An ‘orri’ in the French Pyrenees of which there are many. The rugged stone with which this cabane has been built typifies the Pyrénées, and it’s why Geert prefers these mountains over the Alps. These orri’s are still used by shepherds. Geert slept in one of them on a floor coated with fern leaves. Then, he hit his head at the door openings, and not just once.

Le Grand Sentier/Black book

This is the story of a traverse hike through the majestic French Pyrénées mountains which Geert undertook in 2003, as preparation for his second migration to Australia in 2004. The hike started in Hendaye on the Atlantic Coast and ended in Banyuls-sur-Mer at the Mediterranean Sea – 59 days later.

The seeds to visit these magnificent mountains had been planted by two young French hikers whom he hiked with for a few days in Nepal in 1989, and since then he visited the Pyrénées many times. Usually on 2 or 3 week holidays and by walking circuits, from a base in a French town.

As Geert was sketching this journey in a small sized sketchbook, he realised he was running out of space fairly quickly. He started to use his notebook for sketches also and crammed a lot of work into each page. Because of weight constraints Geert didn’t take a camera.

Once again, the sketchbook helped him to build friendships along the trail. In huts, run by the French Alpine Club, he would sometimes spend a night, and always had a gathering of interested people and they sometimes walked with him on stages. He walked with a young lad from Marseille for a few days and learned about that very interesting city.

In the gallery below some sketches from this amazing walk