"We had the best sleep we've had for years and were quite happy just to sit in the sun and soak up the beautiful views and relaxing ambiance for days at a time, Val and John"
The surrounding area provides excellent access to mountains, the coast, vast rivers and beautiful countryside. On the whole, driving is a pleasure here with low levels of traffic. Its possible to ski one day and lie on the beach the next due to the contrasting nature of the environment.
HOPITAL ST. BLAISE (approx. 5kms away) is on the 'Chemin de St. Jacques de Compostelle' pilgrimage route. Visit the 12th century roman church with its treasure of Romanesque architecture which was listed as a UNESCO world heritage monument in 1998. Then why don't you try out of the two restaurants there. Hotel des Touristes provides rustic, filling, tasty food at very competitive prices and Auberge de Lausset provides gourmet cuisine at slightly higher prices but is still very good value.
BARCUS (approx. 5kms away) is a small pretty village which has a small supermarket, bakery and local artisan shop. It has three restaurants of varying quality suiting differing pockets. One to try if you want something extra special is Chez Chilo which is in the centre of Barcus which provides truly gourmet meals. Its best to book first though on 0559289079 otherwise you may well be disappointed as it is very popular.
The ancient bastide town of Navarrenx, on the banks of the 'Gave d'Oloron' is just ten minutes drive away. This small charming town has banks, many small shops and restaurants. The beautiful river has played host to the world salmon fishing championships so you could try your hand at trying to catch fresh salmon, brown, rainbow or sea trout here.
The charming city of Pau with its Chateau, stunning views of mountains from the Boulevard de Pyrennees, beautiful parks, vibrant cafes and chic shops. Pau has the oldest known golf course in Europe, horse racing course, and holds a four star horse show in October each year and also a vintage grand prix held each may.
The pretty towns of Salies-de-Bearn and Sauvettere-de-Bearn are very pituresque towns to visit. Sauveterre is beautiful and very charming, the picture which you can see opposite is taken from the terrace of its thirteenth century church, l'Eglise St Andre. The view looks over a bend in the river and the Bridge of Legend - it really is absolutely stunning.