Béarn and the Pyrenees

THE subject of the Cagots has occupied the attention of learned and unlearned persons both formerly, and at the present time; and the interest it excites is rather on the increa...

THE ROMANCES OF THE CASTLE OF ORTHEZ--TOUR DE MONCADE--THE INFANTS--THE SON OF GASTON PHOEBUS--- LEGENDS--THE OATH--THE BAD KING OF NAVARRE--THE QUARREL--THE MURDER--DEATH OF GA...

ON arriving at La Rochelle, early in a bright morning at the beginning of September, we found the town so full that we had immediately to institute a search for an hotel, as tha...

TOWERS--RELIGION--MARIA BELANDELLE--STORM--PROTESTANT RETREAT--SOLEMN DINNERS--"HALF-AND-HALF"--GO TO SLEEP!--THE BREWERY--GAS ESTABLISHMENT--CHÂTEAU OF LA FONT--THE MYSTERY EXP...

"A très lègues de Pau, a cap à las mountagnes Aprés abé seguit gayhaventes[34] campagnes, Sus û Pic oûn lou Gabe en gourgouils ba mouri Lou Castel de Coarraze aüs oueils qu'es b...

AGEN--LA BELLE ESTHER--ST. CAPRAIS--THE LITTLE CHERUBS--ZOÉ AT THE FOUNTAIN--THE HILL--LE GRAVIER--JASMIN, THE POET-BARBER--THE METAPHOR--LAS PAPILLOTAS--FRANÇONNETTE--JASMIN'S...

MELUSINE--LUSIGNAN--TROU DE LA FÉE--THE LEGEND--MALE CURIOSITY--THE DISCOVERY--THE FAIRY'S SHRIEKS--THE CHRONICLER--GEOFFROY OF THE GREAT TOOTH--JACQUES COEUR--ROYAL GRATITUDE--...

ROAD FROM PAU TO TARBES--TABLE-LAND--THE PICS--THE HARAS OF TARBES--AUTUMN IN THE PYRENEES--MONT L'HÉRIS--GABRIELLE D'ESTRÉES--CHASSE AUX PALOMBES--PENNE DE L'HÉRIS--PIC DU MIDI...

WE left Agen on our way to Pau, where we proposed taking up our winter quarters, having so frequently heard that it was one of the best retreats for cold weather in the South of...

OUR destination was now the Gironde, and we found our only plan was to set out in the middle of the night for Mortagne, where the steam-boat to Bordeaux from Royan touched for p...

TAVERNIER has said, in speaking of the most celebrated ports, "three only can enter into comparison, one with the other, for their beauty of situation and their _form of a rainb...

THE Basque country,--in which the ancient town of Bayonne, or Lapurdum, holds a principal place,--is unequally divided between France and Spain. The one part is composed of La S...

WHEN Napoleon, in 1808, passed through the town of Pau, the Béarnais felt wounded and humbled at the indifference he showed to the memory of their hero, Henri Quatre: he scarcel...

HOWEVER interesting the exterior of the Cathedral of St. Julien may be, the interior entirely corresponds with it. The windows of painted glass are of the very first order, and...

ONE of the most remarkable houses in Poitiers, of which not many ancient remain, is one now used as a school by the Christian Brothers. It is in the Rue de la Prévôté, close to...

THE GARONNE--THE LORD OF LANGOYRAN--MIRACLE OF THE MULE--CASTLE OF THE FOUR SONS OF AYMON--THE AGED LOVER--GAVACHES--THE FRANCHIMANS--COUNT RAYMOND--FLYING BRIDGES--THE MILLER O...

OF course the earliest object which one hastens to see in Saintes, is the famous Roman arch. We beheld it first by moon-light, when its large, spectre-like proportions, as it st...

OUR good fortune in respect to the weather, which we so much enjoyed at La Rochelle, seemed to have taken leave of us when we quitted that charming town and took our way southwa...

ONE of the most puzzling and, at the same time, interesting subjects, which recurs to the explorer in the Pyrenees, is the question respecting that mysterious race of people cal...

At length the day arrived so feared and so desired. At day-break long lines of young girls, all in white, extended in all directions, and advanced to the sound of the bells; and...

