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CONTENTS

The unique experience that you have enjoyed at Lourdes would not be complete without exploring further afield in the beautiful Pyrenean region. Whether you’re travelling in a group, as a couple or en famille, in this brochure we suggest various trips you can combine by car to put together your own unforgettable holiday.

BROCHURE THEME 1: CULTURAL AND SPIRITUAL HERITAGE

01 - Gouffre d’ cave and the altarpieces in the churches of Haut (half day or full day) 02 - It’s a ! The Sanctuary of Notre Dame de Bétharram (half day) 03 - The Life of Bernadette: Lourdes and Bartrès (half day) 04 - From Garaison to Escaladieu: spiritual wonders in sacred places (full day) 05 - The treasures of Val d’Azun and Saint Savin (full day) 06 - A day’s jaunt to (full day)

THEME 2: GREAT TOURIST SITES

01 - Bétharram Caverns: Journey to the centre of the Earth (half day) 02 - Meet the stars of the show: Pic du Midi - - (3 days)

THEME 3: LOCAL FLAVOUR

01 - Good King Henry’s country: Jurançon wines and the Château de Pau (full day)

THÈME 4 : LOURDES

01 - The other side of Lourdes: a lovely day exploring the town on (full day)

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GOUFFRE D’ESPARROS CAVE CULTURAL & SPIRITUAL & THE ALTARPIECES IN THE HERITAGE CHURCHES OF HAUT ADOUR TOUR SHEET 01 THEME 1 Beaudéan - Church of St Martin © OT Lourdes

DURA TION 1/2 DAY Settled in turn by the Romans, Visigoths, Moors and Cathars, the have OR FULL DAY witnessed a fascinating religious history. And even after took hold, MORNING - 60 KM mythology and folklore remained part of the mix. Churches, chapels and religious art ESPARROS - are part of any visit to Hautes-Pyrénées, and this tour is packed with religious interest. This tour takes you through the generations of sculptors – the fa- altarpiece with columns deco- + AFTERNOON little-known countryside of the mous Ferrère family – knew only rated with winding vegetation. 74 KM OR 67 KM Baronnies, starting with the won- too well. The triptych is formed by two sta- - VIA der of nature that is the Gouffre tues flanking the central painting. BAGNÈRES-DE- d’Esparros cavern, a treasure At a time when fashionable OR VIA THE COL D’ASPIN trove of stalactites, stalagmites, was a world away from this litt- The next stop comes in the - BEAUDÉAN - ASTE crystals and concretions in a le Pyrenean idyll, Jean Ferrère, neighbouring village of Beaudéan. - - LOURDES mineral wonderland. known as Jean I, began to carve Here, Marc Ferrère’s stunning sought-after Baroque works of work is in evidence in the 16th cen- The next stop en route is the art. In 1647 he built a new studio, tury Church of St Martin. Further ITINERARY village of Sarrancolin. Nestling from where he produced stunning down the valley, in the village of 9.00 AM in the heart of this little fortified works to decorate the churches Asté, you’ll find La Maison des Leave Lourdes for Esparros medieval town is the Church of St of his valley. Later, his son Marc Ferrère et du Baroque Pyrénéen, Ebons, built in the 11th and 12th was to take over. The churches on the site of the family’s art stu- 10.00 AM centuries, boasting a distinctive and chapels here, sometimes dio. Here, you can also see the Arrive at Esparros Greek-cross plan, imposing square austere-looking on the outside, Church of St Saturnin, which Visit the Gouffre d’Esparros bell tower and 15th century choir. are home to countless Ferrère contains works by Jean II. In the 11.00 AM treasures including altarpieces, 18th century this little Pyrenean Leave for Sarrancolin You then continue over the tabernacles, pulpits and lecterns. village was a centre for the arts, 11.30 AM Col d’Aspin mountain pass and Later, Marc’s two sons Jean II and home to carpenters, sculptors, Arrive at Sarrancolin on via , descending the Dominique continued the skilled gilders and more, artists whose See the Church of St Ebons, Campan Valley. (Alternatively, family tradition, innovating by work won fame far beyond the followed by lunch in one of the you can return to Lourdes via inlaying marble in their exquisi- borders of Bigorre. From here village restaurants Bagnères-de-Bigorre.) tely carved wooden objects and you head back to Lourdes, pas- 1.30 PM magnificent canopies. This route sing through Bagnères-de-Bigorre Leave for Campan From here, return to Lourdes or through the upper Adour Valley and stopping off in the village of complete the full-day tour to see takes you on a tour of discovery Pouzac to admire the work of the 2.30 PM Arrive at Campan the altarpieces in the churches of of their work. dynasty’s founder Jean I in the See the village and church Haut Adour. Church of St Saturnin. The mo- Campan, nestling below the slopes numental 17th century Baroque 3.30 PM Arrive at Beaudéan From its source in the Bigourdan of the , is altarpiece under a wooden vault See the church region’s Campan Valley, the River home to three churches. Two are representing the starry heavens is Adour runs all the way to the listed as Historical Monuments, awe-inspiring. 4.00 PM Arrive at Asté River Nive at . Like the and it is the oldest of them that Visit La Maison des Ferrère other Pyrenean valleys, places of contains the most stunning works et du Baroque Pyrénéen Christian worship abound here, by Marc Ferrère. Since 1700, the and see the church with chapels, churches, wayside Church of St John the Baptist of 5.15 PM shrines and mountainside pietàs Campan, built in the 16th century, Arrive at Pouzac everywhere you look. As three has contained a gilded Baroque See the Church of St Saturnin

6.30 PM Return to Lourdes Ibos Tarbes Monléon-Magnoac

INDEPENDENT EXPLORING

CULTURALLestelle-Bétharram Bartrès Montgaillard Escaladieu Montrejeau & SPIRITUAL 1 Lourdes 7 HERITAGE 8 Pouzac TOURRéserve SHEET Naturelle Régionale du massif Asté 6 de Pibeste 2 5 Beaudéan Esparros Argelès- 01 Arras-en- THEME 1 Campan Saint-Savin 4 3 Pierre tte Sarrancolin Nestalas Arrens- Marsous Estaing Col d’Aspin

Arreau

MORNING Luz- AFTERNOON Col du OPENING TIMES Cauterets Saint- Sers Tourmalet > Open from 1 June to 14 July and 15 Lourdes > Esparros 46 km SauveurSarrancolin > Campan 43 km Esparros > Sarrancolin 14 km OR Sarrancolin > Arreau > Col d’Aspin August to 30 September on Wednesdays and bus and car parking available in the villages > Campan 36 km Sundays from 1pm to 6pm. Réserve Naturelle Saint-Lary Col de Col du Parc National Campan > Beaudéan 2 Nationalekm > Open from 14 July to 15 August WednesdayPeyresourde Pourtalet GOUFFRE D’ESPARROSdes Pyrénées CAVE Beaudéan > Asté 2 kmdu Néouvielle to Sunday, from 1pm to 6pm. Col du INFORMATION Asté > Pouzac 7 km Guided of the churches of the Haute Pouzac > Lourdes 20 km Portillon 65130 ESPARROS Gèdre Bigorre regionCol de areVal available in July, August Bagnères- Tel.: +33 (0)5 62 39 11 80 Fabian and theLouron- fi rst two weeks of September fromde-Luchon Bossost Website: gouffre-esparros.fr CAMPAN 3pm. Tours are organised by La Maison des Ferrère et du Baroque Pyrénéen. Visit duration: 1hour / Temperature:Gavarnie 13° INFORMATION > Church of St John the Baptist at Campan Bookings and enquiries on + 33 (0)5 62 91 61 28 OPENING TIMES open daily from 10am to 6.30pm 2019 admission: €5.00. > 1 June to 30 September: daily, from Viella 10am to 12pm and 1.30pm to 5.30pm. BEAUDÉAN > French school holidays: from 10am POUZAC Hospital CHURCH OF ST MARTIN de Benasque to 12pm and 1.30pm to 5pm. INFORMATION > October, February, March and April: INFORMATION > Church of St Saturnin Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays ParcThe National keys are d’Ordesa available from MAISON LARREY Contact "Maison des frères Ferrère et du baroque Biescas et Mont-Perdu from 10am to 12pm and 1.30pmTorla to 5pm, 11 rue Larrey - 65 710 Beaudéan Pyrénéen" for admission. Wednesdays from 1.30pm to 5pm. +33 (0)5 62 91 68 98 Tel.: +33 (0)5 62 91 61 28 > May : Saturdays, Sundays and public Benasque holidays from 10am to 12pm and 1.30pm OPENING TIMES Parc National > Tella d’Aigüestortes to 5.30pm. Every weekday from 1.30pm 14 July to 15 August open daily except et lac St-Maurice to 5.30pm. Tuesdays from 2pm to 6pm Jaca > Janurary : Saturdays and Sundays from > 1 June to 13 July and 16 August to 31 2pm to 5pm for individuals. Wednesday September open Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 1pm to 6pmPuyarruego Sabinanigo to Sunday for groups, by arrangement. > Castejon de Sos Coll de 1 November to 31 May open Thursdays, Fades Booking is strongly advised all year and Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from Coll essential in June, July and August. 1pm to 6pm Escalona Saint Jean d’Erbera de la Pena > Annual closing in October 2019 ADMISSION > Adults : €10 > Children (4-12 years): €6.50; (13-17years): €7 > Families (2 adults ASTÉ Ainsa and 2 children): €27 (additional child €6) MAISON DES FERRÈRE ET DU BAROQUE PYRÉNÉEN SARRANCOLIN Beaudéan Church INFORMATION Campo© Maison des frères Ferrère INFORMATION 16, rue de l’église - 65200 ASTÉ Church of St Ebons Tel.: +33 (0)5 62 91 61 28 Open daily from 9am to 6pm

