescent with mysterious white domes, towers, devices, and an infinite antennae, the right lair for a James Bond villain, hidden away above a panoramic sea of primordial peaks. The air and lightweight have been crystal clear—you possibly can see eternally, or extra exactly, for 300km, so far as Catalonia and the foothills of the Massif Central.
A younger information led us to our room by a labyrinth buried contained in the mountain, previous ©intriguing No Entry doorways. ‘Don’t get misplaced,’ he warned (too late). ‘There are 4km of underground corridors, so the technicians can work year-round with out going outdoors. In winter, the temperature can drop to -30C and the winds can blow at 180kmph. In the event that they’re over 85kmph, the cable automobile can’t run.’
‘Then what occurs?’ I requested.
‘You get to remain. We had a bunch caught up right here for ten days as soon as.’ He noticed the look on our faces. ‘However don’t fear, we’ve loads of wine! At 6pm we meet up within the bar to hydrate ourselves.’
‘We ‘hydrate ourselves?’ Like astronauts?’
‘Mais non! Like Gascons!’
Our room within the technicians’ dormitory was comfortable and minimalist however the stupendous mountains views by the thick window beat any lodge room arms down. Exterior the air was already nippy; we grabbed our coats and scampered by the maze, though it wasn’t lengthy earlier than we slowed right down to a light-headed trudge. In spite of everything we have been almost two miles excessive. We watched courageous souls proof against vertigo take selfies on the Pontoon of the Sky, a slender 12m walkway extending alarmingly over the void.
However as soon as the day the final day guests descended, the observatory appeared to come back into its personal. We joined the opposite overnighters for cocktails, then took the elevate as much as go to the best museum in Europe, full with astonishing pictures of how the factor was constructed on prime of a mountain, beginning almost 150 years in the past.
We returned to the terrace in time to look at the sundown paint the peaks lipstick pink, outlining the gleaming white domes towards the darkening sky. As if on cue, roiling clouds appeared out of nowhere, turning the valleys right into a frothy white sea and the encircling summits into islands, leaving the observatory floating like a ghost ship beneath a 101m mast.
It was so hypnotic it was arduous to go in for dinner, however the meals, Gascon garbure and black pork of Bigorre, was scrumptious. We washed it down with a sturdy native wine, Madiran, that at that altitude had double the same old oomph!
By the point we waddled again outdoors with our astronomer information, the half-moon was sinking. Starlight crammed the large dome of the sky, the constellations blazing with Van Gogh fireplace, the swirling veil of the Milky Approach shimmering with 100 billion stars.
In 2013, the Pic du Midi grew to become the sixth place on the planet to be accredited by the Worldwide Darkish Sky Reserve (IDSR), the primary in Europe and the one one in France. Puddles of sunshine—together with Lourdes, Tarbes and sprawling Toulouse on the horizon—marked the loopy, cockamamie world far beneath. We tour turns peering by the telescope on the moons of Jupiter, double stars and distant stars of their loss of life agony. A capturing star fell in gradual movement, leaving a vivid blue streak throughout the sky, so shut we might hear it go phhhhhht!
Sometimes a cloud would grip the observatory in bone-chilling mist. Ghostly tendrils performed cover and search with the glittering sky, making the observatory eerie and dreamlike and surprisingly romantic. Near midnight the mist lingered for thus lengthy that we trundled off to mattress.
We set the alarm to be up in time to look at the satisfyingly dramatic dawn. This was adopted by a personal tour behind the scenes, the place we might watch the astronomers at work. One job they do is research the floor of the solar. It’s been a busy time for photo voltaic flares, therefore all of the current Northern Mild reveals. ‘Are we due for one more Carrington Occasion?’ the husband requested—referring to the large geomagnetic flare that wreaked havoc in 1859, and would seemingly trigger a worldwide disaster in the present day.
‘You by no means know!’ the astronomer stated brightly.
Discover our extra: picdumidi.com/fr/nuit-au-sommet/
Dana Facaros has lived in France for over 30 years. She is the creator of French Meals Decoder app: all the pieces you need to learn about French meals, and co-author of the Bradt information to Gascony & the Pyrenees and lots of information books to France.
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