A legacy of resort spirit

Pau became a climatic health resort in the 19th century, praised by the English physician Taylor, then became a mecca for aviation thanks to the Wright brothers. For almost a century, it attracted tourists and beautifull people. The English and American intelligentsia, the great families of old Europe and Russia all came to settle here. The city was transformed. The Boulevard des Pyrénées, the Casino, the Golf course, the grand hotels, the palaces and villas, the palm grove and the funicular railway, like the Palais Beaumont, are the legacies of this period when Chateaubriand, Hugo, then the European aristocracy, American tycoons and high-flying sportsmen met in the lounges of Palais’ grand hotels and had architectural follies built in the heart of romantic parks…