Tag Archives: Josette Darrieu

The bordercross 367 is not easy to find – even with a gps – hidden as it is in the forest. So I decided to help you with some waymarking by cairns and painting from the dirtroad into the forest. And while spraying the paint, I felt like a graffiti-artist. I think I missed my real vocation somewhere along the line of my life.
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And this waymarking is also a kind of tribute to Josette Darrieu – the wife of Charles Darrieu – who sadly passed away in april of this year. She was the one who – in 2007 – discovered this very bordercross under a layer of moss and earth.

And all this is part of a few days of intense bordermarker-research around Bossòst, searching again for the last unfindable bordermarkers: bm359, bm408 III & iV and 364.

The ‘bornés’ meet each other.

I was honoured to be invited on 12 april 2014 by Serge and Martine Poncet for an informal meeting of ‘bordermen’ or – mockingly in French – ‘bornés’ (freely translated as: stubborn on bordermarkers) who share a passion for the Pyrenean bordermarkers. Even a news-reporter was invited who wrote this article for the L’Indépendant-newspaper:  
article-independant-20140505   I felt happy to meet (again) Serge and Martine Poncet, Charles & Josette Darrieu, Alain Laridon, Cayetano and Jean & Carmen Iglesias while enjoying a delicious catalan-style meal. In the après-diner, I was lucky to sit in between the laptops of Serge and Charles, watching their pictures and listen to their stories, both testimonies of our shared passion.

A shortcut between bm271 and 272: confirmed!

The evidence presented in the previous post has been confirmed by Charles Darrieu. He and his wife Josette tried in 2008 the first part of the shortcut, starting from Col d’Anaye. They didn’t have enough time to climb to the ridge but they found a cairn-waymarked trail uphill.
Moreover: Charles showed how on the Topopirineos-map (see next post) this trail is indicated. And moreover: on Google Earth we can even spot the beginning of it on Col d’Anaye.

I made a kml-file of this connection: esfr-bm271bis-272-connection-on-topopirineos.kml

Let’s show some pictures: first an overview of the connection on Google Earth.

And now a view towards Col d’Anaye , approximately on 3/4 of the route from uphill to the Col.

And this picture shows the very beginning, when started from Col d’Anaye. If fact it’s very simple: from the current wooden signpost at Col d’Anaye, climb straight N and soon you will pick up the trail (hito = cairn).

 

En busca de los hitos fronterizos

Which means: “in search of the bordermarkers”. I just received this book, mentioned in the previous post. I already learned that the Darrieu-couple are friends of Javier and María-Jesús Sancho-Esnaola. They assembled 6 volumes of information and pictures on the esfr-bordermarkers. That makes one jealous!

This ‘book’ is In fact a special edition of the Spanish magazine Pirineos.
Bibliographic data:
Pirineos Especial 9 – En busco de los hitos fronterizos : rutas por la Muga / Javier Sancho
El mundo de Pirineos. – junio 2010. – 147 p. / ISBN 978-84-8216-450-2

Javier Sancho describes 21 circular routes to bordermarkes – all along the esfr-border -with routes starting both in France and Spain. The maps could have been more elaborate but the photo’s are superb! I put the magazine on my reading list for Christmas to explore the details.

 

Spanish couple did all the bordermarkers

An unexpected google-find: a Spanish couple who has searched and photographed every bordermarker on the esfr-border. See this this newspaper-article. It reminds me of course of that other – French – couple: Charles et Josette Darrieu who did the same.
Javier Sancho and his wife even published a book on their project, for sale on a lot of on-line bookshops. I immediately ordered it.