Pic du Midi de Bigorre — Local services in Argelès-Gazost

we first became aware of this through a television programme and decided that we had to do it. we wanted to book and overnight visit as we felt that this would give us the best experience. so in August 2023 we booked for July 2025, yes the wait is that long. when the time finally arrived needless to say we were very excited.

We arrived at the cable car and were transported to the observatory, we were greeted and had to wait for someone who could speak some English as although we can speak fluent Spanish our French is not so good. we were given directions to our room and then told that we needed to be at a certain point for the welcome meeting. Our room was basic but clean and comfortable. we were not expecting luxury as we are aware that this is a working observatory, but the bed was super comfortable and the views from the windows we breathtaking.

we arrived at the welcoming meeting to discover that all of the planned activities would only be conducted in French, we asked if there was any information available for non French speakers only to be told no. Whilst the staff did everything that they could to help and make our stay the best that they could, they struggled to communicate with us. This basically meant that 98% of the planned activities were simply not accessible to us. We missed the planned tour of the facilities as this was only in French so there was not point in us attending this. Dinner was really very good and the food and drink were exceptional. The sunset was spectacular followed by a short film, which did have an English translation, however the following planetarium activity was again only available in French. The night time stars were lovely and although we did get to look through a large telescope the explanations and information meant nothing to us as once again it was only in French.

We did have a great time, but for the cost that we paid, to have 98% of the activities simply not available to us it was disappointing. This is a service that attracts and international clientele, to assume that everyone who attends will be able to speak fluent French is completely unrealistic. Not to have written information or audio guides available is simply lazy or arrogant.

So my warning would be that yes the experience was amazing it was somewhat ruined by the fact that we were completely excluded from the majority of the planned experiences that were available. if you do not speak fluent French then maybe you should reconsider booking an...

I will never forget what happened in those days. We were the last ones to buy tickets, one minute before close the ticket office. We went down with my princess from Pic du Midi and then we reached two peaks. The most beautiful thing for us was that from the main viewpoint you will go straight up the mountain through a small gate, going down to the mountain lake. From there on the right you have two peaks which we reached. At the highest point you will see a kingdom of vultures, which will fly over you as soon as you stop. Stunning views On the second day, on the way back, we met a nice elderly gentleman with three young girls. As it turned out, he was the curator of these areas. He said he saw our exploits while walking down the pedestrian trail. He said we were "amazing" but also crazy. The photos we showed you won't get to see these views from the observation deck. From those days, for the next week we were only in the Pyrenees. Although our tourist base was by the ocean. From La Mongie you can start your fabulous. Pic du Midi...

Très beau site à visiter, on est arrivé juste avant les nuages, par chance on a pu les éviter pendant une partie de la matinée pour contempler l'horizon. Par contre il y a une chose que nous n'avons pas pu éviter c'était deux groupes d'anciens irrespectueux: Pour les photos sur la passerelle ils doublaient, rallaient et prenaient leur temps alors que les nuages arrivaient à grande vitesse, on a du repasser après en gardant notre calme, c'est pas trop grave. Au restaurant, une dame s'en prend au serveur parce qu'il n'y a plus de place parce qu'elle n'avait pas réservée, ça nous mettait mal pour ce pauvre gars qui n'y pouvait rien. Le pire était au planétarium, nous attendions notre séance, nous sommes arrivés en avance puis les anciens sont arrivés, l'un d'eux lâche une grosse caisse sans pression, bon on dit rien. Après la porte du planétarium s'ouvre et tous les anciens se mettent à pousser, à faire semblant d'être prioritaire, j'ai pas réussi à me retenir pour leur dire qu'ils étaient irrespectueux et qu'on aurait dis des enfants. Ils rentrent et prennent donc les meilleurs places en milieu de salle, nous avons eu les pires emplacements mais après quelques minutes on entend plusieurs ronflement dans la salle, ça énerve certaines personnes et en faire rire d'autres, ils prennent les meilleurs places pour dormir. Après 30min ma copine n'a pas réussi à s'empêcher de donner un coup de coude à son voisin qui ronflait et perturbait l'immersion du film. -Enfin on se les ait coltiné jusqu'à la boutique ou encore une fois ils doublaient dans la file de la caisse en passant à côté de la file sans gêne.

Qu'ils ne viennent pas parler du comportement des jeunes après ça parce qu'ils étaient vraiment irrespectueux, égoïstes, un groupe d'enfants de primaires se comportent bien mieux.

A côté de ça le personnel était très correct, captivant et polit. Les cabiniers dans les téléphériques étaient très gentils également et répondaient aux questions. Le personnel de la boutique était adorable et les serveurs aussi. Ce qu'il manque c'est juste de gérer les entrées dans le planétarium et de donner deux trois consignes aux organisateurs de sorties de groupes pour que les autres visiteurs puissent profiter de leur visite. Éviter aussi de tasser les visiteurs dans les téléphériques jusqu'à mélanger les groupes (par exemple le groupe de 10h30 sera entassé dans la cabine avec ceux de 10h20) on est pas censé faire cabine à part à la base ? Surtout que celui qui gere l'entrée des cabines en bas a bien insisté là dessus. On a plus l'impression d'être vue comme des portefeuilles ambulants par moment où le plaisir du visiteur passe après...