Lescar

Next day I caught a bus to Lescar. Nowadays Lescar lies stranded among the retail parks and dormitory suburbs of Pau, but in former, more illustrious times, it was a significant Roman city.





Above the main entrance of the Romanesque Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Lescar I noticed some remarkable 12th century herringbone-patterned brickwork; and inside the sanctuary found some perfectly preserved mosaics of hunting scenes - including this archer with a wooden leg:





At 9 o'clock the next morning I made my way downhill from the pilgrim refuge. Skirting the ramparts of the old cité, I passed under the stone arch of one of the city gates, then came across this brasserie with some early-morning customers drinking beer outside. It was much too early in the day for me to consider even the remotest possibility of alcoholic refreshment, so I moved quickly on ...





... registering this rather over-the-top little roundabout as I took the road westwards to the river, the Gave de Pau ...

Pau

I left Morlaàs early next morning, passing the church of Sainte-Foy on my way out of town:

I was soon walking through the popular recreational area of the Fôret Dominiale de Bastard (Bastard State Forest!) After miles of long, straight forestry tracks I reached the race-course at Lartigue, a northern suburb of Pau. Although Pau is slightly off-trail (the waymarked pilgrim route stays on the northern edge of Pau and heads directly for the ancient settlement of Lescar) I'd decided earlier that I wanted to explore this city - so I took a bus for 3.5 km into the centre.

Pau (population 80,000) is the capital of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the region of Aquitaine, and capital of the former province of Béarn. The British have long been associated with Pau - ever since Wellington left a garrison there on his way to Spain during the Napoleonic Wars - and they have the dubious distinction of establishing the first ever European golf course there. Famously, Pau is the birthplace of French king Henry IV (1553-1610) - and his spirit lives on in the town in the form of tourist bric-à-brac, civic sculptures and, magnificently, the imposing château:

As well as a guided tour of the castle - I remember the tapestries were particularly fine - I stocked up on even more culture by looking round the Musée des Beaux-Arts, which contained paintings by Rubens, Vuillard, El Greco - and this beautiful representation of the female form: