Gavarnie-Gèdre, Commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department, France
Gavarnie-Gèdre is a large administrative commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department of southern France, near the Spanish border. It groups together several small mountain villages spread across a high valley surrounded by peaks and glaciers.
The villages of Gavarnie and Gèdre were long home to shepherds who drove their flocks up to the high pastures each summer. In 2016, the two were merged into a single commune.
The village of Gavarnie sits at the end of a long valley road and is most easily reached by car. In summer, the area around the Cirque de Gavarnie gets crowded, so arriving early in the day makes the visit more comfortable.
Each summer, Gavarnie hosts one of the oldest open-air theater festivals in France, with actors performing against the natural rock wall of the Cirque. The setting of rock and snow turns these performances into something hard to find anywhere else.
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