It is a long drive from the Picos de Europa in Spain to the French Pyrenees - down the winding valley of the Rio Cares, then a long section of busy autopista through the Basque Country, some more autoroute across southern France, before again taking the smaller roads (with huge numbers of roundabouts) deep into the mountains .... six hours in total by the time we reached our accommodation at Eaux Chaudes, a hamlet in the Valle d'Ossau, one of the deep valleys that cut into the Pyrenees mountains. Add to that the need for some food and drink shopping for the next four days and we were very tired indeed.

The main street in Eaux Chaudes

Still, Eaux Chaude is a magical place, with its old houses and large thermal bath establishment, tucked between the rushing waters of the Gave d'Ossau and the mist-shrouded rock-walled, beech-forested valley walls that towered above it. We would be very comfortable here and, as the forecast was for rain, we would have a day of rest - no walking, no cycling, no driving.

Even better, the next few days were going to be sunny and warm - perfect for renewing my love of the Pyrenees. We had visited these mountains some 30 years ago, when we lived in France for a period and I promised myself that one day we would come back. That day has come.

After the day of rain came the day of blue sky and sunshine. It was time to head out to walk the circuit around the Lacs d'Ayous, a series of lakes on different tiers of the mountains, watched over by the brooding Pic du Midi d'Ossau. I suspect that were there a walk that encapsulated the spirit of the Pyrenees, it would be this one and it was the walk I had most been looking forward to on this trip.

We drove from Eaux Chaudes up the winding valley to reach the start point at Lac de Bious-Artigues, surrounded by steep forest clad slopes. From the number of cars already in the parking area, we would not be alone, but that is the price paid if you are on an iconic walk in Europe. Though there was always someone walking nearby, we never really felt crowded. I suspect it may be different in the summer holidays.

We left the lake to climb up a well-formed cement and gravel road through the fir forest. Below us the waters of the Gave de Bious tumbled down from the heights. We crossed the white-watered torrent on a bridge and continued steeply up the road to break out from the forest on to a broad flat mountain meadow. A flock of sheep grazed contentedly next to the Gave, now meandering serenely across the flats. At the back of the meadow, the twin peaks of Pic Paradis and Pic Casterau marked where we were heading.

To our left, the dark shaded western flank of Pic du Midi d'Ossau towered above. This is one of those mountains that's going to try and photobomb all my shots. Already this walk was showing the vastness of the Pyreneen landscape.

Pic Paradis (2129m) and Pic Casterau (2168m)

We soon left the open meadows to continue our climb steeply up through the fir forest on a foot-track braided by many walkers. The appearance of beech trees in the forest signalled our arrival at its edge and yet another grand view - this time of snow-speckled distant peaks to the north (and of cours the Pic du Midi). It was from this angle that we noticed the uncanny resemblance of the peak to the northern coastline fo Australia - we renamed it the Pic du Midi d'Ossaustralie.

Another section of forest, followed by steep grasslands, scattered with wildflowers of every hue, brought us to the first tier. Here in this basin lay Lac Roumassot, its green waters backed by an impressive cirque of peaks, Pic d'Ayous, Pic de Larry, Pic de Hourette and Pic des Moines.

Lac du Miey

The inflow into the lake came from a tumbling stream that was fed by a powerful waterfall cascading off the tier above. A rocky path took us alongside the waterfall to the next tier and Lac du Miey, smaller and more intimate.

A little higher lay the larger Lac Gentau famed for its reflections of the Pic du Midi - it did not fail, though the water surface was rippled by the cool breeze. High above, between the lake and the cirque of mountains lay the Refuge d'Ayous - the perfect place to sit and soak up this magnificent scenery with a cup of hot coffee.

Moving on, we rounded a couple of small ponds, before climbing up a set of zig-zags above the lichen-covered boulder scree. This took us up to the next tier and Lac Bersau, the largest and highest, and possibly the greenest of the lakes, again framed superbly by the surrounding mountain tops. It was a great place to stop for lunch.

Admiring the scenery at Lac Bersau

At the end of the lake, we rounded the back of Pic Casterau to reach the start of our descent. Just when we were starting to get a bit blasé, another very different but amazing view opened out ... down below, Lac Casterau, above it, a very different profile of Pic du Midi, as we looked at its southern flank, and in the distance, cloud billowing above the snow-speckled ranges of the Pyrenees.