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IT’S A MIRACLE! THE CULTURAL & SPIRITUAL SANCTUARY OF NOTRE HERITAGE DAME DE BÉTHARRAM TOUR SHEET 02 THEME 1

Sanctuary of Notre Dame de Bétharram © Shutterstock DURATION 1/2 DAY Lestelle-Bétharram, on the River a short drive from Lourdes, is an DISTANCE essential stop on the Pyrenean Foothills route of St James’s Way trail (the 32 KM RETURN TRIP GR78). It is also a charming village with a history marked by three . And the VIA THE PAU ROAD Marian Sanctuary there is regarded as a masterpiece of Baroque art unrivalled in the (D937) TOWARDS Béarn region. SAINT-PÉ-DE-BIGORRE The Sanctuary came about in the Baroque chapel there today, paid religious group. He met Bernadette 14th century after shepherds min- for by the king of Louis XIII, Soubirous several times because ding their flock on the banks of the was built in the 17th century and she regularly went to see him for Gave were attracted by a bright is listed as a Historical Monument. advice with her parents. Interestingly, ITINERARY light. Finding a statue of the Virgin The chapel has a beautiful façade both were beatified within a few Mary in a bush on the riverbank, depicting the four evangelists with 9.00 AM years of each other. Leave Lourdes the villagers resolved to build the the Virgin Mary in the centre, and Chapel of Our Lady of the Star the interior is decorated in gold, You continue your visit with the 9.30 AM on the sacred spot. The second blue and red and features a nu- Arrive a Lestelle-Bétharram Musée de Bétharram. There are Visit the Sanctuary and miracle took place in 1616. Five mber of imposing oil-on-canvas four rooms, given over mostly to museum peasants from the neighbouring paintings of the Life of Christ, a fine relics and artefacts from the for- village of Montaut were resting organ case and loft, and a monu- mer monastery here: paintings, 11.00 AM in the fields when a fierce storm mental altarpiece. Walk: Way of the Cross mother-of-pearl objects, precious blew up over the hill overlooking wooden boxes, statues and perso- 12.00 PM Lestelle-Bétharram. The large Next to Notre Dame de Bétharram nal items connected with St Michel Lunch in one of the village cross recently erected over the is a monument built in 1924 and restaurants or a picnic on Garicoïts. Sanctuary was blown over by dedicated to St Michel Garicoïts. the banks of the Gave the gale but miraculously rose up This plain-looking chapel has no Before you leave, make sure you 2.30 PM moments later in a dazzling light. façade on to the street, no dome walk the calm, peaceful Way of Return to Lourdes This was Our Lady of the Calvary, and no external bell tower, but the Cross, built between 1867 and which became the starting point inside it is beautifully decorated 1873, which takes you up onto for a Way of the Cross featuring with stained-glass windows, fine the neighbouring hill. This impres- This half-day tour can be bas-relief carvings considered wrought ironwork and an effigy of sive walkway is visible from the combined with tour No. 3, to be masterpieces. The last mi- Father Garicoïts at rest, his hands road, climbing the hill to end at theme 1, the Life of Bernadette: racle occurred in the 17th century facing outwards, in a delicately a shady esplanade. There are 15 Lourdes and Bartrès, or tour when a little girl was saved from carved gilded bronze reliquary. No. 1, theme 2, Bétharram drowning in an eddy in the Gave Father Garicoïts, a priest from a stations of the cross, each with a Caverns: Journey to the by the Virgin Mary, who held out modest Basque family, came to Romanesque-style wayside shrine centre of the Earth a branch to her. In a show of grati- Lestelle-Bétharram in 1825 and to the Passion of the Saviour, the tude, the little girl carried a golden founded the Congregation of finest of which contain bas-relief branch, or ‘beth-arram’ (‘beauti- the Priests of the Sacred Heart carvings by the sculptor Joseph- ful branch’ in the local patois) to of Jesus, which to this day re- Alexandre Renoir, a relative of the the Virgin of the Sanctuary. The mains an internationally influential famous artist Auguste Renoir. Tarbes INDEPENDENT EXPLORING

CULTURAL & SPIRITUAL Lestelle-Bétharram Montrejeau HERITAGE 2 Lourdes TOUR SHEET 1 Réserve Naturelle Régionale du massif 02 de Pibeste THEME 1 Val d’Azun Argelès-Gazost Arras-en- Lavedan

Pierre tte Nestalas Arrens- Marsous Estaing

Lac Barèges d’Estaing MORNING Col du Arreau SANCTUARYLuz- OF BÉTHARRAM Tourmalet Cauterets Saint- INFORMATIONSauveur Sers Place Saint-Michel Garicoïts - 64800 LESTELLE-BÉTHARRAM Tel.: +33 (0)6 43 25 48 04 Réserve Naturelle Saint-Lary Col de Col du Parc National Website: www.betharram.fr Nationale Peyresourde Pourtalet des Pyrénées Email: [email protected] du Néouvielle Free admission, accessible to mobility-impaired visitors. Col du Parking for cars and coaches nearby. Portillon Gèdre SANCTUARY OPENING HOURS Col de Val Bagnères- Fabian de-Luchon st Louron-Azet > 1 January to 10 February: Saturday from 2pm to 4.30pm and Bossost Sunday from 9.30am to 12.00pm and 2pm to 4.30pm. > 11 February to 14 April from 2pm to 5pm and Sunday from 9.30amGavarnie to 12.00pm and 2pm to 5.00pm. > 15 April to 3 November from 9.30am to 12pm and 2pm to 5pm. > Juily and August from 9.30am to 12.00pm and 2pm to 6.30pm. Viella Sanctuary of Notre Dame de Bétharram © OT Lourdes VISITS AND DOCUMENTATION Visitors can watch a 10-minute DVD presentation on the Sanctuary’s Way of the Cross © Cumamovi Hospital history and spiritual signifi cance (in French) or an 11-minute DVD de Benasque (in six languages) (or listen to a 5-minute CD in six languages) about the life of St Michel Garicoït. Other documentation is also available for self-guided visiting.Parc National d’Ordesa Biescas et Mont-Perdu Torla MUSEUM

INFORMATIONS Benasque The same opening hours as the Sanctuary, but the museum closes Parc National Tella 30 minutes before the Sanctuary. d’Aigüestortes et lac St-Maurice 2019 admission: €2.00 Jaca

