- La Mongie
The village of La Mongie is at 1800 metres altitude. There are also residences at 1850 and the Tourmalet building at 1900. It lies below the
Col du Tourmalet (2115 metres). It is in theMidi-Pyrenees region (department 65) of France and around 20km from the Spanish border. La Mongie is a winter ski resort offering alpine skiing, snowboarding, snowpark, cross-country skiing, snowmobiles and hiking in snowshoes. In the summer cycling (on and off road) and the use of trials motorcycles is popular. The village has two small supermarkets, a tourist information centre, gift shops and many restaurants and ski rental shops. The nearby spa town ofBagneres de Bigorre offers large supermarkets and shops, restaurants, a casino, an 18-hole golf course and the natural spa baths themselves.Access
Airports: Tarbes/Lourdes airport, 35km. Toulouse Blagnac, 180km.
Road: A64 exit 14 Tournay, dir Bagneres de Bigorre. Then La Mongie/Col du Tourmalet.
Rail: SNCF stationTarbes . Bus connection Bagneres/La Mongie.Skiing
La Mongie is the largest skiable domain in the Pyrenees including the Superbarèges station. Over 100km there are 69 pistes and 43 lifts including poma tows and several four and six-man chair-lifts. A
gondola lift gives access to some of the southern pistes while the Pic du MidiFunitel gives access to off-piste areas to the north. Of the 69 pistes, 23 are green, 19 blue, 21 red and 6 black. The domain has 173 snow cannons and there is one night piste.Pic du Midi de Bigorre
It is also popular for cable car access to the
Pic du Midi de Bigorre (2,872 m), on the summit of which is a 19th-century observatory. Work on the observatory started in 1878 and was completed in 1908. Observatory equipment has been in place since 1905 and in 1963 NASA funded the installation of a telescope for photographs of the Moon in preparation for the Apollo missions.Tour de France
La Mongie is on one of the most important stages of the
Tour de France . The Tour has regularly passed along the route since the inclusion of the Pyrenees in 1910. In 2004 the 12th stage terminated in La Mongie village. The last time the Tour crossed theCol du Tourmalet was the 10th stage of the 2008 competition.The 2008
Tour de France route passed through La Mongie's commune during stage 9 en route fromToulouse toBagnères-de-Bigorre . It traversed theCol d'Aspin and the village ofCampan , approx 5km away.Tour de France stage finishes
Image Gallery
External links
* [http://www.bagneresdebigorre-lamongie.com/ Bagneres de Bigorre - La Mongie]
* [http://www.tourmalet.fr/ Tourmalet]
* [http://mrambaul.club.fr/villes_etapes/villes_l/la_mongie.htm La Mongie dans le Tour de France fr]
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