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The Pic du Midi (2877 m) is famous for its observatory, construction of which started in 1878 under the auspices of the Société Ramond. By 1882 the society decided that the spiralling costs were beyond its relatively modest means. The Society therefore yielded the observatory to the French State, which took it into its possession on 7 August 1882.
The Société Ramond was formed in 1865 by Henry Russell (1834–1909), a French-Irish eccentric who made many first ascents in the Pyrenees. He is remembered as 'the man who married a mountain.' His eccentricity led him to, for example, spend a night in the open on the summit of Pic Longue. This he did on 26 August 1880, buried by his guides under a blanket of rocks and earth.
Somewhat disappointingly, when he died, he was buried at the cemetery in Pau.