Puyarruego Sabinanigo Castejon de Sos Coll de Fades

Escalona Coll Saint Jean d’Erbera de la Pena www.lourdes-infotourisme.com

Ainsa

Campo INDEPENDENT EXPLORING

THE LIFE OF BERNADETTE: CULTURAL & SPIRITUAL LOURDES AND BARTRÈS HERITAGE TOUR SHEET 03 THEME 1

Bernadette’s shepherd’s hut © OT Lourdes

Lourdes, the Marian City, and Bartrès, a little village in the surrounding hills, have DURATION something in common: they were both once home to , the 1/2 DAY daughter of a modest family who became famous all over the world. DISTANCE Lourdes and Bartrès both play an Her father, struggling to find the priest agreed to prepare her for 6,5 KM important part in the history of wherewithal to feed his family, her Communion. Who could have the young girl to whom the Virgin decided to send Bernadette to live guessed that just three weeks later, Mary famously appeared. The sto- with Marie Lagües, who had been on 11 February 1858, a «lady ry begins in Lourdes in the autumn her wet nurse and who lived in the dressed in white» would appear of 1857. With not enough money little village of Bartrès in the hills a to her at Massabielle Grotto. to continue running the Moulin de few kilometres away. Marie paid ITINERARY Boly water mill where they lived, Bernadette to keep house, fetch You can walk to the village of 3.00 PM the Soubirous family were forced water and wood and to mind her Bartrès from Lourdes on the Chemin Visit Moulin de Boly mill and to move in to the Cachot, a former sheep, and so Bernadette would de Bernadette trail, which initially the Cachot prison, where they lived in just one walk to the family shepherd’s hut follows the footpath to Lannedarré and then joins the GR101 long-dis- 5.00 PM cold, dark room. just outside the village and take Arrive in Bartrès. See the the sheep to graze on the hillside tance footpath, a branch of the St shepherd’s hut and village Walking along the town’s oldest at Puyono. The shepherd’s hut is still James’s Way ’ trail from streets, which in those days were standing today, just outside the vil- . 6.00 PM End of tour inside the town , you lage. Stop and take in the view, the will come to these two old dwel- same view that Bernadette would The return journey is eight lings which provide a fascinating also have contemplated. kilometres of fairly easy walking insight into daily life here in the (allow around 2½ hours). This half-day tour can be 19th century. In Bartrès, Bernadette was not combined with tour No. 2, able to go to school or complete theme 1, It’s a miracle! The Bernadette, who had previously her catechism classes, and she Sanctuary of Notre Dame contracted cholera, suffered from was worried that she would not be de Bétharram, or tour No. 1, asthma, and the noisy, damp town able to take her First Communion. theme 2, Bétharram Caverns: of Lourdes, huddled around the Unable to read or write at the Journey to the centre of the base of the castle, was not a sui- age of 13, she asked if she could Earth. table place for a girl in poor health. return to Lourdes, where the local INDEPENDENT EXPLORING Monléon-Magnoac Tarbes

CULTURAL & SPIRITUAL HERITAGE TOUR SHEET 2 Lestelle-Bétharram Montgaillard Bartrès Montrejeau 03 Escaladieu THEME 1 Lourdes 1 Bonnemazon Réserve Naturelle Régionale du massif de Pibeste

Val d’Azun Argelès-Gazost

Col du Soulor Saint-Savin AFTERNOONSte-Marie-de-Campan MOULIN DE BOLY IN LOURDES Pierre tte Nestalas INFORMATION Arrens- 12, rue Bernadette Soubirous - 65100 LOURDES Marsous Tel.: +33 (0)5 62 42 16 36 Estaing Free

THE CACHOT IN LOURDES Lac Barèges d’Estaing INFORMATION Arreau 15, rue des Petits Fossés -Col 65100 du LOURDES Luz- Tourmalet Cauterets Tel.: +33 (0)5 62 94 51 30 Saint- Free Sauveur Sers OPENING HOURS OF BOTH SITES > 1 January to 31 March open daily from 3pm to 5pm. Also open from 10amRéserve to 12pm Naturelle and 3pm to 5pm during FrenchSaint-Lary school Col de Col du Parc National holidays Nationale Peyresourde Pourtalet des Pyrénées > 1 April to 27 Octoberdu open Néouvielle daily from 9am to 12pm and 2pm to 6pm (Moulin de Boly open until 6.30pm) > 28 October to 31 December open daily from 3pm to 5pm. Also open Col du from 10am to 12pm and 3pm to 5pm during French school holidays Portillon Interior view of the Cachot © P. VINCENT Gèdre Bagnères- BERNADETTE’S SHEPHERD’S HUT Col de Val Fabian Louron-Azet de-Luchon INFORMATION Bossost Route de Lourdes - 65100 BARTRÈS Accessible on foot via the Chemin de Bernadette (GR101, 4 km from Gavarnie Lourdes)

CHURCH OF BARTRES

INFORMATION Viella > April to October : open daily from 9am to 7pm. > November to March : open daily from 9am to 5pm. Hospital de Benasque

Parc National d’Ordesa Biescas et Mont-Perduwww.lourdes-infotourisme.com Where Bernadette lived © OT Lourdes Torla

Benasque Parc National Tella d’Aigüestortes et lac St-Maurice

Jaca

Puyarruego Sabinanigo Castejon de Sos Coll de Fades

Escalona Coll Saint Jean d’Erbera de la Pena

Ainsa

Campo INDEPENDENT EXPLORING

FROM GARAISON TO ESCALADIEU: CULTURAL SPIRITUAL WONDERS IN SACRED & SPIRITUAL PLACES HERITAGE TOUR SHEET 04 THEME 1

Escaladieu Abbey © Département des Hautes Pyrénées DURATION Y 1 DA Today, you turn your back on the mountains and Lourdes and head out on a pilgrimage DISTANCE to eastern Hautes Pyrénées and the villages of Monléon-Magnoac and Bonnemazon, 135 KM home to two of the most important sites in the religious history of the Pyrenees.

A few kilometres north of The Sanctuary is also home to an fine Cistercian architecture, the there is a tract impressive and well-preserved chapterhouse with Romanesque ITINERARY of sparse heathland that for collection of altarpieces, including façade and the delicate-pink and centuries was regarded as the one depicting the Flight from deep-red hues of the Campan 9.00 AM realm of devils and sorcerers Egypt and the altarpiece of the marbles adorning the different Leave Lourdes and barely worth grazing sheep high altar, which features a group halls and rooms. Owned by the 10.00 AM on! It was in this bleak place of figures from the Old and Hautes-Pyrénées Département Arrive at Monléon-Magnoac. in 1515 that the Virgin Mary New Testaments. You then head since 1997, the abbey regularly Self-guided tour of Our Lady appeared, on three occasions, to back south-west to the village of hosts fascinating temporary of Garaison (guided tours a poor young shepherdess called Bonnemazon, where you can exhibitions. Allow around 50 available by arrangement) Anglèze de Sagazan, imploring stop for lunch at a restaurant or minutes to return to Lourdes by 11.30 AM her to build a chapel. In 1540 perhaps picnic in the grounds car. If you’re feeling peckish, you Leave for Bonnemazon the chapel was built on the of Escaladieu Abbey. This site can do worse than stop off on the very spot where the Virgin had was chosen by a small group of way back at the Védère biscuit 12.00 PM Lunch at a restaurant in appeared. Promoted by the local Cistercian monks following their factory between Bagnères-de- Bonnemazon bishop and the Missionary Sisters failure to establish an abbey Bigorre and Montgaillard, where of the , higher up in the mountains, you can tuck in to succulent 2.10 PM the Sanctuary of Our Lady of where the was too cold madeleines, tarts and fine biscuits Arrive at the Cistercian Escaladieu Abbey Garaison at Monléon-Magnoac and inhospitable. Satisfied with in the unusual surroundings of a became an important place the uninterrupted view of the vintage railway dining car that 3.30 PM of pilgrimage until the French Pyrenees from this new site, ran on the Tarbes - Bagnères- Leave Escaladieu for Revolution. After the Revolution, they established their Scala Dei de-Bigorre line until 1970. After Montgaillard the site was given over mainly to (Ladder of God) on the sunny having your fill of spirituality, we 4.00 PM providing a home and education hillside here in around 1130-1137. recommend you fill up on tasty Arrive at the Védère biscuit for children. Today, the institution An important stopping point on treats… factory for afternoon tea and of Our Lady of Garaison has St James’s Way to Santiago de shopping some 600 pupils, and members Compostela, the powerful abbey 5.00 PM of the religious community here was the resting place of the counts Leave for Lourdes receive the visitors who come to of Bigorre from the 12th to the 14th admire the Baroque Sanctuary, century. Ravaged and ransacked 5.30 PM Arrive in Lourdes including the paintings in during the Wars of Religion in the narthex (which forms the the 14th century and restored on transition between the secular several occasions, it was finally exterior and the church interior) listed as a Historical Monument and the depictions of the pilgrims in 1939. Soak up the simple, journeying along St James’s Way. tranquil charm of the abbey’s INDEPENDENT EXPLORING

Monléon-Magnoac Tarbes 2 CULTURAL & SPIRITUAL HERITAGE TOUR SHEET Montgaillard 5 4 Escaladieu 1 04 Lourdes Montrejeau THEME 1 6 Bonnemazon 3

