One excursion worth making from Pau, particularly for families with children, is to the Grottes de Bétharram (guided tours: June–Sept daily 10am–noon & 1.30–6pm; Oct–May Sat & Sun 10am–noon & 1.30–6pm; €6.50) at St-Pé-de-Bigorre, just off the D938/937 between Pau and Lourdes, 14km from the latter. Part of the eighty-minute tour around its spectacular stalactites and stalagmites takes place in a barge on an underground lake; the remaining kilometre is by miniature railway.Thirty kilometres northwest of Pau, ORTHEZ was the original capital of Béarn, its wealth due in large part to its beautiful and still-surviving thirteenth-century fortified bridge, which controlled the most important commercial route across the Gave de Pau for English and Flemish textiles, Aragonese wool, olive oil and wine. It was also a major centre on the pilgrim routes to Compostela; the modern route, the GR65, crosses the river just 8km east of Orthez at Argagnon, and you can follow it 60km south to the Spanish frontier. the town also serves as a gateway to the hinterland of the Pays Basque: SNCF buses run from Puyôo, 12km west, to Salies-de-Béarn, Sauveterre and Mauléon. The tourist office (July & Aug Mon–Sat 9am–12.30pm & 2–7pm, Sun 9.30am–12.30pm; Sept–June Mon–Sat 9am–noon & 2–6pm; tel 05.59.69.02.75) occupies the sixteenth-century Maison Jeanne d'Albret on rue du Bourg-Vieux, which also hosts a Musée du Protestantisme on the second floor (Mon–Sat 10am–noon & 2–6pm; €2.29). Other fine old houses can be found in the town centre, especially along rue Moncade, the continuation of rue du Bourg-Vieux, where the five-sided Tour Moncade is all that remains of Orthez's castle. The church of St-Pierre, close to the tourist office, still has some interesting Gothic sculptures, though it was badly damaged when the town was sacked by Jeanne d'Albret's Protestant general Montgomery in 1569. Should you need to stay overnight, your best option is the historic, en-suite Hôtel Restaurant Au Temps de la Reine Jeanne, opposite the tourist office at 44 rue du Bourg-Vieux (tel 05.59.67.00.76, fax 05.59.69.09.63; €40–55; closed Feb), with a traditional-fare restaurant (menus €14.50–30). The municipal campsite, Camping de la Source is on bd. Ch. de Gaulle (tel 05.59.69.04.81; closed Oct–Mar). Fifteen kilometres from Orthez (TPR bus from Pau), SALIES-DE-BÉARN is a typical Béarnais village of winding lanes and flower-decked houses with brightly painted woodwork. The River Saleys, hardly more than a stream, runs through the middle of it, separating the old village from the nineteenth-century development that sprang up to exploit the powerful saline spring for which it has long been famous. You can try the curative waters yourself at the wonderful old Les Thermes (www.thermes-de-salies.com), in place Jardin Public from €5.50. Overall, Salies is a charming, if unremarkable place, good for an overnight stop. The tourist office, on rue des Bains, can help (July & Aug Mon–Sat 9.30am–noon & 2–6.30pm, Sun 9.30am–noon; Sept–June Mon–Sat 9.30am–noon & 2–6pm; tel 05.59.38.00.33), but you may as well head straight for economical and comfortable Le Blason (tel 05.59.38.70.64, fax 05.59.38.70.64; under €30; closed Fri & Sun eves Oct–May) on the central Pl Jeanne d'Albret. If you don't mind being on the outskirts of town, a better value option is the surprisingly luxurious Helios (tel 05.59.38.37.59, fax 05.59.38.16.41; under €30). There's also a municipal campsite (tel 05.59.38.12.94; closed mid-Oct to mid-March), and a tiny HI hostel (tel 05.59.38.06.96), both next to the rugby pitch. Cyclotourisme by the village's outdoor recreation grounds rents bikes. Heading south again, the D933 winds over hilly farming country to SAUVETERRE-DE-BÉARN, another pretty country town beautifully sited on a scarp high above the Gave d'Oloron. From the terrace by the thirteenth-century church of St-André you look down over the river and the remains of another fortified bridge, while at the end of the terrace a ruined castle dominates the steep slope. For accommodation, there's the excellent-value Hostellerie du Château in rue Léon-Bérard (tel 05.59.38.52.10, fax 05.59.38.96.49; €30–40; closed mid-Jan to mid-Feb), and a municipal campsite by the medieval bridge (tel 05.59.38.53.30; closed Oct–May). The hostellerie serves hearty menus based on sausage, trout and the like for €15–25. Just across the river, the D936 bears southeast along the flat valley bottom to NAVARRENX, 20km away on the Pau–Mauléon bus route, a sleepy, old-fashioned market town built as a bastide in 1316 and still surrounded by its medieval walls; you enter by the fortified Porte St-Antoine. The Hôtel du Commerce by the Porte St-Antoine (tel 05.59.66.50.16, fax 05.59.66.52.67; €40–55; closed mid-Oct to mid-Jan; excellent restaurant from €14–24), makes an agreeable place to stay, and there's also a municipal campsite in allée des Marronniers (tel 05.59.66.10.00, fax 05.59.66.11.01; closed mid-Sept to March).
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