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The local area near Smallwater lake chalet & lodge
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Local area
Dax is Famed for its natural hot water springs of 62.4 degrees centigrade
and healing mud from the River Adour.
The Roman baths are a focal point for Dax and There are several
hot water outlets around the town,
where you can take a mud bath,
or just bathe in the waters.
In August Dax holds its annual fete,
two weeks of celebrations ending in a
magnificent firework display.
Biarritz is a lovely town with lots of shops for the girls ,
a beautiful rocky coastline with sandy beaches and is todays Europe's surf capital
and is only a 30 minutes drive.
Biarritz also has an international airport.
Bayonne Famous for its "fête" - 5 days of non-stop festivities
is also known for its bull fighting in August, and it's famous ham.
(Danish bacon is still the best!) 30
minutes drive
St Jean de Luz, the old "Pirates town"
with a beautiful harbour
and in the place Louis XIV are the ever popular artists,
who display their paintings along the street.
You can even get your portrait painted "while you wait".
In the harbour you can take a boat to see the sights.
It has a wonderful sandy beach in a natural
bay. 40 minutes drive.
Salies de bearn also a beautiful spar town renowned for it's natural salt water
is only a 20 minute drive with it's golf
course and local fetes
Pau is a 45 mins. drive away with it's international airport and is a wonderful
town to go for a day ,
it is full of shops , restaurants and bars .
It also has a little English shop
where you could get your English bangers from.
The Pyreenees are about 50 mins drive to the ski slopes for winter or hiking in
the summer ,
there are lots of sites to see up
there , definitely worth a trip
The Dune du pyla is a 2 hrs drive and is the largest sand dune in Europe .
There are steps to get to the top but
it is still a hard walk . Also a definite place to go .
Carcassonne is a 2.30 hrs drive a medieval town with very nice restaurants
and lots of sites to see including the dungeons
South west France offers everything …
It has the longest stretch of coastline in Europe -the Côte d’Argent –
250km of sand recently voted France's Best Mainland Beach. For culture and
history there are medieval villages and hill-top towns, châteaux, museums,
markets and regular festivals.
It is home to some of the world’s most famous wines such as Médoc, St
Emilion, Pomerol and Sauternes,and offers an amazing variety of activities
such as golf, surfing, cycling, sailing, hiking, bird-watching and horse
riding, relaxing in the thermal spas, to name but a few.
It's next door to Spain for day-trips - to San Sebastian, Pamplona or
Bilbao's Guggenheim, and it is home to the Pyrénées for wonderful walking
country and some of Europe’s most exotic wildlife, including vultures and
brown bears.
Home to Western Europe's largest forest and over 30 freshwater lakes for
peace, tranquility and enjoying nature, and to the French Basque Country an
ancient land with its own language, culture, sports, festivals, architecture
and cuisine.
And even its regional cuisine is noted even in France for its variety from
foie gras to oysters and the Spanish-influenced pintxos ( tapas ).
Skiing in the Pyrenees is a secret well-kept by the French – here you can
explore kilometres of well-groomed piste set in beautiful unspoiled scenery,
for a fraction of what you would pay in the Alps, and without the crowds.
Voted the best golf course in France by the Association of British Tour
Operators to France and 15th European golf course by the magazine Golf
World, the Golf de Seignosse is a true work of art recognized by the best
players. The course winds through the forest, surrounded by majestic pine
and oak trees, a pleasure to play for all golfers.
Smallwater lake "carp fishing france" in the Aquitaine
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La Dame à la Capuche, a 25,000-year-old statuette (3.65 centimeters tall) made of mammoth ivory from the site of Brassempouy, France. It is one of many female figurines dating from the Gravettian period, 28,000 to 22,000 years ago. The explosion of artistic creativity in ice age Europe is one of the watersheds in prehistory explored in the special News report beginning on page 1441. [Photo: Randall White/Musée des Antiquités Nationales] |
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