l o c a t i o n
Breakaway to the southwest of France - 900 miles south of London, just over an hour by direct flight from Stansted. You will arrive ready to relax in the peace and quiet of our home of Lahon.
flying direct flights to Pau are from Stansted, Bristol, Paris, Lyon, Amsterdam and Brussels. Alternative airports to Pau are Bordeaux, Biarittz and Toulouse, all about 2 hours drive or by train.
take the train Waterloo to Pau takes about 12 hours. You can travel through the day using the Eurostar and the French TGV service. A taxi or Metro across Paris is then required to get to Montparnasse station. Paris to Pau takes about 6 hours. Book at least a month before to get a big discount and it is much cheaper for an unknown reason if you book it to Lourdes (a station after Pau) but get off at Pau. The return journey costs around 150 Euros.
Sample Schedule (March 2008)
leave London Waterloo: 09.30
arrive Paris Gare du Nord: 12.23 (transfer by metro to Montparnasse)
leave Paris: 14.40
arrive Pau 20.44
Alternatively, spend an evening in Paris before catching the overnight sleeper direct to Pau.
the béarn is part of the Pyrenees Atlantiques, department 64. The area around our home is a gently undulating landscape of farms, forests and vineyards dotted with small towns and villages to explore, virtually unchanged since D'Artagnan strutted across his homeland. Like many areas of France, however, it is defined by its food and drink - duck is king and there many local cheeses and excellent red wines from Madiran and red and white from Jurancon most of which you won't find in your supermaket at home.
mouhous is a small hamlet - reputably the second smallest in france - of 34 people. We have a Mairie and nothing else except friendly people. It is about 20 minutes from Pau airport and 10 from Garlin, our nearest town with a large supermarket and local shops.
Mouhous church and Pic du Midi
lahon
Our home of Lahon (the source), consists of at typical Bearnese house and large converted barn situated in 10 acres of land on the edge of a valley. We are surrounded by farmland, down a small country lane so it is quiet and peaceful. There are many large trees to sit and relax under with great views of the mountains.
Pic du Midi from the garden
the climate is benign with low wind speeds and generally 10 degrees C above south east England temperatures. Winters are from November to January. February is generally warm with very little rain from April to October. Temperatures can get up 30c in July and August. This information is based on our last four years here but can obviously vary.