Wined, dined and rested.

It’s always a bit of a tug to leave the Pyrenees, but a road trip has necessarily to involve the road so we left St Just Ibarre in the foothills of the Basque Pyrenees and hit the road towards Vinassan, just east of Narbonne. We knew this was a more leisurely day than some; having done Salamanca to Saint Just the day before we had planned for a little meandering today.

We meandered happily along roads with views of the mountains…..

………keeping an eye out, as we do every morning when travelling, for a bakery to buy bread for the lunchtime picnic. About half an hour out of Saint Just there was a sign to an interestingly-named town called Sauveterre de Béarn so we decided to drive in and have a look. What a pretty and beautifully-located town it is.

Sauveterre literally means “save land” or “safe land” and this town was apparently so named because it was not subject to feudal laws, being under the direct protection of the church, and people wanted by the law elsewhere could seek sanctuary here.

It is perched up on a ridge set inside a loop of the Gave d’Oloron river and the views soar across the river valley to the mountains beyond. You know that before you even reach the views, if you ‘ve parked in the town square, because where else would this majestic avenue of trees lead but to a breathtaking view….

… and indeed it does. The path takes you round to the 12^th century fortified church which was obviously built here because of the commanding position over the river which was also in its time a major route through to Spain.

But the photograph that every visitor takes in Sauveterre de Béarn is this one, taken from the viewing area immediately outside the church –

It shows the bridge known as the “Pont de la Légende”; this legend is that of a queen whose morals were questioned and of course how else would you verify a person’s moral stature except by tying them hand and foot and throwing them off a bridge into a fast-flowing river?

This queen proved to be the very model of decorum and moral fortitude by being washed up by the current onto the sand a little lower down, safe and sound if a little damp, and as far as I can ascertain lived happily ever after from that moment on, with the full respect and love of the people of Sauveterre.

The church itself is imposing – you don’t need to be told it’s fortified, that is obvious as soon as you catch sight of its shining white stone, solid walls, a bell tower that looks more like a watch tower and an array of such thin windows you can imagine the archers standing inside ready to protect their town and the river passage.

Functional it clearly was, but it also has the most beautiful tympanum at its west door, complete with carefully carved Jesus and the four evangelists who are represented by an angel (Matthew), a lion (Mark), an ox (Luke) and an eagle (John).

Inside it is as imposing, in the Benedictine style, as you would expect – all plain pillars thrusting upwards, forcing you to look heavenwards.

The apse has been beautifully restored, painted in the way it is believed that churches of that age were:

On a personal note, it was a very hot day and the church was a haven of cool and calm, as they so often are…

AND it had possibly the best “turn your phone off” notice I’ve ever seen:

Translation: “On entering this church you may well hear the call of God. However it is unlikely that he will contact you by phone so please turn of your telephone.”

OK, having lowered the tone rather I will move away from the church and just say that the rest of the little town is very pretty; like so many small towns and villages in France it claims to be one of the “plus beaux villages de France” and there is some justification for the claim.

However I have often wondered if it mightn’t be worth suggesting to the French tourist authorities that if they instituted a competition for the ugliest village in France there would be so few of them it might become a truly sought-after accolade. I may bring this up next time I’m talking to the chef of tourism.

Now back to the road and on to Vinassan, which we’ve never been to before.