Pau

“ But Pau's real purpose is to serve as the hub of a great wheel, of which the spokes, made of smooth white roads, radiate away into every fold and cleft of the country. As a centre for excursions there is no place like it in France, because there is nothing in France that quite matches the sweetness and diversity of the long Pyrenean border. Nowhere else are the pastoral and sylvan so happily mated, nowhere the villages so compact of thrift and romance, the foreground so sweet, the distances so sublime and shining. ”

“ THE situation of Pau is singularly favoured, and one can appreciate the judgment of Henry II of Navarre in transferring thither the court residence from Orthez. Pau occupies the back of a rubble ridge stretching east and west, facing the south, and drinking in the sunlight and warmth. It does not suffer from cold winds. The land rises behind it to the north, and one may see the clouds fly overhead without feeling the air stir at Pau. The calmness of the atmosphere often persists for weeks together. ”

“ CHAPTER II. PAU. I. Pau is a pretty city, neat, of gay appearance; but the highway is paved with little round stones, the side-walks with small sharp pebbles: so the horses walk on the heads of nails and foot-passengers on the points of them. From Bordeaux to Toulouse such is the usage, such the pavement. At the end of five minutes, your feet tell you in the most intelligible manner that you are two hundred leagues away from Paris. ”

“ Among the industrial establishments are flour-mills, cloth factories and tanneries, and there is trade in wine, hams, horses and cloth.
Pau derives its name from the word pal, in allusion to the stakes which were set up on the site chosen for the town. It was founded probably at the beginning of the 11th century by the viscounts of Béarn. By the erection of the present castle in the latter half of the 14th century, Gaston Phœbus made the town a place of importance and after his death the viscounts of Béarn visited it frequently. ”

“ The window of my room in the Hôtel de France,—a good hostelry by the way,—overlooked terrace, valley, and mountains, and I found myself hanging out of it in a most dangerous fashion at all hours of the day and night, until sleep and the murmuring river drove me to bed.
The lover of golf will find in Pau, I am told, the best links in Europe. The hunter may follow the paper fox any day and the drives must be endless and all beautiful. Yet I fancy the stranger in Pau has little time to spend on them,—the social life being more attractive. ”

“ Altogether, the more experience I have of the climate of Pau, the more surprised I am at the crowds of English who resort to this town for [467] the winter: the greatest part of them, it is true, are not invalids, but persons seduced into this nook by its reputation, and arriving too late in the season to leave it. They grumble, and are astonished to find themselves no better off than if they had stayed at home ”

“ For some distance after leaving Pau the road is nearly level; but about half-way to Tarbes, after passing through a thick wood of oak, and having been rendered impatient by occasional glimpses of the mountains, the traveller climbs a long and winding ascent, and reaches the summit of a fine table-land, from whence an uninterrupted view of this glorious country is obtained. Rich forests of chesnut clothe the steep sides of this table-land, and stretch far away to the southward, mingling with the well-cultivated plains that border the Gave de Pau ”

“ We will all migrate together. Consider that settled. The only question that remains is the direction in which we shall go. Shall we make for the Pyrenees or the Maritime Alps? Shall we go to Pau, and Biarritz, or to the Riviera, Hyères, Cannes, Nice?”
Isola was in favour of Pau, but after much consultation of books recording other people’s experiences, it was finally decided that of all places in the world, San Remo was the best winter home for Martin Disney’s wife. ”

“ With the exception of the castle there is nothing of architectural interest in Pau. The churches are modern, and the predominant feature of the place is hotels, monster hotels that even dwarf the castle.
But the great glory of Pau is the view of the chain of the Pyrenees from the terrace and the park. That from the Schänzle above Berne of the giants of the Oberland is beautiful, but not comparable with the prospect from Pau. All the middle distance in the view from Berne is filled up with rolling hills, and it is over them that one catches glimpses of the snowy heads of the Alps. ”

