Page 345 - Lonely Planet France’s Best Trips (Travel Guide)

Eating & Sleeping

Pau 1 Cauterets 6
5 Les Papilles 5 La Grande
Insolites Bistro €€ Fache Traditional French €€
(%05 59 71 43 79; www.lespapillesinsolites. (%06 08 93 76 30; 5 rue Richelieu; fondue per
blogspot.co.uk; 5 rue Alexander Taylor; lunch/ person €18-23; hnoon-2.30pm & 7-10pm)
dinner menu €22/45, mains around €23; You’re in the mountains, so really you should be
h12.15-2pm & 8-9.30pm Wed-Sat) Run by a eating artery-clogging, cheese-heavy dishes
former Parisian sommelier, this cosy bar-bistro such as tartiflette (potatoes, cheese and bacon
pitches itself between a bistro and a wine shop. baked in a casserole), raclette and fondue. This
It serves beautifully prepared, ingredient-rich family-run restaurant crammed with mountain
dishes like Galician-style octopus with potatoes, memorabilia will oblige.
fennel and olive tapenade, or beef with leeks,
tempura and lemongrass-raspberry reduction. 4 Hôtel du Lion d’Or Hotel €€
Complete the experience with the owner’s (%05 62 92 52 87; www.liondor.eu; 12 rue PYRENEES & SOUTHWEST FRANCE 31 THE PYRENEES
choice of one of the 350-odd wines stacked Richelieu; s €76-86, d €80-162, with half-board s/d
around the shop. Gorgeously Gallic. from €119/144; W) This Heidi-esque hotel oozes
mountain character from every nook and cranny.
4 Hôtel Bristol Hotel €€ In business since 1913, it is deliciously eccentric,
(%05 59 27 72 98; www.hotelbristol-pau. with charming old rooms in polkadot pinks, sunny
com; 3 rue Gambetta; s €55-100, d €80-110, yellows and duck-egg blues, and mountain-
f €120-130; pW) A classic old French hotel themed knick-knacks dotted throughout, from
with surprisingly up-to-date rooms, all wrapped antique sleds to snowshoes. Breakfast includes
up in a fine 19th-century building. Each room homemade honey and jams, and the restaurant
is uniquely designed, with stylish decor, serves hearty Pyrenean cuisine.
bold artwork and elegant furniture; while big
windows fill the rooms with light. Ask for a
mountain-view room with balcony. Breakfast Foix 8
costs €12.
4 Hôtel Eychenne Hotel €€
(%05 61 65 00 04; www.hotel-eychenne.com;
St-Savin 4 11 rue Peyrevidal; s/d €50/60; W) In a good
location in the centre of Foix, Hôtel Eychenne
4 Hôtel des Rochers Hotel €€ has simple, carpeted rooms with wooden
(%05 62 97 09 52; www.lesrochershotel.com; 1 shutters and bathrooms of a vaguely futuristic
place du Castillou; d €60-68, tr €95-100; pW) (circa 1960s) design, with capsule-like showers.
In the idyllic village of St-Savin, 16km south of There’s an easygoing bar downstairs.
Lourdes, this handsomely landscaped hotel
makes a perfect mountain retreat. It’s run by an 4 Hôtel Restaurant Lons Hotel €€
expat English couple, John and Jane, who have (%05 34 09 28 00; www.hotel-lons-foix.com; 6
renovated the rooms in clean, contemporary place Dutilh; r €79-103) One of the better hotels
fashion – insist on one with a mountain view. in Foix is an old-fashioned affair with rambling
Half-board is available. corridors and functional but comfy rooms, some
of which look onto the river, while the others face
Foix’s shady streets. The riverside restaurant
offers good-value half-board (menus €18 to €36).

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