Activities and Leisure
Golf
Enjoy a short golf break and play local courses that challenge your game in a variety of ways. Each provides lunch at reasonable prices to refresh you after the game. Peter, a single figure handicapper would be happy to accompany you or give you easy directions to the courses.
Pictured on the right is Lourdes Golf Course, picturesque and hilly with fantastic views, 18 holes, 5384m (5891yd), slope 131 with a great terraced restaurant looking straight up the first hole for a superb lunch, 30 minutes away.
Closer by is Lannemezan Golf Course, 5 minutes away. A flat course with a backdrop of the Pyrenees and the Pic du Midi at 2877m. A lovely course to play, that on first sight seems to be straightforward parkland, but in fact requires accuracy and good club selection, with a par of 70 over 5800m, and 4800 trees!
There are many other courses locally but the one that stands out is surely Bagnere de Bigorre with wonderful views to either distract you or offer an alternative if you are not playing too well! 18 holes, 5893m, par 72.
Check out also:
Luchon Golf Club
(9 holes), 40 mins
Chateau
de Pallanne Golf Club, 1 hour
Running
It is possible to run 2 hours off road from here or even take to the cross country ski areas for altitude training at 2000 metres. Along the country lanes you are unlikely to meet any traffic, only a troupeau of sheep.
I am a member of the local club with training on Tuesday and Sunday morning longer runs. There are races most weekends, but do bring a medical certificate from your doctor.
www.izonkouru.com
This site gives a calendar of events in the Haute Pyrenees with up to
date results and photos.
Tennis
Excellent tennis courts available a few minutes away that are free to our guests.
The local leisure centre, Les Peupliers, also has 2 covered
tennis courts, 2 outdoor tennis courts and 1
squash court for hire.
www.cslp.fr
Skiing
The Pyrenees skiing area is developing fast with snow canons to complement the natural stuff. However it is not as busy as the Alps, therefore few queues for lifts. Easy access from here to Peyragudes in only 50 minutes with many more a little further off. This gives options for all standards of skiing abilities.
Great local ski resorts include: Peyragudes, Luz Ardiden, Val Louron, La Mongie/Tourmalet, Superbagnere at Luchon, and St Lary.
Cross Country/Ski de Fond
We have 2 good areas at Nistos
and Payolle
for cross country skiing either for pleasure or as altitude
cardiovascular training.
Raquettes
Raquettes
is a randonnee on snow shoes. Tuition and equipment hire
available at Nistos and Payolle.
Swimming
There is a 50 metre swimming pool in Tarbes, 25 m pool in Lannemezan which becomes partly open air in the summer and a 25m open air summer pool in Montrejeau with wonderful mountain views while you are in the water.
The swimming lake at Aventignan is 10k, so bring a wetsuit in the Spring!
Rambling/Walking
www.ot-neste-baronnies.com
This is our local tourist office website showing local walks and climbing
etc.
The Pyrenees is a great place for ramblers
and walkers of all levels, marked by the famous GR10
and GR11 running from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic.
The photo to the right is a great orientation point on a walk above Bagnere de Bigorre.
Biarritz
Less than two hours drive, Biarritz is a lively cosmopolitan town with magnificent beaches, golf courses, shops and restaurants (great seafood!). Also famous for its surf, you'll see surfers from all over the world riding the waves.
Biarritz is one of the principal resorts on the Côte Basque, and probably the most famous part of the Pays Basque. Biarritz came to fame in the mid 19th Century, when Empress Eugénie (the wife of Napoléon III) fell in love with this part of the Basque country and built a Palace on the beach at Biarritz.
Lourdes
Lourdes is a small town in the Pyrenees Mountains near the border of Spain. Catholics believe that here in 1858 a young girl named Bernadette Soubirous was visited 18 times by the Virgin Mary. Over the Grotto where Mary appeared to Bernadette two large Cathedrals were erected. There are 21 places of worship in the area and services are held around the clock in all major languages of the world.
Pic du Midi
The Pic du Midi, at 2877 metres can be seen from far and wide in the Midi Pyrenees region.
Check out the weather station at the top by taking the cable car from La Mongie ski resort. Enjoy lunch in the mountain top restaurant and bar with amazing views from the highest peak in the Pyrenees.