“ The prince represented to his father his views on the subject, which were instantly adopted—a question of taste in that family meets with no opposition—and all was to have been arranged according to the ideas of the heir of France, who seemed inclined to make Pau an abode at a future day: the King was to have visited the interesting old castle: much animated discussion and much enthusiasm prevailed on the subject in the interior of the royal circle, and the Berceau of Henri Quatre seemed destined to proud days again.
"When, hush! hark! a deep sound comes like a rising knell!" ”

“ He set up a linen factory at Nay, and a printing press at Pau. He collected, revised, and edited the fors of Béarn, and had them printed at his press in 1551.
One of the most important pages in the life of the Queen of Navarre in the Château of Pau was the part she played in receiving refugee Huguenot preachers. But she never herself became a convert to Calvinism; she entertained great pity for the innovators who were driven from place to place, and subjected to cruel persecution. ”

“ The bitter winds that sweep down on the Riviera are produced by the snows of the Maritime Alps. But there are no snows at the back of Pau. When there is no breeding ground for icy winds, no icy winds are hatched.
But, on the other hand, a good deal of rain is brought up and discharged over Pau, coming from the Atlantic; and a whole month may elapse without the promenaders on the terrace being able to catch a glimpse of the Pic du Midi d'Ossau. The Girondin climate is notoriously rainy, especially in spring; but nothing can surpass the splendour of the days in summer and autumn. ”

“ There are, I believe, many excellent excursions from Pau, such as a drive to Lourdes, 25 miles distant—a long day’s work for the horses there and back, but, I was told and can readily believe, most enjoyable. In the summer-time, everybody who can, escapes to the mountains, where so many charming spots, including Eaux-Chaudes and Eaux-Bonnes, are to be found. ”

“ During the season when people resort to the Pyrenean-waters, the passage of the visitors to Cauterets and Bagneres also brought some animation; diligences passed through the town twice a day, but they came from Pau by a wretched road, and had to ford the Lapaca, which often overflowed its banks. Then climbing the steep ascent of the Rue Basse, they skirted the terrace of the church, which was shaded by large elms. ”

“ In Tarbes,—at the Hôtel de la Paix,—we find our last stopping place before Pau, a town with a comfortable little inn and but little else of interest. From there we turn southwest for an inspection of that centre of the greatest superstition of the nineteenth century, Lourdes. The ride is a pleasant one down, or rather up, a valley with a rushing river. Lourdes is found nestling in a nook of the foot-hills of the Pyrenees while high in its centre rises an ancient castle with the distant range of snow as a background. ”

“ NESTALAS.—A village in the Hautes-Pyrénées, near Pierrefitte; the station being known as Pierrefitte-Nestalas, the terminus of the line from Lourdes. Hotel accommodation at Pierrefitte (which see in Appendix) .
OLORON.—A town on a hill above the river of same name, in the Basses-Pyrénées, 20 miles from Pau, by Gan and Belair. Its suburb (across the river) Sainte Marie possesses a fine old church of the Transition style. The railway was to be opened this year (1883) in communication with Pau and Laruns. ”

“ Railway station on line connecting the above places; 10-1/2 miles from Pau. The ruins of a castle in the neighbourhood, in which Henry IV. spent his childhood. Refer to Chapter I. DAX.—A town on the Adour, and junction for Bordeaux from the Bayonne and Pau lines. Celebrated for its baths, which are of three kinds, steam, mud, and water. There are several bathing establishments, but the Grand Etablissement is the best, where board and lodging can be also obtained, at an all-round figure, including baths, of from 10 to 15 frs. per diem. ”

“ The message of Paul to the men in this charmed circle of civilization was the same that he had set forth in the rough mountain towns of Asia Minor. Human nature, under a rough or a polished exterior, is the same the world over. Paul was seeking men, to bring them to a knowledge of their alienation from God through sin, and to show them the way of salvation through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ? Greece, over whom the Romans held sway at this time, had been divided into two parts: Achaia on the south and Macedonia on the north. A great Roman road ran from east to west through Macedonia. ”

