The Pyrénées 2019

The river Saison, better known as Le Gave de Mauléon, flows through the town...

I was watching a game of Basque Pelote. This version of the sport is played essentially in Basque France by 2 teams of 3 players on an outside court referred to as ‘Place Libre’ meaning free space. The origin of this sport is tied to the decline of the ancient jeu de paume (palm game with glove) circa. 1700. While the game evolved to the modern jeu de paume (with racquet, called real tennis in England) and eventually to tennis, rural Alpine and Pyrenean communities kept the traditional game...

The Château de Mauléon, known as Vieux Château (old castle) is a fortified castle that sits high above the town of the same name on Matalon hill (439m/1440ft). The old castle of Mauléon originated in the 11th century, when it was erected on a hill, in those days it was simply composed of a wooden tower, flanked by a farmyard, all protected by a palisade surrounded by a moat. Between 1272 and 1287, Edward I, concerned with the quality of his strongholds, imposed repairs and strengthening of the castle fortifications.

Behind me is the River Ousse and the old bridge...

In 1274 the bridge had a single span and two towers, by 1589 there was only one. Today it is well known for its single tower and unequal arches...

The old bridge of Orthez over the River Ousse was built in the 13th century on the orders of Gaston VII de Moncade when he made Orthez the capital of Béarn; it connected the city centre to the suburbs....

It was a crush and it would've been better if they were on the other side of the road, but Simon Yates leaves Gregor Mühlberger (almost in shot on the left), and the impressively named Pello Bilbao López de Armentia, trailing in his wake 75 meters from the finish of stage 12 here in Bagnères-de-Bigorre...

Straining every sinew, is Rui Costa of UAE-Team Emirates...

My Janice watching Team INEOS on the big screen 75m from the finish line during Stage 12 in Bagnères-de-Bigorre. We spent 5 hours down there and the big screens up and down the finishing straight kept us in touch with the race...