The descent to the lake and further on to the valley below was a steep and rocky one, but with an ever changing panorama of mountains, meadows and clouds. Curiously, the outflow from Lac Casterau disappeared into a cavern to reappear who knows where.

Reaching the flatter grasslands, we were now passing directly under Pic du Midi. A foaming waterfall tumbled down from some higher tier to become the fast-flowing Gave de Bious as it crossed an open meadow.

Cloud rolling in over the high meadow

We dropped on to a grassy and sometimes boggy foot-track to follow the stream, as it crossed the meadow before plunging down through a couple of mini-gorges to reach the big flat we had seen on our way up. Our loop was closing and we followed the meandering course of the Gave before crossing another bridge to rejoin our outward path. From here, it was a further descent through the forest to arrive back at Lac de Bious-Artigues and the end of the walk.

Back at de Lac Bious-Artigues

What a walk it was - it quickly went to the top of the list for this trip, partly because of the superb weather, but mainly because of the superb scenery - towering peaks, lakes, waterfalls, a river, meadows and forest. As mentioned in the beginning - this walk encapsulates the Pyrenees - for the fair Nello and I, it was simply superb.

Have you ever done a walk that is so good you don't want to spoil the memory of it by doing something lesser the next day. That has only happened to us a few times and yesterday was one of them. We really wanted the Lacs d'Ayous to be our take home memory from this part of the Pyrenees and so we cancelled a similar walk that we had planned for today. Instead, as well as just enjoying the beautiful surrounds of Eaux Chaudes, we did something quite different - a walk up through the forest to explore a cave.

We didn't have to leave the village, just head out from our appartment and head up a local road and into the dense beech forest. Soon we were climbing along a footpath that wound its way up the steep valley wall. We strolled along a bed of soft brown leaves, beneath the dappled green canopy of tall beech, as we passed mossy boulders, small waterfalls and streams flowing down from above.

Suddenly, the track itself became a fast-flowing stream and for a few hundred metres we picked our way up it as we reached a wall of limestone rock high above the valley floor. Rounding a corner, we discovered the source of this track-turned-stream. The stream was gushing out of the first grotte - a small entrance, but a large volume of water after the recent rains.

The track continued upwards along a steep drop-off beneath the rock wall, flattening out before dipping a bit and reaching another stream flowing out of an opening in the rock - this time a huge opening. We had reached the main Grotte and, taking out our headlamps, entered it to be greeted by a waft of icy cold air from within.

The entry of Grotte d'Eaux Chaudes

It was fascinating to explore, with water showering down from the cave roof in places and the stream winding its way along the floor. We picked our way deep into the cave, rock-hopping as we went to reach a point where a subterranean cascade restricted further exploration. It was an excellent complement to the vast landscapes of yesterday.

With some very slight variations, the way down was the same as the way up and we soon reached our appartment again. The visit to the Grotte d'Eaux Chaude had been a very short walk, but still one with a good climb and one which showed yet another aspect of these fascinating mountains.

The fine sunny days continued to accumulate ... in fact, today risked being downright hot, with forecast temperatures in the mountains of over 30°C. We set off early to drive the winding road up to the Col du Pourtalet, passing from thick beech forest and a deep, narrow valley to broad, grassy hogh country meadows surrounded by rugged peaks. We also passed 30 or more cyclists doing their Tour de France imitations and cycling the 27 km and 1000m climb up to this famous pass ..... bravo les mecs!

Then it was a long descent down into Spain, for the Col du Pourtalet (now Col Portalet) marks the border. The scenery on this side was no less impressive, as we followed a minor road across the foothills (they are actually foot-mountains) to reach the town of Broto. We have an appartment in a restored buidling in the hamlet of Oto, just up the hill from Broto, for the next three nights. Broto is the gateway to the Ordesa Monte Perdido National Park and it is here that we plan our next major walk. Hopefully, the weather may be a little cooler then.