Val d’Azun Argelès-Gazost AFTERNOON Arras-en- MORNING Lavedan Col SANCTUARY OF OUR LADY OF GARAISON CISTERCIAN ESCALADIEU ABBEY d’Aubisque Col du Aucun Soulor Saint-Savin Ste-Marie-de-Campan INFORMATION INFORMATION Pierre tte65670 - MONLEON MAGNOAC 65130 - BONNEMAZON Nestalas Tel.: +33 (0)5 62 39 16 97 Arrens- Tel.: +33(0)5 62 99 49 00 Marsous Website: www.garaison.com Website: www.abbaye-escaladieu.com Estaing Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Free parking / picnic area Lac OPENINGBarèges TIMES d’Estaing Open all year round from 8amCol to du 11.30am OPENINGArreau TIMES Luz- Tourmalet Cauterets and 2.30pm to 6.15pm > 1 October to 31 March, from Thurday to Escaladieu Abbey Saint- © HPTE Self-guidedSers tour (guided tours by arrangement) Friday from 10am to 12.30pm and 1.30pm Sauveur to 5pm (group visits by arrangement). > Réserve Naturelle 1Saint-Lary April to 30 September, from MondayCol de Col du Parc National Nationale to Sunday from 10am to 6.15pm Peyresourde Pourtalet des Pyrénées du Néouvielle (group visits by arrangement). > The ticket offi ce and gift shop close Col du 30 minutes before the abbey. Portillon Gèdre Col de Val Bagnères- de-Luchon Fabian 2019 Louron-AzetADMISSION Bossost > Adults: €5.00 > Children (6-17years): €2.00 > > Gavarnie Students: €1.50 Families (2 adults and 2 children): €12.00 > Group adult and child price (minimum 10 persons): €3.50 Viella VÉDÈRE BISCUIT FACTORY The garden at Our Lady of Garaison © Notre Dame de Garaison INFORMATION Hospital de Benasque 423, route de la Gare - 65200 MONTGAILLARD Tel.: +33 (0)5 62 91 63 33 Parc National d’Ordesa Website: www.biscuiterievedere.com Biescas et Mont-Perdu Torla OPENING TIMES

> Monday to Saturday from 9.30am to Benasque 12.30pm and 2pm to 7pm Parc National Tella > Sundays and public holidays: d’Aigüestortes from 3pm to 6.30pm. et lac St-Maurice

Jaca

Puyarruego Sabinanigo Castejon de Sos Coll de Escaladieu Abbey © HPTE Fades Escalona Coll Saint Jean d’Erbera de la Pena

www.lourdes-infotourisme.com Ainsa

Campo INDEPENDENT EXPLORING

CULTURAL THE TREASURES & SPIRITUAL OF VAL D’AZUN HERITAGE & SAINT SAVIN TOUR SHEET 05 THEME 1

Col du Soulor © Val d’Azun

Since the Middle Ages, the villages of Arrens-Marsous and Saint Savin have been a DURATION draw for pilgrims making their way along St James’s Way to Spain. Here you will Y 1 DA find three religious buildings remarkable for their architecture and their fascinating DISTANCE histories, in the magnificent surroundings of the Pyrenees National Park. 70 KM MORNING ring the French Revolution, the to cyclists, this Pyrenean pass is chapel was then sold off as a na- also home to a cross-country ski VAL D’AZUN tional asset. The bishop of Tarbes, resort in winter and is a major Head for Arrens-Marsous in Val Mgr Laurence, restored the cha- European site for migrating birds d’Azun to see one of the region’s pel and tasked the Fathers of Ga- in summer, making it particularly most beautiful religious buildings: raison with looking after it. After good for bird watching (resident ITINERARY Pouey-Laün Chapel, stopping off the First World War, a children’s birds of prey and migrating spe- sanatorium and later a medical cies such as storks) from the two 9.00 AM first at the Maison du Val d’Azun institute (from 1973 to 2012) was themed nature trails there. You Leave Lourdes in the village centre to ask for the keys. Built on top of a rock run on the premises of the former can also walk up to Lac de Soum 9.30 AM in the Middle Ages, the chapel novitiate of the Missionaries of and laze in the sun along with Arrens-Marsous - Pouey-Laün was used as a place of prayer the Immaculate Conception. Af- the cows, horses and sheep gra- Chapel by the pilgrims lodging at the old ter your visit remember to return zing the summer pastures! Allow 10.00 AM hospitalet and those en route to the keys, and while you are there around 2 hours there and back Pyrenees National Park Santiago de Compostela. With it is worth spending time at the for this highly accessible walk. Visitor Centre a domed bell tower and lavish Maison du Val d’Azun et du Parc National des Pyrénées to see the 11.00 AM interior reclaimed from the old Why not take a picnic and sit by - Walk to Lac Marian sanctuary, the ‘golden permanent exhibition on the re- the lake, drinking in the magni- de Soum, bird-of-prey spotting chapel’ (capera daurada) boasts gion’s fauna, flora and pastoral ficent views of the and and picnic by the lake gold-leaf wall decoration and a farming. Then it’s time to breathe Arrens valleys and Pic du Gabi- the pure mountain air high up on 3.00 PM blue vault representing the starry zos mountain? Leave for Saint Savin heavens. Rebuilt in the 17th centu- the Col du Soulor, made famous ry following a major earthquake by the and acces- 3.30 PM and later used as a barracks du- sible all year round. Well known Saint Savin Abbey Church

4.15 PM Treasure Museum AFTERNOON this Benedictine monastery is today St Savin’s heritage, visit the a parish church containing a fas- Treasure Museum in the chap- SAINT-SAVIN 5.15 PM cinating collection that recounts terhouse and sacristy, which Chapel of Our Lady of Piety the life of St Savin, a monk of contains a collection of precious After a well-earned lunch break, Catalan origin who lived as a religious artefacts, including 6.15 PM it’s time to head for one of the Return to Lourdes hermit for 13 years on the Pouey- statues, monastic books and sa- region’s most beautiful villages, Aspé Promontory. Inside, you cred vessels. Close by the abbey Saint Savin, in a stunning loca- will see not only St Savin’s sar- church, standing on the rocky tion on a promontory overlooking cophagus but also Romanesque promontory to one side of the vil- the Gaves Valley. Here you will fonts, a 14th century wooden lage, is the Chapel of Our Lady find a historical gem, and a great statue of Christ, the Renaissance of Piety. It is worth taking a look centre of influence until the French organ dating from 1557 (one of at this magnificent oratory dating Revolution: the Abbey Church of the oldest in France) and wood from 1493, listed as a Historical Saint Savin. paintings depicting the miracles Monument in 1935, which today A 13th century masterpiece listed performed by the saint and epi- is mainly used for pilgrimage as a Historical Monument in 1840, sodes from his life. To see more of masses. Tarbes INDEPENDENT EXPLORING

CULTURAL & SPIRITUAL Lestelle-Bétharram HERITAGE 1 Montrejeau TOUR SHEET Lourdes 5 Réserve Naturelle 05 Régionale du massif THEME 1 de Pibeste Val d’Azun Argelès-Gazost Arras-en- Col Lavedan d’Aubisque Col du Soulor Aucun Saint-Savin 4 Ste-Marie-de-Campan 3 Arrens- 2 Pierre tte Marsous Nestalas Estaing

Barèges Arreau Sers Lac d’EstaingMORNING Luz- AFTERNOON Cauterets Saint- POUEY-LAÜN CHAPEL SAINT SAVIN ABBEYRéserve CHURCH Naturelle Saint-Lary Col de Col du Parc National Sauveur Nationale Peyresourde Pourtalet des I NFORMAPyrénées TION INFORMATIONdu Néouvielle Route d’Aste - 65400 ARRENS-MARSOUS 9, place du castet - 65400 SAINT-SAVIN Tel.: +33 (0)5 62 97 49 49 Tel.: +33 (0)5 62 97 02 23 Col du Website: www.valleesdegavarnie.com Email: [email protected] Portillon Gèdre Bagnères- Email: [email protected] Parking for cars and coaches nearby. Col de Val Fabian Louron-Azet de-Luchon OPENING TIMES OPENING TIMES Bossost > Open all year round > November to March from 9am to 5pm > Free admission - ask forGavarnie the keys at Tourist > April to October from 9am to 7pm Office > T reasure Museum open April to October, from 2.30pm to 6pm. MAISON DU VAL D’AZUN ET > 2019 admission: €2.50/person. Chapel of Piety © HPTE DU PARC NATIONAL DES PYRÉNÉES > Free for under 16 Viella INFORMATION 65400 ARRENS- CHAPEL OF OUR LADY OF PIETY Hospital MARSOUS Tel.: +33 (0)5 62 97 49 49 de Benasque Website: www.valleesdegavarnie.com E- INFORMATION mail: [email protected] 65400 - SAINT-SAVIN

OPENING TIMES Parc National OPENING d’Ordesa TIMES Biescas et Mont-Perdu> 29 April to 13 July and 21 August to 15 > French school term time:Torla Monday to Saturday October: Saturdays, Sundays and public from 9am to 12pm and 2pm to 5pm. holidays: 2.30pm to 6pm. > French winter holidays: Monday to Saturday Benasque > 14 July to 20 August: daily from 2.30pm from 9am to 12pm and 2pm to 6pm, Sunday Parc National to 6pm. from 9am to 12pm. Tella d’Aigüestortes > French summer holidays: Monday to Saturday et lac St-Maurice from 9am to 12.30pm and 2pm to 6.30pm, Jaca Sunday from 9am to 12.30pm.

