Marché de Pau

What I like best about traveling is taking that unplanned turn and discovering all the secrets that await on the unknown road. My husband and I were driving from the Périgord area to Dax (just north of Biarritz) to visit a friend, when we spotted a small sign reading Pau. What a funny name, we thought, so on a whim we decided to check it out as it really wasn’t that far out of our way. Pau is located in the southern most département of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques. Situated high on the banks of the Gave de Pau River, near the Pyrénées, it has a beautiful panoramic view of the mountains. The British discovered Pau in the early 19th century, and many of their customs linger to this day (fox hunting and afternoon tea are two examples). A stroller’s paradise, Pau has many attractive flowered squares with fountains and palm trees. Once the capital of the Béarn region, the land of the kings of Navarre, Pau is now the most cosmopolitan city in the western Pyrénées-Atlantique region. As luck would have it, we arrived on a market day! Ahh…I just love French markets–the colors and smells are so alive. Unfortunately, we didn’t have much time to dawdle, so I took lots of photos for studio paintings. Moving on, we discovered the pedestrian streets of rue Serviez and rue des Cordelières, with a wonderful array of boutiques and Basque antiques. Pau is home to some of the best antique shops in the region, and the area around the château is well known as the “antique center” of town. Every Saturday, Sunday and Monday you will find a huge antique/flea market on the place du Forail, very near to the château. One of the best known shops in Pau is La Féerie Gourmande at, located at 48 rue du Maréchal Joffre. Owner M. Miot has been voted “Best Jam Maker in France” as well as “Best Candy Maker in France”…. now this was my kind of shop! The old quarter has lovely architecture and winding little streets. The Boulevard des Pyrénées houses many cafés and restaurants, most of which offer spectacular views of the mountains. Even if you’re just passing through, as we were, you must go along Boulevard des Pyrénées, erected on Napoleon’s orders, for the panoramic view. But we were also impressed by the château. The Renaissance-style Château de Pau sits at the western edge of town. Dating from the 12th century, it was home to the bold Marguerite de Navarre, and Louis IX ordered the bridge that connects the château to the town; the great tower is the Tour de Gaston Phoebus, built in the 14th century. The château houses many historical souvenirs, including a crib made of a single tortoise shell for Henri IV, who was born there. There is also the National Museum of Pau, which features an exceptional collection of tapestries from the 16th to the 18th centuries. If you visit the château make sure that you see the grand staircase hall that was commissioned by Marguerite and the() Salle aux 100 Couverts, which was the site of enormous parties that were held in its heyday. Another must-see in Pau is the Musée des Beaux-Arts, on rue Mathieu-Lalanne. It houses an excellent display of European paintings, including Degas, El Greco, Boudin and sketches by Ruben. During May there is the Grand Prix de Pau, in which racecars compete for speed records, similar to, but on a much smaller scale than, the Grand Prix in Monaco. And from mid-June to mid-July the town hosts the Festival de Pau, featuring frequent theatrical, dance and music performances all over town as well as in the château. But it was getting late. My friend Hugette (in Dax) was expecting us for dinner so we had to leave. We really only had a chance to “wet our whistle” when it came to exploring Pau. But it had been a nice break to wander in a town that boasts 80 square meters of garden per inhabitant (a national record). This is one town I definitely want to re-visit when we have a few days to devote to a proper exploration. — As a young girl, all Debbie ever wanted to do was go to Paris; she thinks perhaps the movie “GiGi” might have had something to do with it. Her art has won many awards and been accepted into many juried shows and competitions. She’s completed two pastel series, “The Gardens of Paris” and “The Flower Markets of France” (12 pieces in each series). She is contemplating an upcoming series, perhaps about the gardens at Versailles.