Stage site for the seventh time
Tourist resort in Hautes-Pyrénées (65), attached to the commune of Beaucens.
Population: 420 (Beaucinois and Beaucinoises), 15,330 in the 46 communes of the Pyrénées Vallées des Gaves community of communes.
Specialities: garbure bigourdane, rocher des Pyrénées (cake), black pork of Bigorre, Barèges-Gavarnie mutton, spit-roasted cake, blueberry pie
Personalities: Jacques Chancel (television), Cyprien Despourrins (poet).
Sport: Union Cycliste de Lavedan, Pyrénissime Vélo Sport, Lourdes Pyrénées Cyclisme, Cyclo Club Lourdais. Events: la Pyrénéenne (Granfondo), Marmotte Granfondo Pyrenees, Gravel Pyrenees
Economy: agriculture, tourism. Nordic cross-country skiing area.
Festivals: Transhumance Festival / Saint-Savin Music Festival / Lourdes Sacred Music Festival / Pyrenean Dog Festival in Argelès-Gazost
Labels: 4-season mountain resort / Natura 2000 Reserve / International Starry Sky Reserve / Argelès-Gazost and Lourdes, 3 Flower Towns and Villages / Cirque de Gavarnie UNESCO World Heritage Site
Websites / FB / Twitter / Insta: https://www.hautacam.com/ / https://www.valleesdegavarnie.com/ete / https://www.pyrenees-trip.com/ / http://www.tourisme-occitanie.com/ / www.facebook.com/stationhautacam / www.facebook.com/valleesdegavarnie / www.facebook.com/hautespyrenees / twitter.com/Hautacam65 / twitter.com/valleesgavarnie / www.instagram.com/parcdeloisirsduhautacam / www.instagram.com/valleesdegavarnie / www.instagram.com/hautespyrenees / fr-fr.facebook.com/TourismeOccitanie / twitter.com/Occitanie / www.instagram.com/tourisme_en_occitanie
HAUTACAM AND CYCLING
Six stages of the Tour finished at the top of the long climb to the resort overlooking Lourdes. The last time the Tour was held here, in 2022, Jonas Vingegaard won the stage that sealed his first victory in yellow. The Dane left Tadej Pogacar trailing by more than one minute and extended his overall lead to 3:26.
Luc Leblanc was the first rider to put his name on the climb in 1994, just before winning the world champion title in Sicily. Hautacam also marked a turning point in Cadel Evans' career in 2008, when he took the overall lead in the Tour for the first time... one second ahead of Frank Schleck. This first experience in yellow only lasted five days for the Australian, who was diminished by injury and had to relinquish the Yellow Jersey to the elder Schleck by eight seconds on the climb to Prato Nevoso. In the end, he finished second in this edition, 58 seconds behind Carlos Sastre. Cadel Evans later donned the Yellow Jersey in 2010, for one day, and finally in 2011 to become the first Australian to win in Paris.
In 2014, it was in Hautacam that Vincenzo Nibali completed his unchallenged domination by claiming his fourth stage victory of the year at the summit, 1:10 ahead of Thibaut Pinot. In the general classification, the shark from Messina had a 7:10 lead over the Frenchman with three days to go before the Champs-Élysées: the case had been made.
SIGHTS
Château d'Ourout
Construction: 11th, 15th and 16th centuries.
Style: medieval.
History and Characteristics: built in the 11th century, transformed in the 15th-16th century with its park and chapel. Formerly the residence of the Lords of Doumec d'Ourout, vassals of the Count of Bigorre, it is currently occupied by the same family through direct inheritance or marriage. Several distinguished guests have lived here, including Henri Russel and composer Gabriel Fauré, a friend of Count Hugues' grandmother.
Trivia: legend has it that the future King Charles III of England, who was due to spend his holidays there, was unable to fit his carriage in because it was so wide and the access street so narrow. He therefore had to cancel his stay. There are very few free visits on certain Heritage Days. But the park is accessible.
Listed as: historical monument in 1995.
Thermal baths of Argelès-Gazost
The spa, built of bricks and rolled pebbles, was created at the end of the 19th century using an aqueduct to bring water with curative properties from a neighbouring village (Gazost). Around 1910-1920, writer François Mauriac frequented the spa and its park, a beautiful "English-style" garden. He even used it as the setting for one of his novels, Le fleuve de feu (River of fire). The architecture of the town is characterised by beautiful mansions and large villas.
www.argeles-gazost.com
The eagles' keep at Château de Beaucens
Construction: 10th to 12th centuries.
Style: medieval fortified castle.
History: Beaucens castle was the most powerful viscountal house in Bigorre, with vast possessions including the seventeen towns in the Barèges valley. The castle was inhabited until 1643, when it belonged to the House of Montaut-Bénac.
Trivia: in Bigorre, legend has it that a long siege of the castle was ended by a trout released by an eagle, which led the attackers to believe that food was still plentiful and fresh.
Current purpose: this historic site, with its 11th-century feudal castle, offers a wide panoramic view over the valley and the Pyrenees mountain range. It boasts a prestigious collection of birds of prey from all over the world. In summer, a show of free-roaming birds of prey flies over the public.
Listed as: Historical Monument since 1927.
www.donjon-des-aigles.com
Abbey of Saint-Savin
Construction: 12th century
Style: Romanesque.
Characteristics: now a parish church, until the French Revolution it was part of a Benedictine monastery that was very influential in the valley. In the Gothic period, the walls and bell tower were raised. It boasts a very rich collection of objects, including a Romanesque sarcophagus of St. Savinus, paintings depicting his life from the late 15th century, a 14th-century ciborium and wooden Christ, and a Renaissance organ dating from 1557.
Listed as: Historical Monument since 1840.
Vieuzac Castle Tower
Construction: 14th century.
History and characteristics: this is a considerably restored remnant of the castle that once housed the seigneury of Vieuzac. The site also included the manor house, Saint-Pierre church and the cemetery. The tower at the base dates from the 14th century. It was described as a dovecote in the 1783 census. It was first owned by the Lords of Vieuzac, then in the 17th century by the Lords of Ourout and Jean-Baptiste Lassalle, before being bought and restored by the family of MP Alicot using materials from Castel-Naou d'Azu d'Arras en Lavedan. Today it is the property of a retirement home.
Château d'Arras en Lavedan
It was built in the 12th century on a hill overlooking the village, in place of an earlier castle, with similarities to the castles of Gaston Phebus, notably that of Montaner. Occupied by the English from 1360 to 1404 and then by various lords, the castle fell into ruin. The carved corbels were even sold in 1879 to decorate the Vieuzac tower in Argelès. A new owner undertook its restoration in 1996, under the supervision of the Bâtiments de France.
TO EAT
Tastou
This typically Pyrenean 'sandwich' can be enjoyed at Le Viscos, in Saint-Savin, a meeting place for Tour de France followers for many years. Chef Jean-Pierre Saint-Martin had this to say about his recipe: "I was inspired by an old recipe, tastou with truffles, discovered in old cookery books. Back in the day, when truffles were brought to farms, the old-timers used to test them by taking a loaf of sourdough bread from the hearth or the farm's old bread oven. They would then cut slices of bread, butter them with duck fat and place thin slices of fresh truffles on top. Simple and effective!"
