Bergerac and Pau

A journey to an out of town shopping centre was the first stop of the day, where a new bank of seven Ionity 350Kw chargers enable a rapid charge, albeit expensive. Then onto Bergerac, a delightful old town with vines for miles in every direction, to sample then buy some wine. The first cave was the new town centre tourism centre, equipped with its own multi-wine facility. Tasted four & bought two each of two bottles. The next visit, to a co-operative cave, ended with two each of one white & two reds, after guidance from the host. Respect to the Bergerac area! And, of course, there’s a statue of one famous fellow.

Determined not to use the motorway, our journey to Pau, in the foothills of the Pyrenees, took about four hours but involved crossing mostly unused forest & farmland roads, through villages & small towns & was delightful. Our arrival in Pau, however, was met by long traffic queues, so finding our way to the hotel within the semi-pedestrianised old town centre was quite easy.

Pau is upmarket tourism, starting with the Brits skiing passion back in the 19th century; its streets are wider & buildings generally grander than the medieval tourist hot spots we have visited recently. It also has a funicular train running from uptown to the station.

The city is also famous for motor sport & Tour de France competition. Many cafes, restaurants, bars make it a very convivial stay, especially when seated in a crowded restaurant in very close proximity to friendly locals. We took their advice on which wine to order. This is rugby territory, so being Welsh is a definite help. By the station is an open air exhibition with every winner of the Tour de France, since its inception in 1903, recorded on individual stands, linked to a website via QR codes. Charming to read their stories.

The EV chargers are arranged in a bank of eight in the underground car park where the hotel has arranged for us to park the car. Extra bonus is the charge being foc, so no charge as it were. Two days to savour the atmosphere & occasional rain showers, with the Pyrenees appearing in the background between clouds, then time to cross them mountains as our much loved San Sebastian awaits.

San Sebastian Donostia – Pt I