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Published: July 12th 2011
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Turtle shell for a manger
Pride of place in Pau's imposing castle is the shell which supposedly cradled Henri IV, one of France's favourite kings. We continue to be intrigued by the regional differences in France. The western Pyrenees shares the spectacular mountain scenery of the eastern end but there are many distinct and intriguing cultural differences. This is the Basque area of France. As with the Catalan, in the east, there are many shared traditions with the Spanish side of the border.
The Basque language is quite unique and sounds very different to either Spanish or French. It is undergoing a revival of interest and there are Basque TV stations and newspapers.
As always when visiting France one of the main areas of interest is food and this is certainly the case here. Being close to the coast seafood is on every menu and it's not just paella.
We have spent the past two weeks in Pau, a beautiful city of 80 000 which is the capital of the Bearn (pronounced Bay-arn) department in the Basque region. Departments in France are numbered, in this case 64, and you see it proudly displayed on shop windows, car windows, clothing and homes.
Pau was the centre of the Anglo-Norman area of France many years ago and there is still a strong English feel
The heavens opened at Lourdes
The main basilica and church complex is in the background. to it. It's main thoroughfare, the beautiful Boulevard des Pyrenees, is fronted on one side by elegant buildings and the other has sweeping views of the Pyrenees.
Our exchange home hosts, Marie and Mickael, have been wonderful in their hospitality and really helpful in their ideas for excursions and activities.
Rugby is the main winter sport but in summer it's pelote, a uniquely Basque game involving incredible ball skills. We spent a fascinating evening at a Cestu Punta tournament. This involves two teams of two players in a rectangular enclosed court (approximately 40m x 10m)
Each player has a glove to which is attached a long, narrow basket-like scoop which is used to catch the leather ball (slightly smaller than a tennis ball) which is hurled onto the front and side walls at speeds of often more than 200km an hour. It's very skilful and quite exhausting to watch, let alone play!
Lourdes is just an hour away from Pau and we spent a day visiting this Catholic pilgrimage centre. It is the site where Bernadette, a simple farm girl, saw a series of visions of Mary in the 1830's. There have been many miracles attributed to
Miraculous grotto
This is the spot where Bernadette saw the visions - open to pilgrims 24/7. the site. The town receives over 5million visitors and pilgrims each year. For many devout Catholics it is a lifetime ambition to make the pilgrimage.
The complex is quite large with a number of churches which seem to have nonstop services and an almost medieval religious fervour among the many pilgrims from around the world. During our stay we also visited a number of medieval towns that were on the pilgrimage site for St Jean de Compostela in Spain. We saw many pilgrims on the roads and the villages we visited often provide simple hostel-type accommodation. Most of the pilgrims we saw were young people enjoying a bit more luxury than their medieval counterparts.
The mountains at this end of the Pyrenees are much higher and more spectacular that at the eastern end. Marie and Mickael invited us to have four memorable days with them and their parents in their holiday home in the town of Bareges in the heart of the mountains. We enjoyed perfect weather and did plenty of walking. One memorable five hour return trip was to the summit of Pic du Midi (2 700m), where we felt as though we were on top of
Waiting for Le Tour
Le Tour was due to pass through here in a few days time. the world! A walk the following day was into Cirque de Gavarnie, which was like a semi-circular canyon, surrounded by snow-topped, sheer walls hundreds of metres tall and spectacular waterfalls tumbling down into the valley. In winter when the falls ice up a popular sport is to climb them!
We crossed many mountain cols (passes) where Le Tour de France will follow. This area is bike riders heaven and every narrow, winding road we travelled seemed to have individual or team riders grinding their way up or hurtling down.
There is more to Basque country than mountains and we visited some beautiful coastal towns including the super chic Biarritz, with its Bondi-like beach and pounding surf. Nearby St Jean de Luz is a picture-perfect resort and fishing harbour. We also travelled further on across the border to the Spanish town of San Sebastian. Here we enjoyed lunch at one of the many famous tapas bars.
The experiences of the past seven weeks in the Pyrenees have given us some great memories of yet another beautiful part of France.
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