Pic du Midi, a night at the top58

The Pic du Midi is the summit of superlatives: the oldest high mountain observatory in the world, the highest hotel complex and the highest museum in Europe, and above all the most beautiful view of the Pyrenees.

To reach the one we call in the valley, the 'starship', simply board a cable car from the small resort of La Mongie. By flying over the ground, some 300 meters high, we can observe some courageous skiers descending the steep slopes of the Pic.

Before arriving at the final station of the second section of the cable car, one can imagine for a moment, the incredibly complex task of the builders of this famous ship.

For to build this mythical observatory it was necessary to assemble tons and tons of building materials. Carrying was done by back of man or donkey since the 1870s, the cable car arriving only in 1950.

Once you get to 2877 metres above sea level, you're breathless. Not necessarily by the lack of oxygen (the body acclimatizes quite quickly in the end) but by this incredible 360 degree view over the Pyrenees range.

On one side of the panoramic terrace, it is possible to see in clear weather the foothills of Cantal several hundred kilometres away and on the other, countless snow-covered peaks, some of them on the Spanish side.
Since the first developments initiated by the former general of Napoleon III, Charles du Bois de Nansouty, and the engineer Célestin-Xavier Vaussenat, this incredible structure throning at the top of the mountain is constantly under renovation.

Those of the very last 'attraction' of the Pic have just been completed. A 12 metre long platform with a transparent floor at the end allows tourists to scare themselves and observe the panorama even more closely.
The construction has taken not less than 6 months, several helicopter flights and a few hundred thousand euros of investment, just for the pleasure of the tourists, who are more and more numerous to 'climb to the peak'.

Each year, more than 100,000 people take the gondolas to observe the unique panorama that the place offers. And yet, it is only very recently that the Pic du Midi is open to the public. It was not until the early 2000s that it became a tourist attraction.
Initially used as a weather station, where one enjoys the healthiest air in Europe, the summit quickly becomes the HQ of French astronomers who can observe stars and planets in the best conditions