Chateau de Pau

Les Granges, Le Bourg, 64570 Ance, Pyrénées-Atlantiques. info@explore64.co.uk

Pyrénées-Atlantiques

The Béarn Region

Béarn along with the three Basque provinces of Soule, Lower Navarre, and Labourd, the principality of Bidache, as well as small parts of Gascony, forms in the southwest the current département of Pyrénées-Atlantiques (64). Pau was the capital of the former viscountcy of Béarn.

Béarn is bordered by Basque provinces Soule and Lower Navarre to the west, by Gascony (Landes and Armagnac) to the north, by Bigorre to the east, and by Spain (Aragon) to the south.

In Alexandre Dumas's The Three Musketeers series, the protagonist d'Artagnan was from Béarn (he mentions having attended his father's funeral there in the second book, Twenty Years After). That d'Artagnan is usually referred to as a Gascon is neither surprising nor incorrect, as Béarn is sometimes considered a part of Gascony.

Pau - Oloron Ste Marie – The Ance Area

Pau is 100 km from the Atlantic Ocean and 50 km from the Pyrenees. Spain is 50 km away in a straight line. The frontier is crossed by the col du Somport (1,631 m) and the col du Pourtalet (1,794 m). Access to the crossings partly accounts for Pau's strategic importance. The city stands on a 200m elevation overlooking the valley of a mountain river called the Gave de Pau, where a ford gave passage to the Pyrenees.The Gave, which becomes a torrent when mountain snow melts, begins in the Cirque de Gavarnie. It is the principal tributuary of the Adour after 175 km. The crossing was used for pasturage of sheep in the high meadows. The old route is now a hiking path, GR 65, that runs 60km south to the border.

The other rivers of the region are the Luy de Béarn, tributary of the Luy, the Ousse, and the Ousse des Bois, which flow into the Gave de Pau, and the Uzan, which joins the Luy de Béarn.

On October 10, 1969, Basses-Pyrénées was renamed Pyrénées-Atlantiques.

Pyrénées-Atlantiques is part of the Aquitaine region of Southwest France. It is bordered by the Landes, Hautes-Pyrénées , Gers departments and the Bay of Biscay . Principal settlements include Pau, Biarritz, Bayonne, Anglet, Urrugne and Saint-Jean-de-Luz. The parts of the department that were part of Guyenne and Béarn have a culture heavily influenced by the Basques.

Both the Gascon language and the Basque language are indigenous to the region here. Gascon is an Occitan language that is more closely related to Catalan than it is to French. Basque is a language isolate.

The Gîtes are located in the pretty village of Ance, 10 mins from the local town of Oloron Ste Marie, which has a beautiful cathedral and the main Gave d'Oloron running through it. There are many restaurants and shops and a local weekly market every Friday morning.

There are a wealth of activities to take advantage of. You can enjoy cycling, walking, fishing, swimming, climbing, parapenting, horse riding, quad biking, kayaking, skiing and lots more! The scenery is stunning surrounded by mountains, trees and waterfalls and many varieties of birds of prey soaring in the skies. The beaches of Biarritz and St Jean de Luz are an hour and half away and Spain is less than an hour’s drive.

The city of Pau, the capital of the Béarn region, is only an hour’s drive away and has cobbled streets and boutiques.

Les Granges are situated at the foothills of the Pyrénées in the Béarn region of South West France, 10 km from the market town of Oloron Ste Marie, the town where the French beret was invented!

Famous for it's local produce of 'brebis' cheese, Madiran and Jurançon wines, garbure (soup) and of course the mountains, the area is rural France at its best. It is very lush and green with a wealth of trees and forests and waterfalls. There are lots of nature walks, where you can explore the mountains and discover the beauty of the Pyrenees, the Cirque de Lescun is awesome!

Cycling and mountain biking is in abundance, and the gorges and grottes (ancient caves with stalagmites and stalagtites) are simply breathtaking.

Aquabearn Water Park, a 20-minute drive, has slides, pools, picnic areas and restaurants. The Oloron pool with both indoor and outdoor pools, slides, picnic area, is only a 10-minute drive and a further local outdoor pool is 5 minutes away. Aquabearn and the local pool have seasonal opening times, from June to September. The Adventure Park is 10 minutes drive away and with harness and safety equipment (supplied) you can climb through the trees, abseil and even bungee jump, if you want!

For more adventurous adolescents and adults there is a quad biking, 4x4 off-roading and go-carting centre 10 minutes away. Rock climbing, kayaking and white water rafting are also on the doorstep, only 20 minutes away.

The amazing Gorge de Kakouetta is a half hour drive from the Gites, there you can walk through the Gorge with its waterfalls and flowing river, stop for a picnic and take in the view.