Rio Ara from Broto framed by Pico Mondarruego (2845m)

Well here we are in Broto, in the Spanish Pyrenees, having arrived from the French side at 11.30 am and not being able to check-in to our appartment in a restored centuries old stone building in the nearby hamlet of Oto until 5pm - what to do? Firstly, go and have a coffee at a riverside bar and take stock - seeing it was going to be 32°C, we didn't feel like a big climb, such as most walks in these mountains consist of, and opted for a short and leisurely stroll along the Rio Ara up to the nearby town of Torla.

The walk left from the main street of this medieval town, passing under the one remaining arch of its old stone bridge and along the banks of the Rio Ara. The Ara flows down from the heart of the mountains ... fed by springs and glaciers it has become almost one long rapid of foaming turquoise water, an impressive sght ..... especially when backed by the striated walls of the Pyreneen border ridges.

Central plaza in Torla

After a short while, we left the river to climb steadily up (is there any other way in these mountains?) on an old stone pathway. The one good thing was that it was mostly shaded by the dense riverside bush.

The track eventually brought us to a big carpark at the Ordesa National Park Visitor Centre. You have to catch a bus to enter the park .... the number of vehicles n the parking area testified to its popularity for walkers. Tomorrow, we would be two of them. After lunch in a the shade of a birch tree, we continued up to check out the 16th century church and old buildings of Torla, wandering through its cobbled streets before starting to head back. The location of Torla, deep in the Ara Valley and framed by Pico Mondarruego was superb.

Then it was time to retrace our steps back to Broto, where the fair Nello spotted a cool tree-shaded terrace bar, where we could wait out the remainder of our time before check-in, sipping an ice cold beer .... a simple pleasure on a hot Spanish afternoon.

Imagine a huge canyon curving around into the heart of the Pyrenees mountains. This is Ordesa and the region is protected by the Parque Nacional de Ordesa y Monte Perdido. We have just completed the second, and hardest, of the "walks I really wanted to do" in the Pyrenees. The great majority of visitors to Ordesa walk up the floor of the canyon to the end and back again - itself a superb walk - but to really appreciate the immensity of this landscape, you need to walk high up the canyon wall, which is what we did.

The Senda de los Cazadores climbs almost 700m up the southern wall of Ordesa to follow it along mid-height to its far end, the Circo de Soasa. This was the first part of our walk, followed by a return along the Rio Arazas, as it flowed through the canyon. It gave us an appreciation of this incredible landscape from above and below. It was one of our best walks ever, and that comes just after saying the same about the Lacs d'Ayous - what magnificent mountains the Pyrenees are.

The walk started with a drive from our accommodation in Oto up to Torla. Private cars ar not allowed into the National Park, so everyone catches the bus, which takes you up the narrow winding road into the gorge as far as Pradera de Ordesa, a flat meadow area, from where all walks start.

Leaving the Pradera, we crossed the bridge over Rio Arazas and entered some cool beech forest. The climb began very quickly after and its pattern soon emerged - a series of short zig-zags, usually ending at deep gully or a rock-face, followed by a longer shallow climb to find the next ascent route, which the track then zig-zagged up, and so on eight more times. We set a slow, steady pace, moving from beech to mixed fir and beech to pine, with the surface of this steep slope becoming more scree-like as we climbed on.

Even though it was cool, the humidity was high and it wasn't long before we were drenched in perspiration. It wasn't surprising, as the track climbs 660m in only 2.4 km, an average 27% incline. Eventually, we butted up against the base of a high vertical rock wall, working our way around it and up its edge to emerge at the Mirador de Calcilarruego, at the edge of a sheer rock wall jutting out over the valley like a ship's prow. Way down below we could see the green meadow of the Pareda and all around there were superb views up and down the canyon. From here, the scale of its near vertical walls could really be appreciated.

The good news was that, from here on, most of the walk would be down. After a break to recover from the climb, we set out on the path as it wound its way just above the 100-200m drop of the Faja de Pelay. Quite often just a few pines grew between us and the edge and occasionally they disappeared, which gave superb views out to the opposite canyon wall and beyond. In the distance, we could see the Breche de Roland, an enormous gap in the ridge separating France and Spain.

The incredible views, the resinous scent of the pines, the colours of the wildflowers, including edelweiss, and a slight downward trajectory made for some very pleasant walking along this cliff-edge.

