Pont de Pescadere—­Sassis—­Gave de Gavarnie—­St. Sauveur—­Hotel de France—­Pont Napoleon—­Napoleon’s pillar—­Bee orchids—­Chapel of Solferino—­The view from thence—­Ne’er a hermit but for gold—­Luz Cemetery—­Luz Post Office—­Short cuts—­Pharmacie Claverie—­Jardin a l’Anglaise—­Ascent of Pic de Bergons—­Villenave—­The shepherds’ huts—­Lunch—­Snow, its use and abuse—­On foot—­“Excelsior”—­Dangerous footing—­The last crest but one—­The view—­Gavarnie and Argeles in sight—­A lazy guide—­A “fast” bit—­Mountain flowers—­Mr. Sydney to the fore—­A short walk and a good view—­To Sazos and Grust—­The bathing establishments—­Sazos:  the old church—­The belfry—­Chiming extraordinary—­Various promenades—­Gems of hill and vale.

At the bridge known as the Pont de Pescadere the road from Pierrefitte forks; the branch to the left leads to Luz, while the road to St. Sauveur branches off to the right, and passes through the village of Sassis, above which is the more important one of Sazos.  Then, keeping to the riverside till within half a mile of the town, it throws out a branch over the Gave de Gavarnie to Luz, and bending in the opposite direction, winds steeply past the baths to the hotels.

Like many of the villages in Japan, and especially along the great Nakasendo, St. Sauveur possesses one single street.  The resemblance continues further with the fine scenery, but there it ends.  The look of the houses and the comfort of the Hotel de France find, alas! no parallel yet in the interior of that wonderful country.

[Illustration:  ST. SAUVEUR.]

We came to St. Sauveur direct without stopping at Luz, but as the latter is the larger town—­in fact the mainstay of the former, and also the nearer to Pierrefitte—­we have given it precedence.  For situation and all other qualifications, except as a residence in winter, St. Sauveur easily bears away the palm.  The morning after our arrival, when the sun was shining brightly, we walked up through the remainder of the diminutive town to the Pont Napoleon, one of the most remarkable bridges in the Pyrenees.  The bridge itself is 216 feet above the river, and sixty-nine feet wide; but it is not so much the construction —­though that is well carried out—­as the position, which especially attracts on a lovely spring morning.  The river, of a beautiful light green tint, wandering down the valley towards Pierrefitte, the trees with varied foliage crowding the slopes above, the glimpse of Saint Sauveur with its church, and the hills with the snowpeaks beyond, on either side—­made such a glorious ensemble as we were not slow to appreciate.

[Illustration:  PONT NAPOLEON, ST. SAUVEUR.]