Tracing the Pyrenees

This southernmost sweep of France, where the country’s second biggest mountain range forms the frontier with Spain, is a region of wild, rugged terrain. Stretching east to west from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic, it straddles six departments: Pyrénées-Orientales, Aude, Ariège, Haute-Garonne, Hautes- Pyrénées and Pyrénées-Atlantiques.

As the elevation of the land drops on the French side of the Pyrenees, mountain slopes quickly give way to hilly ranges, deep river valleys, dry rocky scrub and thick, lush forest.

There are few large cities here, rather a glorious selection of towns and villages where the climate, the geography and the cultures differ enormously. Catalan, Occitan, Gascon, Cathar Country, Basque… it’s all there in its richness – perfect for a long and varied road trip. But which direction should you travel? East to west, or west to east? It really matters not. With international airports, both Perpignan (on the Med) and Biarritz (on the Atlantic) are good starting points, and offer plenty of car-hire facilities. For this guide, we set off from the east.

Collioure, on the Côte Vermeille, just 26km from the Spanish border, is where our journey starts. Here, on a protected stretch of the Mediterranean, the lucky locals have one of the most pleasant climates in all of mainland France. Summers are hot, yes, but winters often remain mild. With midday temperatures nudging above 15°C, it’s not unusual to see people eating lunch al fresco in the December sunshine.

In spring, you can ski in the nearby Pyrenees in the morning and swim in the Med in the afternoon. The light in this part of the world is quite phenomenal. The sea here is often calm, producing very little surf to break the sun’s reflection on the surface of the water. Long days of uninterrupted sunshine and the many pastel-coloured buildings and orange roofs create a heady mixture of brightness and colour.

From Perpignan, the D117 heads west, south of the Corbières Massif and through a region called Fenouillèdes. It’s a beautiful if fairly barren drive, taking in the towns of Estagel, Saint-Paul-de- Fenouillet, Quillan, Lavelanet and Foix. The latter, with its triple-towered 10th-century castle and open-air theatre, sits on the confluence of the Rivers Ariège and Arget. Northwest of the town you can take an amazing subterranean boat ride along Europe’s longest navigable underground river, Rivière Souterraine de Labouiche. It’s a great way to escape the summer heat. The D117 continues west, wiggling through the Parc naturel régional des Pyrénées Ariégeoises. At Saint- Martory, if you need to make up time you can join the A64 autoroute, heading west to Tarbes; prettier, though, is the D817 which takes you on a parallel course through the towns of Saint-Gaudens, Lannemezan and Tarbes.

A short drive south of Tarbes is Lourdes, undoubtedly the most religious town in all of France. For most of its existence, it was just a sleepy market town. But then, in February 1858, while fetching firewood, a 14-year-old peasant girl called Bernadette Soubirous saw what she believed was the Virgin Mary in a local grotto. Over the next few months the apparition appeared a total of 18 times. The Catholic Church investigated her claims and later deemed them to be true. Soubirous was eventually canonised while the grotto became a religious shrine, now known as the Grotte de Massabielle.

Whatever Soubirous might have seen, one thing is indubitably true: thanks to her, Lourdes is now one of the world’s most important pilgrimage sites, drawing well over five million visitors a year from all over the world, many of them invalids convinced of the miraculous healing power of the waters which spring from the grotto. According to the Church, some people have successfully been healed.

At the western end of the boulevard is the Château de Pau, now a national museum. It was here, in 1553, that the first Bourbon king of France, Henri IV, was born, his cradle supposedly an upturned turtle shell, which is still on display today. North of the château is the charming old town. Less than 300m in diameter, it offers hilly, cobbled streets, bars, restaurants and antiques shops. It’s also the start of the famous Rue du Hédas: formerly a giant sewer, in 2016, it was transformed into a pedestrian promenade, with bars, restaurants, gardens, light installations, a playground and a boulodrome. Fortunately the sewer is long gone.

Pau is also very well-served by sports facilities. Down on the Gave de Pau river, there’s rafting, kayaking and canoeing, plus a whitewater centre, Parc Aquasports. Pau claims to have continental Europe’s oldest golf club, originally established in 1856 by two Scottish army officers, as well as France’s first rugby club, dating back to 1902. Every year, Pau stages two Grand Prix: one is a motor sports event featuring a street circuit around the city’s public roads; the other is a famous steeplechase horse race at the Hippodrome du Pont-Long.

If possible, aim to arrive in time for the annual Fêtes de Bayonne. Staged at the height of summer, this five-day festival attracts close to a million visitors, all dressed in white clothing with red neckerchiefs and belts, and all ready to party hard. Featuring bullfights and a running of the bulls – like in Pamplona, only on a smaller scale, and much safer – it claims to be France’s biggest festival, and one that members of the French Basque diaspora do their utmost to attend. Once the sun goes down, and the flow of alcohol increases, the party gets raucous. After five days of festivities, it’s just as well all your driving will be complete.