The Ossau Valley was once known as Ursialensis vallis , or ‘‘Bear Vallley’’. It stretches out for 70km from Pau to Laruns (lower Ossau). The valley is dotted with a multitude of medieval-looking villages, including Bielle , with its 15C and 16C hou..

Towering above the mountain stream, this castle built by Gaston Fébus in the 14C was transformed into a Renaissance palace by Marguerite d’Angoulême and took on its current appearance during the 19C, in the time of Louis-Philippe and Napoléon III. Th..

Built for Napoléon III, the Boulevard des Pyrénées has views that many writers have described with great lyricism. The panoramic view beyond the hillsides of Gelos and Jurançon stretches to the peaks of Bigorre and Anie. Once lined with sumptuous p..

This Fine Arts Museum makes no bones about placing a Greco next to a 1993 abstract painting... Here you will find work by Rubens, José de Ribera and Zurbaran, impressionists (Degas, Berthe Morisot, Armand Guillaumin) and different tendencies in conte..

Marshall Bernadotte , whose family lived on the 2nd floor of this traditional pebbledash building, became king of Sweden in 1818 under the name of Charles XIV. His descendants still reign in Stockholm. The pomp of the upper salons contrasts greatly ..

This sport is practised on courts called plantiers with a 6.2kg ball and nine 96cm skittles, and is seen as the ancestor of bowling. Played from the Landes to the Aveyron, this sport has 650 official permit-holders in the Hautes-Pyrénées region.

The English discovered Pau in 1840 and the effect was extraordinary. With their eclectic villas, Rue Montpensier and the streets that cross it (Raymond-Planté, O’Quin and Bargoin) are distinctly British in style. The same can also be said of Parc Law..

This park at the end of Boulevard des Pyrénées contains the municipal casino and an open-air theatre.

Some elaborate villas stand in the middle of enormous parks here. This includes the villas of Tibur, Ste-Hélène and Les Allées (Allées de Morlas), and Navarre, Régina, La Pausa and St. Basil’s on the elegant Avenue Trespoey. These south-facing dwelli..