Six steep kilometres southwest of the N134 from L'Estanguet, the ancient grey-stone houses of LESCUN huddle tightly together on the north slopes of a huge and magnificent green cirque. The floor of the cirque and the lower slopes, dimpled with vales and hollows, have been gently and harmoniously shaped by generations of farming, while to the west it's overlooked by the great grey molars of Le Billare and Le Petit Billare, beyond whose shoulders bristle further leaning teeth of rock and the storm-lashed bulk of the Pic d'Anie (2504m). Below the village in the hollow of the cirque, the grassy Camping Le Lauzart (tel 05.59.34.51.77; closed Oct–April) must be one of the best sites anywhere, with an uninterrupted view of the peaks and no sound to disturb beyond the chiming of cowbells. If you're on foot, be sure to take provisions with you – it's some way from the village and the only food shop. Lescun itself has a lovely old hotel, the Pic d'Anie (tel 05.59.34.71.54, fax 05.59.34.53.22; €30–40; closed mid-Sept to March), with a decent restaurant and a gîte d'étape opposite (same number).The obvious walk in the area is along the GR10 in the direction of Arette-Pierre-St-Martin. From Lescun, the path keeps close to the road as far as the Refuge de Labérouat (tel 05.59.34.50.43, Jan to mid-Sept) – around a two-hour walk – then crosses meadows before entering beech forest beneath the organ-pipe crags of Les Orgues de Camplong, with fantastic views of the pine-stippled ridges of the Billares. It emerges above the tree line in a long, flower-strewn, hanging valley by the primitive Cabane d'Ardinet, reaching the shepherds' hut at Cap de la Baigt (1700m) in a further ninety minutes. From there you can either continue on the GR towards Arette-Pierre-St-Martin, or swing south for the Col des Anies and the Pic d'Anie itself – a good two-and-a-half to three hours to the summit.
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