Luis Alberto Urbano Racing

Getting To Pau
Pau is easily accessible from Stanstead with a daily flight from Ryanair which now leaves at 06.20 and arrives in Pau just after 09.00, the return flight leaves at 09.40. The airport is to the north of the town and is only ten minutes from the race and training track. There are also regular flights from and to Paris.

The town became popular with the English after Wellington and his troops stopped there after defeating Soult at Orthez in 1814. By 1860, 15% of the town was English, their legacy was a race-course, fox-hunting, polo, cricket,golf and rugby. The first 18 hole golf course in mainland Europe was built here and it was also the first to be open to women members. The rail line reached Pau in 1866 and brought Victor Hugo, Stendhal and Lamartine who remarked that while Naples had the best seascape in the world, Pau had the best landscape. Indeed, on a clear day, the view from the escarpment of the Boulevard des Pyrenees is staggering, a hundred kilometre stretch of peaks can be viewed with a kir in hand sitting outside one of the bars and cafes lining the road. From here one can imagine the gruelling moutain stretches that mark one of the real testing grounds of the Tour de France. There is a good programme of cultural events usually listed in the www.pau.fr site.The attractive, old town stretches about two kilometres back from the Boulevard des Pyrenees but takes quite a bit of navigation due to the endless one way system. The old town has all the smart boutiques that make shopping in France so appealing to the fasion conscious and the present buyers.Further to the North and on the way in from the airport the lack of charm is fairly overpowering. However even there one is never far away from a great cup of coffee and a good croissant. It is out this way there are all the large stores including a good Decathlon branch, the sports superstore.

Pau is about 100 kms from Bayonne, Biarritz and the heart of the Basque countryside. It is a short journey from there to the Spanish border and the wonderful seaside city of San Sebastian, home of some of the best restaurants in Spain. it is a 75 minute train journey from Pau to San Sebastian and there are 7 trains a day. From there it is a relativel easy journey to Bilbao and the famous Guggenheim Museum. Toulouse is about 140 kms away on a good motorway and Perpignan about 450 kms. The Parc National des Pyrenees has some spectacular walking opportunities and six ski resorts to be enjoyed, one within fourty minutes. Lourdes is about 40 kms to the east and plays host to over 6 million pilgrims a year. It has spawned an enormous colection of kitsch devoted to the Virgin and Bernadette Soubirous to whom she appeared in a vision.