Pau Things to Do

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When you walk on the rue Bordenave d’Abères on the bridge above the rue du Hédas, you may see these strange church towers.
It is the St Jacques church, located on Place de la Libération, near the law courts.
I could not find a serious explanation for why are the towers cut like that! Some say during the construction one of them had a failure and construction stopped and the second tower was made symmetrical; other say it is the result of an earthquake.
Well it is just funny and it is a good landmark in the city.

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I told in the intro the influence of the English on Pau, lets say the British in general. The brought rugby, horse racing, fox hunting, and they left some beautiful houses which give some special character to the areas where they have been built; these houses are mainly found in the Trespoey and Buisson areas the chic area of Pau, to the East, near the corniche where the view to the Pyrenees is bright and open, and in some other places like Billere a North Western residential area, St Dominique area.
Just have a walk in the Trespoey area, for one or two hours, here and there typical houses (they call them “Anglaises” locally) will appear generally hidden behind big gardens, and there may even be some little palaces.
Some of these houses take advantage of the local style using pebbles as main construction or as siding materials (main picture ), others, classic with a French garden, surrounded by an English garden (picture 2).Others are big houses, quite classical (pictures 3 and 4), and the one I like the most is the one featured on picture 5.

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A small funicular links the railway station to the Boulevard des Pyrenees, and it is just a bit fun to take it to go one or the other way, as the elevation is not that big; if you have heavy luggage may be; . . . This funicular has been built in 1908, and operates free since 1978. It is open every day (Sundays, afternoon only), and it operates from 6-45 in the morning till 20-00 evenings.
It has been designed with two cabins operating in the same time, one going up and the other going down, crossing on a double track in the middle (picture 3).
In front of the little building on the lower end, is a memorial (picture 4) to Jesus Fernandez Duro a balloon traveller who, the first crossed the Pyrénées by air , in 1906.

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Henri IV again! this time it is the Henri IV path; well, let us call it a trail. This trail links Pau to Lourdes far from the main roads, goes through woods and fields, crosses some villages, is generally located on a crest line north of the Gave de Pau river. From there you can have wonderful views over the Pyrenees, even with stormy weather, all along the path, except , of course when you are in the woods.
This trail begins at Bizanos, in a Eastern suburb of Pau, at the Chateau de Franqueville (picture 2), you reach from the RD 938 (Route Départementale 938) linking Pau to Lourdes; you can go up by car to this chateau, and park there.
Then, you have choice, between you feet (for a small distance) or take a bike, and then go East, following the signs (picture 3). The path is easily practicable by bike (picture 4), except some short muddy or stony places . On the way, you find big posters proposing you alternate routes if you do not want to make it until Lourdes (picture 5).
I make the suggestion to make the travel one way, 35 km (walking: 7-8 hours, biking, 2-3 hours), and come back by train, as there is possibility to carry on a bike in some trains; check the time table at the railway station.

You can see on the weblink below, it is also possible to reach this path on several places, where you can leave your car and see some curiosity not far.

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The church is not on many guides and from outside is nothing remarkable, except the old gravestones; if you have a close look, you notice they are not even very old (picture 2). The paintings inside are rare in Bearn, and they are in a very good state of conservation, like the ceiling of the ship (picture 3).
I was lucky to be there in the afternoon of a sunny day and could play a bit with the light of the windows main picture . The colours of the windows are projected on the painted colours of the wall, and the details of the window appear more in the transmitted image than in the direct light (pictures 4 and 5).

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This village is known for its chateau, signs indicating its direction on the road from Pau; ,well it is a mansion rather than a castle, but a little nice one, with a medieval garden.
Momas is located on a hill and from far you see only the castle and the church (main picture ).
The castle has been bought as a ruin by the actual owner and renovated with the support of the French ministry of Culture (that is why it is possible to visit it, the ministry, in France helps if there is a public “compensation”, i.e. possibility for the public to visit); the result outside is not bad (picture 2).
When I visited, only the basement was open for visits and there is some interesting furniture, either original from the house or brought in; here (picture 3) is a renaissance fireplace with strange wooden wine press screws making the pillars.
View on garden and mountains through an old glass window on picture 4.
The owner herself, a 87 years old lady welcomes you in her dining room; notice at the back the notches in the stone door frame, to put a bar to close the door. (picture 5)

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I post here some pictures of the glass windows of the St Girons church. the windows are from the 19th century, the glass-maker is unknown (well, from the guide and the websites).
Interesting are the orange coloured glasses, not very common in old churches, and I like to look at the colours and shapes in the silence of the churches. . .

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The most remarkable elements of the cathedral of Lescar are inside.
Mosaics are a rarity in churches, but here are mosaics, with some non-religious subjects. Typical middle age face expression of the hunter on picture 1, the other hunter, a running archer, on picture 2, all this is not very religious.
The animals on the other pictures are very impressive. Nobody knows who made these mosaics, and I am not sure about what they are supposed to represent, but in the choir of the church, they have a strange ”presence”.
A bronze plate in the ship states that some kings of Navarre are buried in the cathedral, among them, the grand parents of Henri IV.