© P.Meyer Puyarruego SaintSabinanigo Savin Abbey Church Castejon de Sos Coll de Fades www.lourdes-infotourisme.com Escalona Coll Saint Jean d’Erbera de la Pena

Ainsa

Campo INDEPENDENT EXPLORING

A DAY’S JAUNT CULTURAL TO TARBES & SPIRITUAL HERITAGE TOUR SHEET 06 THEME 1

Massey Gardens © Mairie de Tarbes

Tarbes was established by the Romans and became the administrative capital of the DURATION Hautes-Pyrénées Département in 1800. In 1806, I founded the National Y 1 DA Stud here, where the local Tarbais horse was crossed to create the Anglo-Arabian DISTANCE breed. In 1859 the railway from Paris reached Tarbes, continuing to Lourdes a few 48 KM years later which helped to boost numbers there. Before exploring Tarbes, stop off in the 18th century. Don’t leave the Hussars, the light cavalry of in the village of Ibos (one of the without looking in at the Chapel Hungarian origin. The latter fea- largest towns in the Bigorre re- of the Holy Virgin, where the will tures a series of historical sections gion in the Middle Ages) to see and testament of king Louis XVI is that take you through the timeline ITINERARY the magnificent collegiate church carved on a marble wall. of Hussars regiments in France there, built by the king of France, and around the world (including 9.00 AM Philippe VI of Valois. First, you will For lunch, there is a wide choice Leave Lourdes some impressive uniforms on dis- have to call in at the Mairie (town of restaurants in the city centre. play), which forged the reputation 9.30 AM hall) to ask for the keys to this im- We recommend you try some of Arrive in Ibos of this fighting force over more posing Gothic building. Listed as the local specialities, such as ha- See the collegiate church than four centuries. a Historical Monument in 1862, ricots tarbais beans and Bigorre 10.30 AM the collegiate church contains a Noir pork. Bon appétit! Leave for Tarbes pulpit by Marc Ferrère and fine Before you indulge in a city-centre 11.00 AM 17th and 18th century furniture. After lunch, why not take a stroll shopping spree, we highly recom- See the Cathedral Interestingly, the locals say that around the magnificent Massey mend a visit to the National Stud, of Our Lady of the Seat the Greenwich Meridian passes Gardens to help your food go Tarbes’ iconic 8-hectare show- 12.00 PM directly through the bell tower… down? Officially recognised as piece in the middle of the city. Lunch in the city centre a ‘Jardin Remarquable’, this 11- This Historical Monument was 1.30 PM On leaving Ibos it will take you hectare haven of peace and quiet originally built for the cavalry. It Afternoon in Massey Gardens less than ten minutes by car to contains some real treasures: is worth going on a guided tour Visit the Hussars military get to Tarbes, where your first a 15th century 40-arch cloister to learn about the history of the heritage museum and destination is the Cathedral of from Saint-Sever-de-Rustan Abbey, orangery cavalry through the historical col- Our Lady of the Seat (the seat a bandstand, an orangery, and lections, which include carriages, 4.00 PM being that of the bishop). Built a beautiful old house built in the antique saddles and tack, and Visit the National Stud in the 12th century on a site that Moorish style with a striking ob- also the famous Anglo-Arabian 5.30 PM was first Gallo-Roman and la- servation tower, which is home to horse bred in Tarbes. You can Time for shopping in the city ter a Merovingian cemetery, this the Musée Massey. centre Romanesque building has been also visit the Maison du Cheval built by Gustave Eiffel (of Tower 7.00 PM modified over the centuries. The This recently completely refurbi- Return to Lourdes Gothic nave was added in the shed museum contains two collec- fame), which includes a section 14th century and a number of tions: one of Fine Arts, with a dis- about the image of the horse in magnificent features, including play of European paintings from Occitania. the vast Baroque marble canopy the 15th to the 20th century, and above the high altar, were added the other recounting the history of INDEPENDENT EXPLORING

Ibos Tarbes Monléon-Magnoac CULTURAL 2 & SPIRITUAL 3 HERITAGE TOUR SHEET

Montgaillard 06 Bartrès THEME 1 4 Montrejeau Escaladieu Lourdes 1 Bonnemazon Réserve Naturelle Régionale du massifMORNING de Pibeste IBOS COLLEGIATE CHURCH 2019 ADMISSION > Full price: €5.00. Val d’Azun OPENING TIMES > Groups of more than 10: €2.50/person. > Monday toArgelès-Gazost Friday from 8am to 12pm > Guided tours available for groups of up to Arras-en- and 1.15pm to 6pm (you will need proof 25: €25.00/tour. Col Lavedan of identity to borrow the keys from the > Tours in French, English and Spanish by d’Aubisque Col du Aucun secretary’s offi ce at the Mairie (town hall)). Saint-Savin Ste-Marie-de-Campanarrangement. Soulor > Guided tours available for groups > Duration: 1 hour 30 min. > Email: [email protected] tte Nestalas THE ORANGERY Arrens- CATHEDRAL OF OUR LADY OF THE SEAT Marsous INFORMATION INFORMATION Estaing Au sein du Jardin Massey 5, place Général de Gaulle - 65000 TARBES Open daily, from 10am to 12pm and Open Monday to Sunday, from 7am to 7pm. 2.15pm to4. 45pm Lac Admission: free Barèges d’Estaing NATIONALCol STUDdu Arreau Luz- Tourmalet Cauterets INFORMATION AFTERNOONSaint- Sers Chemin Mauhourat - 65000 TARBES MASSEY GARDENS Sauveur Tel.: +33 (0)6 32 44 87 13 INFORMATION Email: [email protected] Rue Massey - 65000 TARBES Réserve Naturelle Col de OPENING TIMES Saint-Lary Col du Parc National Free admission > Nationale Peyresourde Pourtalet des Pyrénées Opendu allNéouvielle year round, guided tours MUSÉE MASSEY, INTERNATIONAL by arrangement with Raoul on HUSSARS MUSEUM +33 (0)6 32 44 87 13. Col du > Guided tours on Wednesdays at 10.30am, Portillon Gèdre INFORMATION 2.30pm and 4pm and on Saturdays and Col de Val Bagnères- de-Luchon Au sein du Jardin Massey Sundays at 2.30pm and 4pm.Fabian Louron-Azet Bossost Rue Achille Jubinal - 65000 TARBES > During French school holidays, additional Tel.: +33 (0)5 62 44 36 95 guided tours on Tuesdays and Fridays Website:Gavarnie www.musee-massey.com at 10.30am, 2.30pm and 4.00pm. International Email: [email protected] > Hussars Museum © Mairie de Tarbes Duration : 1 hour 15 min. OPENING TIMES 2019 ADMISSION > April to October from 10am to 12.30pm and > Adults : €7.00 Viella 1.30pm to 7pm. > Children (aged 3 to 12): €2.00 > October to April from 10am to 12pm and > Students, riders (FFE members), groups 2pm to 5pm. Hospital (of more than 15): €5.00 de Benasque

Parc National d’Ordesa Biescas et Mont-Perdu Torla

Benasque Cathedral of Our Lady www.lourdes-infotourisme.com Parc National of the Seat © Mairie de Tarbes Tella d’Aigüestortes et lac St-Maurice

Jaca

Puyarruego Sabinanigo Castejon de Sos Coll de Fades

Escalona Coll Saint Jean d’Erbera de la Pena

Ainsa

Campo INDEPENDENT EXPLORING

BETHARRAM CAVERNS: JOURNEY GREAT TOURIST TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH SITES TOUR SHEET 01 THEME 2

Bétharram Caverns © Grottes de Bétharram

DURATION 1/2 DAY This is a great option to keep up your sleeve for a rainy day (or when it’s just too hot outdoors!). Bétharram Caverns have a reputation for being the most beautiful in DISTANCE 38KM Europe and these vast caves with such a variety of natural features will amaze you RETURN TRIP and provide a fascinating insight into the geology of this part of the Pyrenees. FOLLOWING THE PAU ROAD (D937) TO THE At the Caverns car park (just a your eye: follow the endlessly you could swear the rocks are CAVERNS AND THEN 20-minute drive from Lourdes), branching concretions, formed by hanging high above your head! THE D512 TO SAINT- you hop on the shuttle that takes the water slowly leaving stone de- At this point you are actually cros- PÉ-DE-BIGORRE you to the entrance, where you posits over millennia. It’s then that sing the boundary between the are met by your guide. The tour you notice the vast scale of geolo- Pyrénées-Atlantiques and Hautes of the caverns covers 2.8 km, with gy in action in these caves. Stage Pyrénées Départements. Next, an impressive 80-metre descent one: the perfectly aligned pairs you board the boat for the ride along the way. of stalactites and stalagmites, all on the underground lake. For the set to join up to form a column last part of the tour, a little train is It’s difficult to tell just how big the (you’ll just have to wait a few mil- waiting (the tunnel for it was dug This half-day tour can be first cavern is: the play of light and lion years!). between 1913 and 1924), saving combined with tour No. 2, shadow makes it almost impos- you the hike up the 250 steps theme 1, It’s a miracle! sible to tell where this one ends Stage two: the complete columns, back to the top! The Sanctuary of Notre and the next begins and how far leading to the water-nymph pools Dame de Bétharram, or tour away the jumble of stalactites, on several levels and the Hall of You exit into a glass-and-concrete No. 3, the Life of Bernadette: curtains and chasms really are. Chandeliers. Art Deco hall built in 1924, where Lourdes and Bartrès Opposite you is the main chasm, you can get a coffee and buy plunging down to the lowest level Does the next bit look familiar? souvenirs. Outside, there is a co- open to the public. See that long You’re back where you started, vered picnic area for those who flight of steps? Gird yourself, it’s a looking out into the chasm. Now have brought their lunch with long way down! But first, you ex- it’s time to descend those steps… them. Alternatively, you might like plore to the end of the first cavern. You follow the sound of running to go for lunch at one of the two The ‘sponge’ ceiling will catch water and pass a fault line, where restaurants near the Caverns. INDEPENDENT EXPLORING Monléon-Magnoac Tarbes