“ EAUX CHAUDES.—Another miniature Spa—less contracted in its position, but equally picturesquely situated in a wild gorge in the Basses-Pyrénées, 27-1/2 miles from Pau. The climate is bracing, but on account of the situation of the town it is not so good a residence for invalids with chest complaints as Eaux Bonnes—as the wind sweeps up the valley unchecked. It is, however, a glorious place for healthy people to stay in, and a good centre for excursions.
The Bathing Establishment is a fine building with good accommodation. ”

“ On the next night while Paul was still in the castle, the Lord stood by him and said,
"Be of good cheer, Paul; for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem so must thou also bear witness at Rome."
A Plot to Kill. ”

“ Paphos was the seat of the worship of Venus, the goddess of love, who was said to have been born of the foam of the sea at this very spot; and her worship was carried on with the wildest licentiousness. It was a picture in miniature of Greece sunk in moral decay. Paphos was also the seat of the Roman government, and in the pro-consular chair sat a man, Sergius Paulus, whose noble character but utter lack of certain faith formed a companion picture of the inability of Rome at that epoch to meet the deepest necessities of her best sons. ”

“ Paul was born of a noble Hebrew family of Tarsus, and was a man of high culture. He had, to use a modern expression, simplified himself, renounced his position in a time when few could resist the passion for luxury, and taken up a trade for his living; with the scanty profit from his work as a tent-maker, alone and on foot he made measureless journeys through the Empire, everywhere preaching the redemption of man. ”

“ And the blessed Paule answered and said unto him, “It is not meet that thou shouldst seek thine own [advantage] , but that of thy neighbours, and therefore, O my beloved, I beseech thee, if it be not a thing which is too hard for thee, to go quickly to thy monastery, and to bring hither to me the cloak which Mâr Athanasius the Bishop gave thee.” Now he did not speak thus because he had need of any apparel, but because he wished to depart from his body whilst Mâr Anthony was absent. ”

“ While many philosophers and the centurion were assembled with the emperor, Paul came about the ninth hour, and in the presence of all he said, "Caesar behold, here is Paul, the soldier of God; I am not dead, but I live in my God. But upon thee, thou miserable one, [104] many evils and great punishments [105] will come, because thou hast unjustly shed the blood of the righteous, not many days hence." And after having spoken thus, Paul departed from him. [106] When Nero had heard (this) , he commanded that the prisoners be released, Patroclus as well as Barsabas with his friends. ”

“ Saint Paul, mentioned by the early martyrologies as bishop of Narbonne, and confessor, has been conjectured to be Sergius Paulus, the proconsul, converted in the island of Cyprus by the apostle Paul, when Elymas, the sorcerer, withstood S. Paul. There is no evidence substantiating this, nor does it appear to rest on any very ancient tradition.
The most ancient martyrologies do not assert it, though some of them say that he was a convert of the Apostle of the Gentiles. The Roman Martyrology mentions the report, but does not authorise it. The Acts of his life are not deserving of credence. ”

“ The pontificate of Paul III. forms a turning-point in the history of the papacy. The situation at his accession was grave and complex: the steady growth of Protestantism, the preponderant power of the emperor and his prolonged wars with France, the advances of the Turks, the uncertain mind of the Church itself—all conspired to produce a problem involved and delicate. Paul was shrewd, calculating, tenacious; but on the other hand over-cautious, and inclined rather to temporize than to strike at the critical moment. His instincts and ambitions were those of a secular prince of the Renaissance ”

“ These measures only increased Paul’s unpopularity, so that when he died, on the 18th of August 1559, the Romans vented their hatred by demolishing his statue, liberating the prisoners of the Inquisition, and scattering its papers. Paul’s want of political wisdom, and his ignorance of human nature aroused antagonisms fatal to the success of his cause.
See Panvinio, continuator of Platina, De vitis pontiff. rom.; Ciaconius, Vitae et res gestae summorum pontiff. rom. (Rome, 1601–1602, both contemporaries of Paul IV.) ”