A vast, wild place, much bigger than Gavarnie and, in bad weather, rather intimidating, the Cirque de Troumouse lies up a desolate valley, whose only habitations are the handful of farmsteads and pilgrimage chapel that make up the hamlet of HÉAS – until the construction of the road in, one of the loneliest outposts in France. In Héas, two establishments offer camping space, rooms (under €30) and simple meals: La Chaumière (tel 05.62.92.48.66, closed Nov–April) and Auberge de la Munia (tel 05.62.92.48.39). As you reach the head of the valley there is a tollgate (9am–5pm; €3.50 per car), after which the road climbs in tight hairpins up treeless slopes 4km to the Auberge du Maillet (tel 05.62.92.48.97; €30–40; closed mid-Oct to May), by the side of a small tarn. After this it climbs again, even more steeply over 3km, beneath bare shining crags, to a car park. Nearby, a prominent statue of the Virgin Mary crowns a grassy knoll, enclosed by the wide sweeping walls of the cirque and enough pasture to feed thousands of cows and sheep. The moorland turf is channelled with streams and cut into dingles and hummocks, where gentians and saxifrage, sedums and houseleeks grow among the rock crevices. Beneath the eastern walls of the cirque are scattered a half-dozen blue glacial lakelets, the Lacs des Aires. A Parc National path does the circuit from Héas (no toll for walkers, 4hr).
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