CLOSE to the natal chamber of Duke William may be seen another recess in the thick walls, still smaller and more dismal, to which a ruined window now gives more light than in th...

"Salut Ossau, la montagnarde, La Béarnaise, que Dieu garde! Avec bonheur je te regarde, Douce vallée!--et sur ma foy Parmi tes soeurs que je desire, De Leucate à Fontarable Je t...

LEAVING Le Mans, and all its recollections, we continued our way towards the Loire, which we proposed crossing at Saumur, not only with a pleasing memory of our former visit the...

POITIERS is one of the largest towns in France, but is very thinly inhabited; immense gardens, orchards, and fields, extend between the streets; the spaces are vast, but there i...

WITHIN ten leagues of the interesting town of Caen, where William of Normandy and his queen lie buried, the traveller, who devotes a short space of time to a search after the pi...

ONE of the chief inducements to foreigners, particularly the English, to visit Pau for the winter, is the reputation of its climate for mildness and softness. When we arrived, i...

POITIERS is a city of the past: it is one of those towns in which the last lingering characteristics of the middle ages still repose; although they do so in the midst of an atmo...

ALTHOUGH Count Gaston Phoebus was a tyrant, who spared none in his anger, yet he had all the virtues which were admired by the bold spirits of the men of his time; amongst the c...

THE Museum of Le Mans is in the Hôtel de la Prefecture, and as we heard that the famous enamel of Geoffrey Plantagenet, formerly on his tomb in the cathedral, was preserved ther...

FROM Orthez we continued our way to Bayonne, where it was our intention to remain a few days. The entrance to Bayonne, that famous city, whose motto is "Nunquam Polluta"--"_Alwa...

I made another excursion to the Vallée d'Ossau in the February of 1843, when the weather was singularly mild--infinitely more so than when I was first there in October, and the...

WE arrived at St. Jean Pied de Port late in the day, and the aspect of affairs at Le Grand Soleil, where we stopped, was by no means exhilarating. Having passed through the blac...

OUR intention now was to visit Mauléon, and see as much of the Pays Basque as the uncertain state of the weather would allow. The route to Aramitz is very beautiful, with the fi...

One, two, three months passed away--all fêtes, dances, games, and harvest-homes; but all these gaieties must end with the falling leaves. All things, in winter, assume a mournfu...

A great deal has been said and written about the peasants of the Vallée d'Ossau; and most persons appear to have been guided rather by enthusiasm than truth, exaggerating and em...

Beside the town of Estanquet, on the banks of a sparkling stream, whose waters run bubbling all the year long over the pebbles, a beautiful girl was gathering flowers, last year...

NAVARRE has not produced many poets in early times; and the only troubadour whom it claims, is the famous lover of Blanche of Castile, the accomplished Thibault of Champagne, wh...

Agen--La Belle Esther--St. Caprais--The Little Cherubs--Zoé at the Fountain--The Hill--Le Gravier--Jasmin, the Poet-Barber--The Metaphor--Las Papillotas--Françonnette--Jasmin's...

The Romances of the Castle of Orthez--Tour de Moncade--The Infants--The Son of Gaston Phoebus--Legends--The Oath--The bad King of Navarre--The Quarrel--The Murder--Death of Gast...

Road from Pan to Tarbes--Table Land--The Pics--The Haras of Tarbes--Autumn in the Pyrenees--Mont l'Héris--Gabrielle d'Estrées--Chasseaux Palombes--Penne de l'Héris--Pic du Midi-...

Towers--Religion--Maria Belandelle--Storm--Protestant Retreat--Solemn Dinners--"Half-and-half"--Go to sleep!--The Brewery--Gas Establishment--Château of La Font--The Mystery exp...

Melusine--Lusignan--Trou de la Fée--The Legend--Male Curiosity--The Discovery--The Fairy's Shrieks--The Chronicler--Geoffrey of the Great Tooth--Jaques Coeur--Royal Gratitude--E...

The Garonne--The Lord of Langoyran--Miracle of the Mule--Castle of the Four Sons of Aymon--The Aged Lover--Gavaches--The Franchimans--Count Raymond--Flying Bridges--The Miller o...