Le Mousca

Le Mousca is a small campsite in Gèdre, in the commune of Gavarnie-Gèdre (Hautes-Pyrénées), at about 1,000 m altitude and at the gateway to the Pyrenees National Park. The village is a five-minute walk along a path, or two minutes by car, and the Cirque de Gavarnie is about ten minutes away. Lourdes, with its railway station, is 45 km away; Tarbes-Lourdes-Pyrénées airport is 55 km away.

Rated 2 stars, the one-hectare site is flat and has 43 pitches of about 90 m², some shaded, others in the sun, for tents, caravans and motorhomes. Two mobile homes for 2 to 6 people complete the offer, with a fitted kitchen, bathroom, separate WC and private terrace. They are not suitable for guests with reduced mobility, unlike the washrooms. Bookings and enquiries are handled by Lucie, who can be reached by phone.

Two cases need to be distinguished for opening. The pitches welcome guests from 20 June to 31 August. The mobile homes, by contrast, can be rented all year round, including for a weekend (four people, special rate). The website does not mention heating: check with the campsite before a winter stay.

Gèdre is a typical village with a grocery store open every day, water mills, a discovery museum and a hydroelectric power station, all a few hundred metres away.

Covered natural-ice rink open all year round in Gèdre; toboggan run during school holidays; Luz-Gavarnie shuttle from mid-December to mid-March.

Facilities are deliberately simple. The washrooms, accessible to guests with reduced mobility, include showers, WCs, washbasins, laundry sinks and washing machines. An activity and meeting room serves as a common area, with a table tennis table. Wifi is free, but only in the common areas, and the campsite freezes campers’ ice packs. Free, practical advice on walks and visits is given on site.

Each mobile home has a fitted kitchen, a bathroom, a separate WC and a terrace with garden furniture. Bed linen and towels are not provided. Pets are welcome and free of charge. Payment can be made in cash, by bank cheque or with holiday vouchers (chèques-vacances).

The campsite has neither a restaurant nor a swimming pool. The village, 500 m away, has an outdoor municipal pool with two south-facing pools, one of them for children, with a slide and a picnic area, open in July and August. All year round, a covered natural-ice rink operates at the leisure area, next to a multi-sport court (city stade). The village grocery store is open seven days a week, a useful point for stocking up during an off-season stay in a mobile home.

The campsite is a starting point for the major sites of the Pyrenees National Park. The cirques of Gavarnie, Troumouse and Estaubé are explored on foot: Gavarnie measures 6.5 km across, with a 1,500 m wall and a 427 m waterfall, the highest in Europe, and it is the only one accessible all year round. Troumouse stretches over 11 km, and Estaubé opens the way to Mont Perdu. Roads lead to the heart of these sites, making family walks of two hours there and back possible. A high-mountain guide from the valley can suggest routes.

Gèdre has a leisure area: a swimming pool in summer, a 350 m² climbing hall with 45 routes and a bouldering area, a city stade, and a 700 m toboggan run with eight bends, open during school holidays and free for accompanied children under six. The website also mentions via ferrata and canyoning in the valley.

In the off-season, the covered ice rink stays open all year round, the climbing hall allows indoor training, and the shuttle between Luz-Saint-Sauveur and Gavarnie-Gèdre runs from mid-December to mid-March and from mid-June to mid-September. The quiet of the village suits those who prefer gentle walks.