Le Chemin Henri IV

The Chemin Henri IV is a 40 Km hike from Pau to Lourdes (or vice versa) that King Henry was supposed to take back in the day. It mostly follows a lowish ridge and doesn't involve any big climbs though it's not exactly flat. Anyway the big attraction for me is that it passes fairly near my house. Back in St Andre there were some really good hikes I could do from my front door and I'm keen to see what hikes I can do without taking the car in Pau.

So I had a little hike along it today. From my house I joined the hike in about 15 minutes; I hiked it for about 10 Km and had lunch before turning round and coming home. This first 10 Km is actually pretty flat; near Pau there were lots of other 'day-trippers' - hikers, mountain bikers and runners - but things got quiet pretty quickly. The snowy peaks of the Pyrénées were visible through the hazy sunshine all the time. There are lots of trails and mountain bikes that cross the Chemin Henri IV, so you can make your own hikes.

So, all in all, it's what I expected; I can hike a bunch of flattish trails from my house. But if I want to climb mountains, I need to take my car or get on my bike.

A few pics.