Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore

Béarn and the Pyrenees

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--Enemies--Jean du Village--Wedding--The Bride--The Tragedy of Mauprier--The Garden--The Shepherdess--T...

Chapters

61. Chapter 61

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...

56. Chapter 56

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...

26. Chapter 26

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...

27. Chapter 27

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...

55. Chapter 55

"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...

33. Chapter 33

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...

25. Chapter 25

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--...

51. Chapter 51

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...

47. Chapter 47

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...

30. Chapter 30

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...

31. Chapter 31

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...

59. Chapter 59

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...

49. Chapter 49

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...

19. Chapter 19

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...

24. Chapter 24

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...

32. Chapter 32

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...

29. Chapter 29

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...

28. Chapter 28

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...

60. Chapter 60

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...

36. Chapter 36

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...

18. Chapter 18

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...

52. Chapter 52

"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...

21. Chapter 21

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...

23. Chapter 23

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...

17. Chapter 17

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...

48. Chapter 48

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...

22. Chapter 22

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...

57. Chapter 57

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...

20. Chapter 20

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...

58. Chapter 58

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...

53. Chapter 53

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...

63. Chapter 63

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...

62. Chapter 62

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...

34. Chapter 34

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...

54. Chapter 54

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...

35. Chapter 35

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...

50. Chapter 50

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...

16. Chapter 16

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...

44. Chapter 44

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...

40. Chapter 40

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-...

10. Chapter 10

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...

9. Chapter 9

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...

15. Chapter 15

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...

3. Chapter 3

8. Chapter 8

2. Chapter 2

5. Chapter 5

1. Chapter 1

12. Chapter 12

37. Chapter 37

6. Chapter 6

39. Chapter 39

7. Chapter 7

42. Chapter 42

13. Chapter 13

45. Chapter 45

46. Chapter 46

14. Chapter 14

43. Chapter 43

4. Chapter 4

11. Chapter 11

38. Chapter 38

41. Chapter 41