Last weekend I went on a USAC excursion to Galvarnie which is a place in the Pyrenees which happens to contain Europe's tallest waterfall. Before we made it there we stopped in Nay to visit a Beret Museum. We watched a video explaining how the berets are made and all of its cultural purposes and history. My favorite part of the video was when an old man said he'd use it as a weapon by putting a rock inside and swinging it around. Kept them away apparently. Also, the beret can indicate a mood by the way it is tilted. I caved and bought a beret- but not a traditional one. After the video we saw all of the old machinery. There are lots of steps. They shrink the berets after making them by pounding them together which is also what makes them waterproof. They are died and then combed. The inside is made of real silk and is sewn in with a leather strip around it. There are two sizes to a beret, the circumference for the head and the circumference for the top. After the tour, we were able to try on tons of berets and hats which was super fun.
Sewing the silk for the inside
Look at the difference: Before and After
Crazy hats!
Once we arrived at Galvarnie, we had a nice mountain lunch which consisted of some type of duck soup. It was my first time trying duck and I thought it was alright, it was just really fatty. For dessert we had a sort of blueberry gelatin thing. Then we started our hike. It was about an hour and a half to get to the waterfall. It was very beautiful and there were some fall colors (Not nearly as nice as Techs) There were donkeys and horses you could rent to ride around the mountainside! If I knew how to ride, I would love to do that! Instead I ended up walking and trying to avoid all of the animal poop. Very beautiful territory and I took way more pictures than necessary, but that's not unusual for me!
I pet a cow! I was scared it would charge, but it just twitched!
There it is: The tallest waterfall
(That's my new beret)
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