Le Pays de Morlaàs

Morlaàs is a little town (population around 5,000) just north of Pau. It has a lot of history (from the 9th to the 13th century, it was the capital of Béarn) but nowadays it seems more like a wealthy suburb of Pau. It's surrounded by a lot of little villages and hamlets, as well as farms, and the countryside provides a good set of hikes and bike rides (mountain and road) near my house. The terrain is flattish but there are lots of steep little lung bursting climbs for variety. There are plenty of well maintained country lanes and farm tracks, so winter mud isn't a horrible problem. I've been doing a bunch of hikes there recently, often looking S to the big peaks of the Pyrénées where I hope to be hiking come late spring. 

A few pics.