Illustrated Artouste: Train in the Sky

I love receiving emails from Miki de Goodaboom and her partner Kev as their posts always transport me to small European towns and villages that I may otherwise have never heard of. They’ve taken us to Bergamo before, and today they’re giving us the chance to visit Artouste – a town that has now made it onto my must-visit list! Written by Kev and illustrated by the wonderfully colourful work of Miki, I think you’ll be hankering to visit Artouste after this, too…

At the end of August 2014, having decided to head to France from Spain in our music studio and art atelier on wheels, we were once again faced with trying to find an interesting route, perhaps doing something we hadn’t done before. Wending our way through the Col du Pourtalet in the Pyrenees, we arrived at our designated stop-off point after rigorous research on the internet – L’Artouste, home to the highest train ride in Europe!

Normally, we navigate the Col when it is blanketed in white, a bit dodgy on the roads, but a real feast for the eyes! This time though, the summer sun presented us with clear peaks and blue skies as we meandered through this gigantic natural barrier between two countries.

The village of L’Artouste nestles comfortably in the deep valley of the Gave du Brousset, the lovely Lac de Fabréges to one side, and vertiginous slopes to the rear….during the day an unending procession of cable cars, looking like toys, swing and bounce their way up into the distance, disappearing from view.

Every twenty minutes or so, a helicopter swoops down, collects some cargo on a cable, and lifts off again, its load swinging precariously in the breeze as it too, soars over the ridge and disappears. The village itself is small, but lovely, the main focus of activity being the ticket office on a kind of square. We joined the queue, and behind us, an English family were discussing the place, having obviously seen a picture of the train on a poster by the roadside as they drove by, and had stopped on a whim.

“Is this the train station?” the woman asked. I turned around and smiled..
“Um…not exactly. The train station is up there!” I said, pointing up into the clouds.
“What??!!” Not what they bargained for clearly, but to their credit, even after I’d explained they would need to take a cable car to the top of the mountain before they got anywhere near the train station, they stayed in line.

The advertising blurb suggested we may possibly see bears, marmots, and all manner of creatures on our adventure. Well, true enough, we saw marmots scampering about on the mountain slopes almost immediately, which at least helped to take Miki’s mind off clinging on for dear life as the cable car hauled us up into the air!

The cable car ride was exhilarating enough, but the train ride was truly something else. Any readers familiar with Thomas the Tank Engine would delight in the gaily- coloured red and yellow little engines, that are deceptively powerful and pull the passenger carriages along a narrow gauge track. The carriages are ingeniously designed, so that only the engines need uncoupling, the seats ‘swap’ directions so that no matter which way you’re travelling, you’ll be facing front.

As you emerge from the cable car station, there is a mountaintop restaurant with a lovely terrace, and views to die for. In the distance, Miki saw a man gazing out across the mountains with such longing, that it reminded her of a well-known song, always sung in her Pyrenean family; “Montagnes Pyrénées, Vous etes mes Amours…” – which means “Mountains of the Pyrenees, you are my love”.

The area around the Restaurant also lent itself to wonderful places to Picnic, and even sunbathe. On this beautiful sunny day, many were doing just that.

The railway line runs high above the headwaters of the Gave D’ Ossau, and provides access to the Lac d’Artouste, a semi-artificial lake in the mountains at an altitude of over 2,000m (6,562 ft)

Upon leaving the station, the petit train immediately enters a 315m tunnel, crossing under the ridge to reach a point high above the valley of the Gave de Soussouéou. The views are absolutely breathtaking, and then the fun begins, as the train travels 10 kilometres along a twisting track that seems to cling to the vertiginous ledges of the mountainside for dear life – it’s wonderful!

Regretfully, no bears were spotted on the journey, unless of course you count Miki’s personal bear – Truffle McFurry, who captivated the passengers nonetheless!

Miki saw more Marmots, and swore that they were waving at her from the side of the track!

The Azure blue lake nestling between the peaks at the end of the line is well worth the journey, and it was to ferry the workers who created this hydro facility that this train was built, in the early part of the twentieth century. And what a magnificent achievement it is.

I also enjoyed the thrill of taking the cable car back down the mountain…much more frightening than coming up…you seem to be thrown out of the station into the void – the lake by the town in the valley looking like nothing more than a puddle, so far down it seems….it’s excellent!

If that doesn’t excite you enough, it’s well worth taking a drive up another nearby Col, Le Col d’Aubisque, a favourite of the Tour de France. Switchback roads, and spectacular views, hordes of sheep wandering blithely between the traffic, and at its peak, a wonderful collection of horses roaming around the car park of a mountain top pub!

Text by Kev Moore and illustrations by Miki de Goodaboom.