The mountains known as the Pyrenees, in the Southwest of France, stretch from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic over a distance of approximately 200 miles. They form a natural, North-South geological barrier between France and Spain.

Eons of extensive erosion have transformed these mountains into a unique landscape. The topographical map shows how the mountain chain resembles an almond, swollen in its center, then diminishing in size towards its two extremities. The highest peaks in the center contrast with rolling hills barely above sea level in its eastern and western reaches. To define these mountains in geological terms would require several visits over as many years.

The Cirque de Gavarnie and the Cirque de Troumouse, located in the heart of the Pyrenees, the Gorges of Kakouetta and Holzarte to the west in the Basque Country, the prehistoric caves of the Ariège in the east...are only a few examples of the dramatic geological diversity of the Pyrenees.