Part 3 Day 16 Pau to Paris

Since there are only two daily trains from Pau to Paris, we took the early one since the latter would result in arriving at nearly midnight--not good if I had to be up early the next day (Monday) to receive the repairman for the reinstallation/upgrade to my phone/Internet/tv service.

It had been a busy day yesterday (Saturday). I had worried about the weather as a thunderstorm had been predicted, but it never materialized. We had discovered the navette (a huge help in getting around), taken the funicular, visited the Eglise Saint-Jacques, seen the Pyrénées from the Blvd des Pyrénées, took a tour of the Château de Pau, and ridden Le Petit Train around the city to see the gardens and fancy houses of the wealthy expats who had come to the town in the 1930s. 

 

We had seen a bit of the vibrancy of the place--we witnessed an ecology demonstration/protest, walked through a small marche (mostly shoes and clothing), seen artists scattered throughout the city painting during a 3-day weekend competition, and, in the wee hours of the morning, heard university students partying before the start of classes next week. 

Heading back to Paris went smoothly, though.  Although the navette wasn't running on Sundays and the funicular (which connected the town above to the train station below) didn't start until after our train left, we found a congenial cabbie with reasonable rates...

Our E-tickets were checked on the train, no one asked for our passes sanitaire (Judy's still had not come), and, although crowded, as it is the weekend, there were no lines, no hassles. 

As I indicated, tomorrow will be a busy day for me. If all goes well, my internet service will be upgraded in the morning and my water meter replaced in the afternoon. Back to reality, I'm afraid... 

It has been a lovely holiday...

Part 3 Day 14 Anoye to Morláas

Today was my last day of walking, going from Anoye to Morlaas and then taking the bus to Pau. There were 8 in my gite last night--5 French men, one German woman and her Dutch partner, and me. I was the last one out this morning concerned about missing the bus to Pau, but no worries. I ran into a tall Belgian man walking in the opposite direction from Morlaas to Annoye, who asked me about the gite there that I had just left. He had been walking the Voie du Piémont Pyrénéen (GR78) and was returning via the Voie d'Arles, as far as Auch.

Morlaas had certain sections torn up with road and other construction so the bus wasn't doing the whole route, but I made it into Pau by mid-afternoon. It was warm but not unbearable, with a sizeable amount of road-walking. 

Unfortunately  I was so concerned about finding the bus to Pau, given the road construction and rerouted bus route that I didn't really take time to appreciate the town. 

Morlaas is the second capital of Béarn, transferred from Lescar, was the seat of power from 1080 to 1260. From what I understand, Gaston IV "the Crusader", (whose nickname refers to his wars with the Saracens in Jerusalem and Spain, where he helped Alfonso I of Aragon in the conquest of Zaragoza). In 1088 he improved the reception network for pilgrims in the town and concluded the construction of the church of Sainte-Foy, a major landmark along the Via Tolosana. The main pilgrim hospital was that of Sainte-Lucie, created in 1154 by the order of St. John of Jerusalem.  The church was burned in 1569 by the Huguenots but has restored, beginning in 1870.

I will be staying in Pau for two days before returning to Paris, etc.

Part 3 Day 14b/15 - Morláas to Pau

There is a short bus from Morlaas to Pau which runs hourly and normally takes 20 minutes. After walking into Morlaas and finding the right bus line I discovered that a portion of the town was torn up and the bus line I was interested in was affected by the construction. I passed by two stops that clearly indicated they were impacted,, but with no date given as to when they would resume service. There had been three teenagers waiting with me at the stop that looked promising, and when we discovered that out stop (the third I had tried) did not appear to be serviced, we trudged uphill to a fourth stop where a huge crowd of young people waited to catch the bus into town. 

I made my way to the Hotel de Gramont, an aging grande dame located near the Château de Pau where I would find my friend Judy waiting for me.

That evening, at a Gascon restaurant not far from our hotel I ran into the German/Dutch couple Dagmar and Franck who I had shared the Gite communal in Anoye. I hadn't really had the opportunity to wish them well as they had left before I did, so was so happy to see them. And Dagmar let me know I could get an additional stamp for my creanciale in the Eglise St Jacques, which I would do the following day.

In visiting the church the next day I would learn that this Eglise Saint-Jacques was relatively recent, built in 1868, was neo-Gothic in style, with some paintings alluding to the Saint. There was also an 18c altar from a former pilgrim hospital.

Pau is a lovely town with a resort atmosphere, once alive with expats and now bursting with young people. In the 1930s the British discovered Pau and turned it into a prestigious thermal center, visited by numerous tuberculosis patients, with walks, parks, hotels and casinos.

The Béarn region (the departmental capital of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques) has. since 1512, been thr residence of the Albret family, last kings of Navarre  who after losing the southern part of the kingdom settled in the Béarn, among them Jean III, Henri II, Jeanne III and especially Henri III, first Bourbon who would end up being king of France (Henri IV), who was born in the city in 1553.

The main monument of the city is the château where Henri IV was born. 

Since the weather was nice the two of us spent time exploring the town, is Château its gardens, and its fantastic views of the Pyrénées.

Part 3 Day 13 Maubourguet to Anoye

Today's agenda: Maubourguet to Anoye. Actually 24km was going to me too much for me and the wonderful Dutch woman at the little gite d'etape that recently opened up in Maubourguet drove me to Lahitte Toupiere which cut out 5 km. and then on to Vidouze, which cut out even more, giving me a huge head start. 

Towards the end, I stopped near a large lake, actually the Petit Lées reservoir, hardly visible because of all the surrounding shrubs and vines. Nearby the Friends of the Camino of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques had planted birch and fruit trees for walkers which is a nice gesture. I had my lunch there and ran ran into Claude from Marciac, plus Jean-Louis with a bourdon he carved himself, and a Dutch/German couple that would end up sharing my gite. Three other French "sportif" types also joined us all  in the same gite communal later. I am glad I had my beer there early as there is only a small "depannage" as supplies are extremely limited and I am carrying 1 1/2 days of food with me.

 Also noteworthy towards the end was a large palombière, with its cage of pigeons and a camouflaged metal tower which surprised me.

The tiny town of  Anoye once boasted a pilgrim hospital there.

There are 8 of us in the gite tonight. I brought food but was worried about lunch tomorrow, but the "depannage" turned out to be substantial. There is even good wine and foie gras for those willing to pay. ..