Monte Perdido (3355m) hiding in the clouds

Climbing had not completely vanished, and we crossed a small rise through the pines to continue a steeper downward route as we rounded the curve of the valley. From here, we could see just how much of the huge canyon walls lay above us.

The path towards the canyon head and its high meadow

We were also starting to get views into the cirque at the end of the valley, Circo de Soasa ... a broad grassy meadow surrounded by the canyon walls and backed by the 3250m peak of Monte Perdido. The peak lived up to its name, sometimes lost in the cloud that had formed over the main range, sometimes peeking through.

A rougher, rocky track took us steadily down through the pines to the meadow, where Rio Arazas meandered its way. The attraction though was where the river appeared - a 54m high waterfall, pouring out of mini-gorge in a widening fan shape ... the Cola de Caballo. It was a superb place for lunch, though for the first time, we had lots of company, as this is the destination of the valley route.

At last Monte Perdido shows its peak

The route home headed down the high meadow on a gravel road that morphed into a paved track. Walking here gave an impressive view of the canyon walls that we had just walked along.

The Rio Arazas flowing through the high meadow in Ordesa

At the end of the meadow, the canyon narrowed and deepened suddenly as the Rio Arazas plunged down in a series of tiered water-falls, Las Gradas de Soasa, separated by pools of an intense aquamarine.

The track descended in zig-zags beside the falls before following the rushing river for a while. At a point, it became a gravel access road, which we followed into some cool, shady and silent beech forest. It was pleasant meandering down beneath the dappled canopy of the beech trees.

Contemplating the beauty of Ordesa

The surprises continued, for as we approached the river again, it suddenly disappeared into a gorge within the canyon, dropping in a series of large and powerful waterfalls. We took a side-track to descend into this gorge, with a chance to look back up it and see the Cascada del Estrecho and the Cascada de la Cueva (both 30m drops). If you love waterfalls, you have to visit Ordesa.

The soft green and tan of a beech forest

We still had quite a way to go, back onto a gravel road to descend through some more beech forest before reaching the Pradera de Ordesa. Here we crossed the river one more time, with a last chance to look up at the canyon wall where had walked this morning - we were impressed with ourselves.

A quck stroll along the flat of the Pradera brought us back to the bus pick-up. Happily, it also had a restaurant-bar, so we called in to order an ice-cold San Miguel ... no better way to celebrate the end of one of the world's great day-walks.

It is only a 3-hour drive from Broto to Bagneres-de-Luchon, where we had booked our next lot of accommodation, but it seemed a lot longer. This is mainly because a lot of the route is on narrow, winding mountain roads. The first such section led us eastwards across the foot-hills of the Spanish Pyrenees, before a large wider road, headed directly north into the mountains. However, instead of crossing back into France on a high mountain pass, we tunnelled back in beneath the peaks on the 3 km long Bielsa-Aragnouet road tunnel.

This did not prevent a hair-pin lined descent from high grassy meadows to forested valleys past a string of villages, once in France. We also did not avoid a mountain pass, as we had to cross the Col du Peyresourde, 15 km long and almost 1000m gain - French cyclists love to climb it and there were plenty of them pumping their way up the narrow and winding pass road as we crossed.

Finally, we arrived in Salles-Pratveil, just north of Bagneres, where we had booked an apartment in a restored farmhouse in the village - a very peaceful setting for our last three days in the Pyrenees.

And that was it .... after 50 days in England, Scotland, France and Spain without having any activity interrupted by the weather, our good fortune came to an end. The night we arrived, a cold front rolled in from the north-west, bringing showers, thunderstorms and low cloud for the next two days.

The ridge walk to the Pic de Cagire wouls have to wait for another lifetime. It hardly seemed worthwhile, walking in the rain when we wouldn't even be able to see the mountain tops. Thus we spent our time holed up in our apartment, doing crosswords and sudokus and taking the odd short walk in the hamlet of Salles-Pratveil and the town of Bagneres-de-Luchon.

While our time in the Pyrenees may have ended with a whimper, we still count ourselves lucky to have had fine weather for the rest of the time here - the walks to the Lacs d'Ayous ans the Ordesa Canyon will always remain two of the best day-walks we have ever done.