GREAT TOURIST SITES TOUR SHEET Lestelle-Bétharram Montgaillard Bartrès 2 Montrejeau 01 Escaladieu THEME 2 Grottes de Betharram Lourdes 1 Bonnemazon Réserve Naturelle Régionale du massif de Pibeste

Val d’Azun Argelès-Gazost Col d’Aubisque Col du Aucun MORNING Soulor Saint-Savin Ste-Marie-de-Campan BÉTHARRAM CAVERNS Pierre tte INFORMATIONNestalas Arrens- Chemin des grottes - 65270 SAINT-PÉ DE BIGORRE Marsous Tel.: +33 (0)5 62 41 80 04 EstaingWebsite: www.betharram.com Email: [email protected] Lac Parking for cars and coaches Barèges d’Estaing Arreau CAVERNS OPENING HOURS Col du > February to March: Luz-Monday to Thursday (one tour at 2.30pmTourmalet Cauterets Saint- and one tour at 4pm) and Friday (oneSers tour at 2.30pm) Bétharram Caverns © Grottes de Bétharram > March to October:Sauveur daily from 9am to 12pm and 1.30pm to 5.30pm (closing at 5pm in September and October) > July and August: daily from 9am to 6pm, non stop Réserve Naturelle Saint-Lary Col de Col du Parc National> Visit duration: 1 hr 20 min - temperature : 14°C Nationale Peyresourde Pourtalet des Pyrénées> Guided tours in 9 languages. du Néouvielle

2019 ADMISSION Col du > Individuals: €15.00/adult - €9.50/child aged 4 to 12. Portillon Gèdre > Groups of 10 to 20 adults: €12.50/adult - €8.00/child Col de Val Bagnères- de-Luchon aged 4 to 12. Fabian Louron-Azet Bossost > Groups of minimum 20 adults: €12.50/adult - €8.00/child aged 4 to 12, one free place per 20 paying visitors. > Group toursGavarnie by arrangement only. TOP TIP In July and August the Caverns are less busy in the morning.

The Bell © Grottes de Bétharram Viella

© Grottes de Bétharram The Great Hall Hospital de Benasque

Parc National d’Ordesa Biescas et Mont-Perdu Torla

Benasque Parc National Tella d’Aigüestortes et lac St-Maurice

Jaca www.lourdes-infotourisme.com

Puyarruego Sabinanigo Castejon de Sos Coll de Fades

Escalona Coll Saint Jean d’Erbera de la Pena

Ainsa

Campo INDEPENDENT EXPLORING

MEET THE STARS OF THE GREAT TOURIST SHOW: PIC DU MIDI - SITES TOUR SHEET GAVARNIE - CAUTERETS 02 THEME 2 Pic du Midi © P. COMPERE for miles, over to the Brèche de Roland, Jerusalem to house and care for travellers, > DAY 1 ITINERARY - 94 KM and the ‘bear’s head’ of the Pic du this church has been rebuilt and patched up 9.00 AM - Leave Lourdes for La Midi d’Ossau in the west. The summit countless times. Inside you’ll find gems like Mongie 10.00 AM- Arrive in La museum is worth visiting, and remember the Baroque altarpiece with Solomon Mongie and ascent in the Pic du Midi to book your place on the voyage among columns decorated with scallop shells and, Cable Car 12.00 PM - Lunch on the the stars in Europe’s highest in the Romanesque north chapel a 14th summit 2.30 PM - Return to planetarium (recently opened in the century polychrome wood statue of Notre Coupole Baillaud, which holds an Dame du Bon Port, flanked by two 17th > DAY 2 ITINERARY - 98 KM important place in France’s scientific century statuettes of pilgrims. Next, return 9.00 AM - Leave Lourdes for Gavarnie history). You can also relive the Pic du Midi to your car to follow the road down to 10.15 AM - Arrive at the village ’s history through augmented Luz-St Sauveur. Before you get to the vil- and set off on the walk 12.00 PM - reality using an Histopad. For thrill seekers, lage, stop off at Pont Napoléon to admire Picnic at the foot of the Cirque or lunch at come and live a dizzying experience with this bridge that appears to hang in thin air a nearby eatery 4.00 PM - Return to the the “pontoon in the sky”. Lunch on a above the River Gave… don’t look down! village selection of local dishes at almost The column surmounted by the imperial > DAY 3 ITINERARY - 76 KM 3,000 metres altitude, or better still, eagle tells you that this bridge was built 9.00 AM - Leave for Cauterets stay the night! Back at the bottom of the on the orders of Napoleon III. The winding 10.00 AM - Arrive at Pont d’Espagne mountain, before returning to Lourdes, back streets of Luz are also worth taking and set off on the walk to Lac de Gaube. make a short detour to see the little chapel at time out to explore, especially when you 12.00 PM - Picnic by the lake or lunch La Mongie, one of the few places of come to the 11th century fortified Church of at one of the lakeside eateries 3.00 PM worship still going in this busy ski resort. the Knights Templar. -Return to the village of Cauterets, with The stone walls, slate roof and DAY 3 time to relax at the Bains du Rocher. unassuming interior of the recently renovated Our Lady of the Snows (built in CAUTERETS - PONT D’ESPAGNE How about three days of breath- 1954) are worth a look. Today you follow in the footsteps of authors taking scenery and endless views? DAY 2 Georges Sand and Victor Hugo and other From the rushing waterfalls of Pont great (and lesser-known) figures of 19th cen- d’Espagne to the giant ring of rock tury Parisian society, to Cauterets and the at Gavarnie, and not forgetting the On day two you become acquainted with a famous Pont d’Espagne, in the heart of the majestic summit of the Pic du Midi, stone giant, Victor Hugo’s «colossus of Pyrenees National Park. The bridge is so come with us to meet the stars of nature» and an international star now it called because it is the last bridge you cross Nature’s show here – the Great has been listed as a Unesco World Heritage (on foot only) before arriving at the Spanish Tourist Sites of Hautes Pyrénées. site: the Cirque de Gavarnie. And you can border. There’s a lovely walk up to the radiant get up close and personal with this wonder, DAY 1 Lac de Gaube at the foot of the mighty peak carved out by the glacier that created the of (around three hours there and PIC DU MIDI valley here. From the far end of the village back). It’s a stiff climb, but there’s an easy way To make the most of your first day on top of Gavarnie you set off on a three-hour up via the gondola and chairlift. Picnic by the walk (there and back) to the foot of this of the Pyrenees, leave Lourdes and lake or enjoy lunch at one of the lakeside ea- mighty cirque. Easy to start with, the route early and head for Bagnères-de-Bigorre teries and drink in the beauty of the surroun- becomes more challenging towards the end, ding scenery. Don’t head back down the val- then La Mongie ski resort. You won’t forget but your hard work is doubly rewarded by ley before taking a stroll through the village the cable car ride to the top in a hurry! the sight that greets you at the foot of the of Cauterets to admire the architecture of As you are whisked up the mountainside, monumental waterfall (Europe’s biggest!). this spa resort, where taking the waters was spare a thought for the Herculean effort And if you’re not up to walk, it’s possible to the height of fashion in the 19th century. The required to build the cable car and carry up get there on a donkey or pony. Back in the ‘royalty’ of the Napoleonic area and many of the materials to build the summit village, reward yourself with a drink on a their illustrious contemporaries influenced the , transported by men and sunny café terrace while admiring the view, recognisable Belle Époque architecture that mules from 1870 onwards. Today you then trot off to see the Church of St John the parades itself all around. Why not experience ascend the 1,000 metres altitude in less Baptist, a Historical Monument and for yourself the healing properties of the natu- Unesco World Heritage Site as part of the than 15 minutes in one of the two cable rally hot water that made Cauterets’ name? Try ‘Routes of Santiago de Compostela’. The car cabins to the Pic du Midi panoramic the Bains du Rocher, where you can soak in former chapel of a hospice founded in the observation terrace. From there you can see the magnificent 200m2 outdoor pool. 12th century by the Knights of St John of Ibos Tarbes Monléon-Magnoac

