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Summer break in Bielle (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) from 13 to 20 August 2017

Alain Gillodes, Chantal Sala, Patrick Schleppi and Régis Paraz contributed to this page presenting the trip.

The 2017 summer break is scheduled to take place in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, at the Arriu Mage holiday village, named after one of the streams that runs through Bielle, a small village in the Ossau valley in the Haut-Béarn region, at an altitude of 450m.
This trip, prepared by Alain Gillodes (cc n°722) and Chantal Sala (cc n°3674), will enable you to discover two regions, Béarn and the Basque Country, with the Pyrenees National Park and the Midi de Bigorre and Ossau peaks.
Our meeting will be held at the Col du Porteigt (875 m), on the Bénou plateau, on Saturday 19 August.

Introduction to the region

Le Béarn The Haut-Béarn region is made up of three main valleys: the Vallée d'Ossau, the Vallée d'Aspe and the Vallée de Barétous, plus part of the Vallée de l'Ouzom.
Connecting rod is a village in the Haut-Béarn region of France, situated at an altitude of 450 m in the Ossau valley. It is one of the valley's eighteen villages.
The Ossau valley stretches geographically from north to south for around fifty kilometres from Rébénacq (fifteen kilometres from Pau) to the Col du Pourtalet (on the Spanish border). It is made up of two cantons: the canton of Arudy, with its Pyrenean foothills, and the canton of Laruns, with its mid- to high-mountain landscapes. The Gave d'Ossau, the parent river of the Gave d'Oloron, flows through the area, which is dominated by the Pic du Midi d'Ossau at 2,884 metres. It is the most easterly of the three main valleys in the Béarn region that carve out the Pyrenees mountain range. It links up with the Ouzom valley and Lavedan (Argelès-Gazost) to the east via the Col d'Aubisque, and with Aragon to the south via the Col du Pourtalet.

Tours

Each day there will be a road circuit and a mountain bike circuit.
- The road will be exploring the four valleys of the Haut-Béarn region: the Ossau valley, which opens out to the south at the Col du Pourtalet (1,794 m), the
d'Aspe via the Col du Somport (1,650m), the Vallée de Barétous which opens onto the Navarre valley of Roncal via the Col de la Pierre Saint-Martin (1,760m) and the Vallée de l'Ouzom which opens onto Bigorre via Ferrières, Arbéost and the Col du Soulor (1,474m).

- The bikers will discover the Bearn foothills from Lanne-en-Barétous and Issor, the mid-mountains from Bielle and the Soulor pass, and the high mountains from the Somport and Pourtalet passes.

Hosting

Arriu Mage" holiday village located in Bielle (Pyrénées-Atlantiques). It comprises 66 comfortable flats with 2 or 3 beds and a restaurant,
meeting room, lounge, bar, wifi, swimming pool.

Note from the Board of Directors

If you arrange your accommodation elsewhere than at the holiday village, please let us know that you will be taking part in the holiday, for 3 reasons:

1. To be able to correctly size joint events (information sessions, welcome and farewell parties).
2. To be able to split up into several groups on the routes to improve safety for everyone.
3. To help organisers deal with any unforeseen events.

- Two nearby campsites:
– Campsite L'Ayguelade
Route Départementale 934 - 64260 Bielle - Telephone: 05 59 82 66 50
Campervans per night: for 2 people €14 - extra person €4 - electricity €4 - pet €2.50 per night.
Campers: for 1 person per night: €7 - electricity option: €4 - pet: €2.50 per night
– Cazenave Doux
19 Rue de la Houndaa - 64260 Castet - Telephone : 05 59 05 88 26

Registrations

To register, download the PDF registration form and follow the instructions therein.

Other activities or visits

A wide range of tours and walks will be on offer.

Oloron-Sainte-Marie

Capital of Haut-Béarn (64), it is situated at the gateway to the Pyrenees, next to Spain and the Basque Country, between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean. It lies at the confluence of the Gave d'Ossau and Gave d'Aspe rivers, and is a stopover for pilgrims on their way to Santiago de Compostela (on the Arles route). Discover its churches and 12th-century cathedral, its ancestral traditions and its famous garbure (vegetable soup).

Ossau Valley (18 villages)

1. Visit to Bielle

2. The Artouste train : This train runs along the cliffs, overlooking breathtaking panoramas over a 10 km stretch at an altitude of almost 2000 m.

3. Aste : a promontory overlooking the glacial valley. A summer pasture district with the port (passage to the high mountains) and its barns...
The walk to the port of Aste offers a splendid panoramic view of the valley floor and the Pic. In the village, the façade of the
In the town hall, the symbol of the valley: the bear (from which Ossau may have derived its origin) and the cow, symbol of the pastoral world.
4. Béon : den of vultures. The area is a former seigneury of the Viscounty of Bearn. The altarpiece and paintings in the church are well worth seeing. Overlooking the village, the crevices of the Pène de Béon are home to griffon vultures and Egyptian vultures (known in Béarn as Marie Blanque), which can sometimes be seen circling in the sky. The museographic area of the Vulture Cliff is dedicated to these birds of prey, once threatened with extinction and now protected.
5. 15 August, Laruns, a village in the heart of the Ossau valley, offers its traditional festivals.

Vallée d'Aspe (13 villages)

It stretches along the Gave d'Aspe for almost 40 km, from the village of Escot to the Col du Somport (1,632 m), marking the border with Aragon in Spain.
Beyond Urdos, the Aspe valley opens onto the Spanish autonomous community of Aragon via the Somport, the pilgrims' route to Santiago de Compostela. This route across the Pyrenees has seen the passage of crusaders, pilgrims, men of war, traders, herds and travellers by road or rail (until 1970).
1 - The Lescun circus
2 - The Portalet fort :  Built in 1842 by order of Louis-Philippe to guard the border of the Pyrenees, the Portalet fort seems to rest against a cliff overlooking the Gave d'Aspe. Along with the Chemin de la Mâture, it makes this gorge one of the most picturesque sites in the Pyrenees. Tasked with protecting the Col du Somport road from Spanish incursions, the Portalet fort (in Béarnais means "little gate" or "little passage") owes its fame to the political figures who were interned there under the Vichy regime: Blum, Daladier, Reynaud, Mandel, Gamelin... and then, after the war, Pétain.
3 - Moulin de la vallée in Bedous
4 - Aspe Valley Ecomuseum
5 - Ossineri farm in Borce Ossau Iraty PDO cheese

Barétous Valley (6 villages)

The Pierre-Saint-Martin site: The Pierre Saint-Martin massif is also one of the world's leading caving sites. It is a 140km² karst area at an altitude of between 1,500 and 2,100 metres, straddling the border between France and Spain. This karst, drained by four hydrogeological systems, boasts some of the deepest and largest chasms in the world.
Alain Gillodes (C.C. no. 722)