A short walk in the Pyrenees

It sounded so easy when S described it. 7 km there and back, a steep climb followed  by lovely "balcony views" along a ridge, returning via the same route. We actually managed to leave the house by 9:30 to drive down to Tavascan where we paused for coffee, just to support the local barkeeper. At this point it was only about 13C. It quickly got much hotter, and after about an hour we reached a point that required both hands and feet to scramble up. I expect Jamjar would have been comfortable here, but I wasn't. Luckily at this point G retired due to a previously injured hand, to return to Tavascan.  Soon afterwards (soon enough that we could hear his phone ringing in the valley), A rang him to instruct him to drive round to Lleret, our final destination, to pick us up as we I had quickly determined that scrambling back down was not an option.

As you can see, there were indeed lovely views as we climbed in baking heat. But once we reached the top, it started to cloud over, spoiling the views, and then it started to rain. And I don't know how to say this, but it took us roughly three hours to walk what was allegedly 3 km but turned out to be over 4. Lleret seemed to be an enchanted village that never got any  closer. Has anyone ever taken so long to walk such a short distance? Admittedly the advertised 200 m of climbing turned out to be 300 m, but still ... More views in extras, or there will be when I can get the wifi to work.

Luckily G was waiting for us once we had found our way through the maze of Lleret. He needed petrol though, so we drove to Llavorsi, where S and I food shopped in order to replace all the fresh supplies I had bought back home in order to avoid shopping in Covid-ridden Catalonia, and then woozily forgot to pack yesterday morning. Meanwhile G and A drove the extra 10 km to the nearest petrol station.

We finally got home for lunch at the Spanish hour of 3 pm or so, and some of us at least didn't have the energy to do more than chill for the rest of the afternoon. Later, G&T at the bar, dinner cooked by me and S: patatas bravas, barbecued lamb cutlets, tomates à la crème, cheese, and peaches pan-fried in butter and served with crème fraîche because they were too rock-hard to eat raw. Bed now!