INDEPENDENT EXPLORING

Montrejeau Lourdes 1 Escaladieu

3 2 Bonnemazon GREAT TOURIST Réserve Naturelle Régionale du massif Asté SITES TOUR de Pibeste Val d’Azun Beaudéan Esparros SHEET Argelès-Gazost Arras-en- Col Lavedan d’Aubisque Col du Campan Aucun Soulor Saint-Savin Pierre tte Sarrancolin Nestalas Arrens- 02 Marsous THEME 2 Estaing 1 Col d’Aspin Barèges La Mongie 3 Col du Arreau Tourmalet

Cauterets Luz- Sers Saint- Sauveur Réserve Naturelle Saint-Lary Col de Col du Parc National Nationale Peyresourde Pourtalet des Pyrénées du Néouvielle

Gèdre Col de Val Bagnères- Fabian Louron-Azet de-Luchon

Gavarnie 2

Afternoon add-on: Chapel of Our Lady of Viella DAY 1 BAINS DU ROCHER the Snows. Optional circuit to the Col du DIRECTIONS Hospital Tourmalet, or skiing in winter. Open all year INFORMATION de Benasque > Lourdes > La Mongie via Bagnères-de- round. Avenue du docteur Domer - 65110 CAUTERETS Bigorre: 48 km > Lourdes > La Mongie via the Parc National d’Ordesa Biescas et Mont-Perdu Tel.: +33 (0)5 62 92 14 20 Col du Tourmalet: 54 km (col open only from Torla Website: www.bains-rocher.fr DAY 2 mid-June to mid-October or other autumn date Email: [email protected] Benasque Parc National depending on snow conditions. Up-to-date DIRECTIONS Tella d’Aigüestortes OPENING TIMES et lac St-Maurice access information from the Tourist Offi ce). > Lourdes > Gavarnie : 50 km > 22 December to 21 April: open from Jaca > Free car and coach parking. > Fee charged for car and coach parking 10am to 7.30pm (open until 8.30pm from 1 May to 31 October inclusive. Puyarruego during French school holidays) PIC DU MIDISabinanigo DE BIGORRE €5.00 per car for 24 hours Castejon de Sos Coll de in 2019. > 2 2 April to 5 July: open from Fades2pm INFORMATION Escalona to 7.30pm on weekdays and from 10am to Coll Church of St John the Baptist in Gavarnie: d’Erbera Saint Jean Rue Pierre Lanmy de la Chapelle 7.30pm on weekends and public holidays de la Pena open daily from 9am to 6pm. 65200 LA MONGIE > July and August: open from 10am Tel.: +33 (0)8 25 00 28 77 or Church of the Knights Templar in Luz-St to 7.30pm Ainsa > +33 (0)5 62 56 70 01 for group bookings. Sauveur: open daily. September and October: open from 2pm Website: www.picdumidi.com to 7.30pm on weekdays and from 10am to Campo DAY 3 7.30pm on weekends and public holidays > 1 to 21 December: open from 2pm OPENING TIMES DIRECTIONS to 7.30pm on weekdays and from 10am to > January, February and March: open daily > Lourdes > Pont d’Espagne : 39 km 7.30pm on weekends and public holidays >Mid-April and May: closed > Parking for cars (€7 per day in 2019) > June, July, August, September and coaches (fee charged) in summer until 2019 ADMISSION and October: open daily mid-September. 2-hour pass, adults: €18.50 >November and December: closed 2-hour pass, children (4-14 yrs): €9.50 PONT D’ESPAGNE Departures approx. every 15 minutes 2-hour pass, teens (15-17 yrs): €16.50 > at First departure: La Mongie Cable Car INFORMATION Add-on after 5pm: city-centre shopping for 9.30am Tel.: +33 (0)5 62 92 52 19 berlingot sweets, ewe’s cheese, bilberry jam >Last departure: La Mongie Cable Car at Website: www.cauterets.com and more... 4pm (low season) or 5.00pm (high season) Email: [email protected] >Last return from Pic du Midi summit: 5pm (low season) - 7.30pm (high season) 2019 ADMISSION > Waterfall Panorama Pass from €5.50 per 2019 ADMISSION person (incl. parking, gondola and Pont Adults: €40.00 d’Espagne). Children (under 12): €24.50 > Lac de Gaube Pass from €12.50 per Cable car © E. MARTIN person (incl. parking, gondola and chairlift).

www.lourdes-infotourisme.com INDEPENDENT EXPLORING

GOOD KING HENRY’S COUNTRY: LOCAL JURANÇON WINES AND THE FLAVOUR TOUR SHEET CHÂTEAU DE PAU 01 THEME 3

The mighty Pyrenees © S.Torres

This is a day-long exploration of the Béarn region, home to three AOC wine DURATION appellations, the most famous of which is Jurançon, known to have been produced 1 DAY here as far back as the 10th century. Legend has it that when Henry IV was baptised, DISTANCE the priest placed a few drops of Jurançon on his lips... This tour takes in the Jurançon 86 KM wines and the beautiful city of Pau, certified a Town of Art and History for the castle district where Henry IV was born.

MORNING d’origine contrôlée white wines of your choice, accompanied by and Béarn reds and rosés. On the local produce. CAVE DE GAN ITINERARY JURANCON tour, wine buffs gain a fascinating insight into the whole winemaking Once you have tasted the wine of 9.00 AM king Henry IV, you’ll want to visit Fifty minutes from Lourdes is a process, from delivery of the Leave Lourdes his Château in Pau, just 8 minutes little village called Gan. Over the freshly picked grapes to bottling, 9.50 AM away. We heartily recommend years, the Cave de Gan Jurançon and including the grape presses, Arrive at Cave de Gan Jurançon that you stop off for lunch the fermentation vats, the semi- winery, with views across to the beforehand in the picturesque 10.00 AM underground ageing cellar and Pic du Midi d’Ossau and the line castle district to experience the Tour starts how its construction revealed 4th of the Pyrenees, has become the famous regional dish poule au 11.30 AM third most visited company in century Gallo-Roman , pot! Tour ends, wine tasting and France. It is a cooperative of nearly and the bottling centre. To round wine-buying opportunity 300 wine growers who produce off the tour, the guide takes you to 11.45 AM sweet and dry appellation the shop for a tasting of the wines Leave for Pau, château district

12.15 PM AFTERNOON (most were made at the famous the city, where you can play the Lunch Gobelins Manufactory in Paris), game of spotting the commonest CHATEAU DE PAU 2.00 PM and the fascinating collections flower variety. In the late Tour of the château of historical items. You see afternoon, why not explore the Right in the centre of the city, the opulently decorated royal city centre and treat yourself to 3.30 PM with magnificent views of the apartments and learn about some gourmet local specialities Time in the grounds Pyrenees, the Château de Pau, or fashion and decorative items built on a rocky spur overlooking the day-to-day running of the 4.00 PM from the big-name stores? And the River Gave, is the birthplace palace, plus objects to do with Exploring the city centre don’t forget to stop for a drink and shopping of Henry IV, King of France and the life of Henry IV: the famous on a café terrace or take a stroll Navarre. Spanning a history turtle shell that was his cradle 6.00 PM along the famous Boulevard of more than 1,000 years, and a host of paintings and Return to Lourdes des Pyrénées, from where this castle is today a national sculptures of the great king. there is a stunning panoramic museum. In regal surroundings, view of the Pyrenees which history buffs can learn all about After the tour, get some fresh air the poet Lamartine described the history of the Béarn region in the château grounds, covering as «affording the finest view through a host of artefacts and a vast area of 22 hectares and on land, as Naples affords the works of art such as the series of certified a Natura 2000 nature finest view out to sea». 17th and 18th century tapestries area. It’s a haven of greenery in INDEPENDENT EXPLORING

