Pau

Our drive on the way to our next destination Pau was very scenic. We were coming down into flatter ground but the Pyrenees were always in the background.

We stopped along the way for lunch with a view of a sunflower field - nearly ready to be harvested.

We soon arrived in Pau in the foothills of the Pyrenees- a quite large town with a chateau originally built by the king of Naverre

and then later the leisure palace of King Henry II and Queen Marguerite.

It looked very imposing being the highest building in the town. After checking out the gardens and the ramparts we started in the kitchen.

 Next were the formal rooms with a dining table that seated 100 people with amazing tapestries from the 1700s still in good condition. I liked the little exotic parrot.

This is the turtle shell that Henry IV was christened in.

The private rooms were opulent again with a billiards room with stunning red wallpaper.

After the chateau we wandered down the streets to check out the town - lots of lovely buildings.

We quickly ducked into the cathedral.

We then stopped for a cooling drink in the Australian bar - one of the many bars on the Boulevard of the Pyrenees overlooking the mountains - even if we can only see their hazy bottom parts.

There was no Australian beer in the Australian bar so it was a bit pointless being there.

We did have a good French IPA though. Next door was the Irish bar serving Guinness.

After a bit of a rest we headed back to Gus and drove a short distance to our overnight spot on a winery where you can taste wine for free. So we were quickly there trying it out. It was quite pleasant - drink now wines so we bought a bottle of white. It’s amazingly still intact and in our garage.

We used the new bbq again successfully to cook sausages and veg.

We had a quiet night next to the large vats of wine.