Pau
Pau is a town of southwestern
France,
préfecture (capital) of the
Pyrénées-Atlantiques département.
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The location of Pau is shown on this map of the historical and cultural area of Gascony. The hachured areas are considered by some as part of Gascony, and by others as distinct. |
Pau was the capital of the former
province of
Béarn. The site, on a slight elevation overlooking the valley of the mountain river called the
Gave de Pau, where it was crossed by a ford, controlled access to an easy passage into the
Pyrenees, used annually for the seasonal pasturage of flocks of sheep in the high meadows (now represented by a hiking footpath GR65 that runs about 60 km south to the
Spanish border). Access to the pass partly accounts for Pau's strategic importance.
The site was fortified by the 11th century— "pau" means "palissade" in
Occitan— the seat of the
viscounts of Béarn. Pau was made the capital of
Béarn Province in 1464. In the early 16th century the
Château de Pau (
illustration above), made more habitable by
Gaston Fébus, count of Foix, became the residence of the
kings of Navarre, who were also counts of Béarn, and so it was the birthplace of
Henry IV of France (1553-1610), though his mother, the redoubtable Jeanne d'Albret, had to cross the whole of France to ensure that her son was born at Pau. The baby's lips were moistened with the local wine and rubbed with garlic in his first moments.
Charles XIV of Sweden was also born at the château, in 1763. The château now contains a museum of
tapestry.
When Henri IV left Pau to become King of France, he remarked to the local notables that he was not giving Béarn to France, he was giving France to Béarn. The English discovered the charms of Pau and its mineral springs and left a decided imprint, before the French themselves did, partly because
Wellington left a garrison at Pau on his way into Spain. The vacationing British, arriving before the railroad did, established the scenic promenade, the
Boulevard des Pyrenées, the first full 18-hole
golf course in Europe (laid out in 1856/1860, and still in existence), and a
real tennis court (since converted into a
trinquet).
Napoleon III refurbished the château, while Pau added streets of Belle Époque architecture, before fashion transferred to
Biarritz. Pau is still a major centre for winter sports and for equestrian events, with a famous
steeplechase.
From the 1950s to the 1990s Pau depended on the production of
natural gas and sulphur dioxide which were discovered nearby at
Lacq. Today the mainstays of the Béarn area are the oil business, the aerospace industry (Turbomeca), tourism and agriculture. Pau was the birthplace of
Elf Aquitaine, which has now become a part of
Total.
Pau has an airport,
Pau Pyrénées Airport, which is about 10 km away from the centre. The A64 motorway runs across Pau. The Spanish border is about 60 km away from Pau.
The
Université de Pau et des Pays de l'Adour (founded in 1972) is also in the town.
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Formula 3 car on the Pau circuit in 2006 |
Pau holds the honor of arranging the first race ever to be called a
Grand Prix in 1901. After that the 1928
French Grand Prix was held in nearby St Gaudens, Pau also wanted to arrange the race and in 1930 the
French Grand Prix was held on a
Le Mans type track outside the city with
Philippe Étancelin winning for
Bugatti. Pau was back in the race calendar in 1933, now with a
Monaco inspired track in the city center.
The track, which is 2.769km in length, is one of the most curious and twisty in the GP history and has remained more or less unchanged into the 90s. The first curve is the sharp station hairpin. After that the road climbs on the Avenue Léon Say, alongside the stone viaduct that carries the Boulevard de Pyrenées, to Pont Oscar. A tunnel is followed by the narrow hairpin at the school that leads the track into the demanding Parc Beaumont section at the top of the town. After visiting the Casino garden and passing yet another hairpin, the Virage the Buisson, the track winds its way back to the startline along the Avenue Lacoste.
Pau was traditionally the season opener but selecting mid February as the date for the 1933 GP was to challenge the fate and the race took place in a
snowstorm with sludge making the conditions into one of the worst ever in racing history. After a one year pause the race was back in 1935 with
Tazio Nuvolari dominating for
Ferrari. The 1936 race saw the only major victory for the
Maserati V8-R1, driven by Ètancelin. In 1937 the race was part of the French sports car series with
Jean-Pierre Wimille dominating, running three to four seconds a lap faster than the rest of the field. GP racing was back in 1938 and Pau became a test track for
Mercedes-Benz before the
Grandes Epreuves.
The 1938 race saw
René Dreyfus'
Delahaye sensationally beating the
Mercedes-Benz team. In 1939 Mercedes wasn't to be taken by surprise,
Hermann Lang leading the team to a double victory. After the
war Pau continued as a non-championship
Formula 1 race until 1963. Thereafter the race was run to
Formula 2 rules until changing to
F3000 in 1985.
Pau was the birthplace of:
*
Jeanne d'Albret (1528-1572), Queen of
Navarre from 1555 to 1572
*
Henry IV (1553-1610),
king of France from 1589 to 1610
*
Jean-Baptiste Jules Bernadotte (1763-1844), marshal of Napoleon, and later
King of Sweden and
Norway*
André Courrèges (born 1923),
fashion designer*
Roger-Gérard Schwartzenberg (born 1943),
politician*
Bertrand Cantat (born 1964),
singer and
songwriter*
Cedric Gracia (born 1978),
mountain biker*
Charles Denis Bourbaki (1816 - 1897), French general of Greek descent
*
Elsa Weatherley Godard (born 12/04/1986),
International LawyerPau is twinned with:
*
Zaragoza,
Spain, since 1970
*
Mobile,
Alabama,
United States, since 1975
*
Pistoia,
Italy, since 1975
*
Kofu,
Japan, since 1977
*
Setúbal,
Portugal, since 1981
*
Swansea,
Wales, since 1982
*
Göttingen,
Germany, since 1983
*
Daloa,
Côte d'Ivoire, since 1984
*
Xi'an,
China, since 1986
*
Élan Béarnais Pau-Orthez*
Section Paloise*
City council website*
"Pau and around: Pau tourism travel guide"*
Visiting Pau (English)
*
ESAC National Art School - Pau