Pau 3 LOCAL FLAVOUR TOUR SHEET Gan Ibos 01 2 Tarbes Monléon-Magnoac THEME 3

4 Montrejeau Escaladieu Lourdes 1 Bonnemazon

MORNING Réserve Naturelle> 16 September to 14 June: from 9.30am Asté Régionale du massif to 11.45am and 2pm to 5pm (last tour THE WINE THAT HENRY IV DRANK:de Pibeste departs at 5pm). Beaudéan Esparros CAVE DE GAN JURANÇONVal d’Azun > Closure:Argelès-Gazost The château is closed on Arras-en- INFORMATIONCol Lavedan 1 January, 1 May and 25 December. 53, d’Aubisqueavenue Henri IV - Col64290 du GAN Campan Aucun 2019 ADMISSION Tel.: +33 (0)5 59 21 57Soulor 03 Saint-Savin > Full price: €7.00 Website: www.cavedejurancon.com Pierre tte Sarrancolin > Reduced price: €5.50 Email: [email protected] Nestalas Arrens- > Group price: €6.00 (minimum group size: > Languages: English andMarsous Spanish Estaing 10 paying visitors). > Groups : advance booking recommended Col d’Aspin > Free admission: Children under 18. > Admission: free > Lac Ticket price includes admissionBarèges to the La Mongie OPENING TIMESd’Estaing permanent collections; price may increaseCol du Arreau > All year round Monday to Saturday, from by €2.00 during some temporary Tourmalet Cauterets Luz- 8am to 12.30pm and 1.30pm to 6.30pm. exhibitions.Saint- Sers > 2 June to 1 September Monday to Saturday ACCESSIBILITYSauveur from 8am to 7.30pm and Sundays from > Mobility-impaired visitors: only the ground 9.30am to12.30pm and 2.30pm to 6pm. Réserve Naturelle Saint-Lary Col de Col du Parc National fl oor is accessible. Nationale Peyresourde Pourtalet > des Pyrénées December Monday to Saturday from 8.00am > Visually impaired visitors: guide dogs duare Néouvielle to 12.30pm and 1.30pm to 7.00pm. welcome in the museum. > Wine cellar tours Monday to Saturday from Gèdre 9am to 11am and 2pm to 5pm. GETTING THERE Col de Val Bagnères- Fabian Louron-Azet de-Luchon >Tour duration: 1½ hours, with tour > Nearby car parks: Place de Verdun Château de Pau © Pau Pyrénées Tourisme conducted in a foreign language by (charge payable) and Usine des tramways arrangement. Tour accessible to mobility- (free), access to theGavarnie château via the impaired visitors. funicular. > Coach parking: free coach parking AFTERNOON in Place de la Monnaie with direct access Viella TOUR OF THE CHÂTEAU DE PAU to the château via lift. > By bus: route 805 Lourdes > Pau Hospital INFORMATION > By train: Lourdes SNCF railway station de Benasque 2, rue du Château - 64000 PAU > Pau SNCF railway station then access Tel.: +33 (0)5 59 82 38 00 to the château via the funicular Parc National d’Ordesa BiescasWebsite: www.chateau-pau.fr et Mont-Perdu Email: [email protected] Torla > Languages: English and Spanish Benasque OPENING TIMES Parc National Tella d’Aigüestortes Open to the public daily et lac St-Maurice > 15 June to 16 September: from 9.30am Jaca to 5.45pm (last tour departs at 5.45pm).

Puyarruego Sabinanigo Castejon de Sos Coll de www.lourdes-infotourisme.com Fades Jurançon vineyard © S. TORRES Escalona Coll Saint Jean d’Erbera de la Pena

Ainsa

Campo INDEPENDENT EXPLORING

THE OTHER SIDE OF LOURDES TOUR SHEET LOURDES: A LOVELY DAY EXPLORING THE 01 TOWN ON FOOT THÈME 4

Château Fort © P. VINCENT

We suggest you spend a day strolling the avenues and back streets of Lourdes to soak DURATION up the town’s varied cultural and natural interest and hear the sing-song accent of the 1 DAY townsfolk. funicular. But before you do so, streets of the old town on foot or LOURDES we recommend a stop at the on a Segway? You can hire one Market Hall (open every morning of these rather futuristic machines Lourdes is a small town that from 6.00). There you’ll find to get around effortlessly, taking can easily be explored on foot. dozens of shopkeepers and local in the sights: the Fontaine aux After visiting the Sanctuary, we ITINERARY producers selling tasty treats for Trois Becs, Tour de Gavarnie, suggest you cross the River Gave 10 .00 AM lunch: cured ham, ewe’s cheese, Quai Saint-Jean and Rue des on the Pont Vieux or the Pont Visit the Castle and freshly baked baguettes still warm Espenettes. Musée Pyrénéen Saint Michel and walk up to the from the oven, fresh fruit and veg, ‘upper town’, where you’ll come prepared deli dishes, local wines Or perhaps follow one of the 12.00 PM to the Castle standing proud on Market Hall followed and more... Everything you could town’s two History Trails starting its rocky spur (easy access via the by lunch at a restaurant possibly want for a mid-morning from the Tourist Office: ‘The Life public lift in Rue du Fort). Over of Bernadette’ and ‘Lourdes in the or 12.30 PM the centuries the Castle has had snack or delicious picnic! And if Middle Ages’ both guide you via Funicular to the top followed many uses, as a counts’ residence, you want to make more of lunch, by a picnic or lunch in a a series of explanatory boards a royal prison and a barracks, the restaurants and brasseries restaurant illustrated with old pictures of the but has withstood the ravages of around the market extend a town, explaining all about the 4.00 PM time. Now listed as a Historical warm welcome – unless you want history of Lourdes. While you’re Choice of two history trails: Monument, it is home to the to wait until you’re on the summit ‘Lourdes in the Middle Ages’ in town you can indulge in some Musée Pyrénéen, which recounts of the Pic. or ‘The Life of Bernadette’ retail therapy too, dipping in to the history and cultures of the some of the shops and boutiques French and Spanish Pyrenees If so, the funicular is right there for a souvenir, a local delicacy from the 19th century onwards (with departures every 30 or perhaps just a spot of window (allow 1½ hours). The highlight minutes) for a 10-minute ride up shopping at the fashion stores. of the castle are the incredible at a relaxed pace. Rising to 945 views from the tower, botanical metres above sea level, the Pic du Finish off the day on a café garden and south terrace, of the Jer dominates the town. From the terrace, gazing at the magnificent town (Pointe du Cavalier), the top, the Sanctuary looks tiny, as silhouette of the castle and lovely Sanctuary and the Pyrenees. do the lake and the Gave de Pau, view of the River Gave and a ribbon of silk dividing the town surrounding peaks, or simply From the foot of the castle, there in two. You can go for a walk people watching… are two options for the next part, on one of the trails or perhaps the climb to the top of the Pic join a guided tour of the caves. du Jer on the historical funicular Following your invigorating railway: hop on the local bus mountain-top ramble, the local in the high street, or if you’re bus will whisk you back to the feeling energetic you’ll enjoy town centre. To round off the the 20-minute walk south to the afternoon, why not explore the INDEPENDENT EXPLORING

LOURDES

TOUR SHEET 1 01 THÈME 4

2

DIRECTION PIC DU JER

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PRACTICAL INFORMATION

1. CASTLE AND MUSÉE PYRÉNÉEN

INFORMATION 25, rue du Fort - 65100 LOURDES Tel.: +33 (0)5 62 42 37 37 Website: www.chateaufort-lourdes.fr Email: chateaufort.museepyreneen@ville- lourdes.fr

> Castle - Musée Pyrénéen 2 minutes on foot 2. LOURDES MARKET HALL from the Tourist Office> 15 minutes on foot INFORMATION 30 minutes from Porte St Joseph at the from the Sanctuary > Bus route S5 from April Place du Champ Commun Sanctuary. to October, every 15 minutes from Porte St Joseph. OPENING TIMES OPENING TIMES > Octo ber to March Monday to Friday > April to July and September to November Visit duration: 1½ hours approx. from 6.30am to 2pm and Saturdays open from 9.30am to 6pm (last ascent at OPENING TIMES and the day before public holidays from 5.15pm) > January to April and mid-October to 5.30am to 2pm; Mondays, Sundays > July to early September open from December : Tuesday to Sunday from 10am and public holidays: closed 9.30am to 7pm (last ascent at 6.15pm) to 6pm. > April to October Monday to Friday from 2019 ADMISSION > April to mid-October open daily from 6am to 2pm, Saturdays and the day €12.50/adult - €10.00/child and student 10am to 7pm before public holidays from 5.30am or teen (6-17 years). Ticket office closes 1 hour earlier to 2pm, Sundays from 6.30am to 2pm. Caves open to visitors all year round plus 2019 ADMISSION 3. PIC DU JER FUNICULAR guided tours in April and October, also by €7.50/adult - €3.50/child ans student INFORMATION arrangement in winter (+ €4/adult - (6-17 years). 59, avenue Francis Lagardère €3.50/teen and child). Open all year round for independent visitors Tel.: +33 (0)5 62 94 00 41 with guided tours at set times in July and Website: www.picdujer.fr History trails: free brochure available from August. Email: [email protected] the Tourist Office or downloadable from Combined Castle-and-Funicular ticket: > Pic du Jer Funicular 20 minutes on foot www.lourdes-infotourisme.com Pass2L on sale at the castle/funicular, Tourist from the Tourist Office > 6 minutes by car > Office or at www.lourdes-infotourisme.com Bus route S4 from April to October, every

www.lourdes-infotourisme.com