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Hautes-Pyrenees
The Hautes-Pyrénées spans the borders of the south of France and north of Spain, with a landscape populated with wheat farmlands, hillside pastures where cattle graze and long and winding mountain roads that converge at the peaks of Mont Perdu.
Formed in 1790, this department in the south-western portion of France owes its roots to the consolidation of the former province of Gascony as well as Bigorre.
In its history as a militaristic and mercantilistic capital city of Tarbes, it is locally acknowledged at present to be a famed base for winter sports enthusiasts with its close proximity to the Pyrenees mountains.
Public life in regional capital of Tarbes centers on the hustle and bustle at the Place Marcadieu, where fresh produce is sold in farmers markets in the mornings. The Duvignau fountain is a known landmark with local artistry that takes its inspiration from the wildlife that abound in the Pyrénées region.
South of the capital is one of the most famous towns in Hautes-Pyrénées, Lourdes. The rustic town of Lourdes has since blossomed into a major pilgramage site for Catholic faithful after apparitions of Virgin Mary to a local girl named Bernadette at the Grotto of Massabielle on 18 occasions. The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes is known in the present day Marian city with millions of pilgrims and tourists visiting every season. It is no surprise that Lourdes comes second only to Paris, as the area with greatest number of hotels in the country.
The popular medicinal mineral springs of the region abound. Families often visit the resorts in droves during the summer months to enjoy the scenary and cure a variety of ailments. Most notable springs of which are the hotsprings containing sulphur and sodium in the valley of the Gave de Pau are Cauterets, St Sauveur and Bareges, the springs containing calcium sulphates in Adour Bagneres and Capvern near Lannemezan.
