Château de Pau

In spite of the heat and absence of air conditioning I slept well and started the day with a leisurely breakfast which was above average and included decent coffee. It was cooler than yesterday, around 26 and no sun which made for good walking conditions. I followed a river route I’d found on AllTrails following the Gave de Pau crossing the river several times and returning via the Parc du Chateau. Wagtails everywhere and a Great Egret which at first I thought was a large plastic bag caught up in a tree.
Being the 14th of July it’s a holiday here and the city centre was empty. It also meant the museums were closed, the exception being the Château which opened at 3. It’s compulsory to join a tour, I endeavoured to make some sense of what was said. That and the minimal bilingual information boards gave me a sense of the buildings magnificence and its history beginning with the birthplace of France’s King Henry IV.
Two people fainted, it must be a common occurrence here in the summer because the guide continued unfazed and the teenagers appeared to recover almost as quickly as they had gracefully fallen to the ground. A few more benches might have been helpful, there was a lot of standing around. I thought the dining room with a dining table for 100 guests was worth seeing.