Page 462 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - France

10 drops off the mountain, 11
en circled by eleven 3,000 m
Luz-St-Sauveur (9,800 ft) peaks. Pau
Tourists can now share
! C7 ⌂ Hautes-Pyrén ées much of the Observatoire ! C6 ⌂ Pyrénées-Atlan-
£ To Lourdes @ n Pl du tiques ~ £ @ n Pl Royale;
8 Mai 1945; www.luz.org Pic du Midi de Bigorre with www.pau-pyrenees.com
scientists. There’s an area
Luz-St-Sauveur is a small but where visitors can learn about A lively university town, with
space through experiments
attractive spa town. Its rather
streets of elegant belle époque
EXPERIENCE The Pyrénées Hospitaliers de Saint Jean spend the night here. Access region, and the most inter-
and a planetar ium show in the
architecture and shady parks,
unusual church was built dur-
ing the 14th cen tury by the
Pau is the capital of the Béarn
dome. It is even possible to
is by cable car from La Mongie
esting big town in the central
de Jérusalem, an order estab-
lished to protect pilgrims.
or on foot via one of a number Pyrénées. The weather during
autumn and winter is mild, so
The church is forti fied and
of walks up to the summit,
the town has been a favourite
which takes a minimum of
has gun slits from where the
knights could watch over
four hours.
resort of affluent foreigners,
the pilgrims on their way
the early 19th century.
to Santiago de Compostela
of the observatory, which has
Pau is primarily famous as
(p406). The ele gant spa town The French are justly proud especially the English, since
supplied some of the clearest
of Cauterets is a good base for images of Venus and other the birthplace of Henry IV.
climbing, skiing and walk ing. planets so far obtain ed from His mother, Jeanne d’Albret,
Gavarnie is a former stop Earth. The 1-m (3.2-ft) tele- travelled for 19 days from
on the pilgrim route to scope also mapped out the Picardy, in the eighth month
Santiago de Compostela. surface of the moon prior to of her preg nancy, just to have
A track leads from here to NASA’s Apollo missions. her baby here. She sang
the spectacular natural rock during her labour, convinced
amphitheatre known as Observatoire Pic du that if she did so, Henry would
the Cirque de Gavarnie. Midi de Bigorre grow up as tough as she was.
Here the longest waterfall in "\ - # Daily ¢ Mid- As soon as the infant was
France, at 420 m (1,378 ft), Apr–May & mid Nov–Dec born, his lips were smeared
∑ picdumidi.com with garlic and local Jurançon
wine, in keeping with the
traditional local custom.
The scenic road The town’s principal sight
into the Cirque de is the Château de Pau, first
Gavarnie, and (inset) re modelled in the 14th century
the observatory for the ruler of Béarn, Gaston

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