MORNING LIST
Would luxury be hiding in the mountains, by a lake, for the moment of a night or of a few days? Where it is still possible to stroll, to let time slip by, to live to the rhythm of the sun. Perched above 2,000 m in the Pyrenees and the Alps, here are five lakes where you can bivouac and find your happiness.
In Aragon, under the needles of Perramo
One night in a bivouac is good, but two is divine! And it’s even better in the soft and thick grass of the Batisiel lakes (2330 m). Located in the Posets massif on the Spanish side of the Pyrenees, it is accessed from the village of Benasque and the Estos valley by a well-marked path. Arrived in this dream setting, with the needles of Perramo on one side and the Aneto massif on the other, no one, except marmots and chamois. Unlike Lake Escarpinosa, 300 meters below, which in summer looks like a Mediterranean beach… Higher up, silence reigns. We are immersed in a mineral world punctuated by colored notes: the gray of stone, the green of water, the pink of rhododendrons and the blue of the sky. Just above, less than 100 meters, two other small dreamy lakes, ideal for one more evening under the stars. From there, you can go around the needles or laze in the sun. Swimming strongly recommended in this Eden.
Map Posets Perdiguero, valleys of Benasque, Estos y Chistau, Alpina 25 (Editorial Alpina, 1: 25,000). Departure from the Estos car park (1320 m). Duration: 3 h 30. Elevation: 1,000 m. Marked path. Bivouac authorized in the Posets-Maladeta natural park from sunset until 8 a.m.
In Haute-Savoie, on green meadows
Magic ! Lake Anterne (2,061 m) is a blue pearl nestled at the foot of the gray and ocher cliffs of the Fiz range in the Haut-Giffre massif. From the village of Sixt-Fer-à-Cheval, above Samoëns, it is reached by taking the GR5, the Grande Traversée des Alpes. The path passes in front of the Pleureuse and Sauffaz waterfalls before reaching a very pretty plateau sheltering the Anterne refuge and its chalets (or Alfred Wills, 1,810 m). The lake is located 300 meters higher. You just have to pitch your tent or sleep under the stars on its green meadows. On full moon evenings, the marriage of minerals and vegetation is beautiful. Do not hesitate to climb up to the Col d’Anterne (2,257 m), the view of the Mont-Blanc massif and the Aiguille verte is splendid.
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