I passed by here many times on my way to Spain, always using it as a rest stop either at Pau or around Gan. As time went on, we spent more time here and finally several days. Let me update this wonderful post for you and me, bringing back many nice family memories. Do read my other post on the wines of Gan! Therefore, this is my take on this is Gan !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I.
The town of Gan is located in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department 64 in the Nouvelle Aquitaine region (even thus fiercily keeping the old habits of the Béarn), and in my belle France. It is situated 9.5 km from Pau ,6.5 km from Jurançon, 23 km from Oloron-Sainte-Marie, 78 km from the Col du Somport peak frontier with Spain ,80 km from Candanchú (Spain) We came from Pau on our way to Spain and stop here couple times along the Chemin de l’Aviation on roundabout bear left onto Bd du Commandant René Mouchotte continue into Route de Tarbes and at roundabout bear right onto the D802 road or impasse de la Bigorre continue dir Tarbes go on the Pont de Bizanos
over the gave de Pau river continue thru City center Mazères-Lezons same road now name Route des Fontaines continue onto Avenue du 8 Mai 1945 then bear left onto Avenue Henri IV dir Gan on next roundabout bear left onto the N134 highway dir Gan entering town on the Route de Pau and then Avenue Henri IV and on your right hand side see the Cave de Jurançon (see post),The town is crossed by the N134 national road, as well as by departmental roads 134, 217, and 230. We have taken the N134 and D134. For general info, Gan train station is located on the Pau-Canfranc line. It is served by the TER Nouvelle-Aquitaine between Pau and Oloron-Sainte-Marie (changing here for Canfranc in Spain).
For lunch we stayed there, one of the bottles we purchase we asked to be open and they did for us, went across to a bakery pastry store Boulangerie le Sarment, wonderful regional products like ham and chorizos yummy with great tarte of fruits, etc there is a bench outside by the road and had our picnic sort of right on the spot with a bottle of Oh Biarnesa rosé cold from their store at the Caves des Jurançon!!! webpage: https://www.boulangerie-patisserie-gan.fr/
Some of the things to see here are the prison gate dates back to 1335. The Roman baths dating from 1748, known for their ferruginous and sulfurous waters; the Maison de Bazirus on Rue d’Ossau; the Maison de Guytou on the road to Lasseube; and the Maison d’Arrac or capitainerie d’Arrac, which dates to 1548. The Maison d’Andoins, erroneously called the “Maison de Jeanne d’Albret” dates to 1593. The Château Marca predates 1600; it is the birthplace of Pierre de Marca, a French archbishop and historian of the Béarn region. The Church of Saint-Barthélémy (see post) underwent restoration in several phases between 1811 and 1930. The Church of Saint-Pierre in the upper part of Gan, or Haut de Gan dates from 1838, though its origins go back much further; traces of it appear in parish archives as early as 1759 in records of baptisms, marriages, and burials.
A bit of history I like tell us that Gan is a bastide or fortified town founded in 1335 by Gaston II of Foix-Béarn. He gave it this name ,which it shares with the city of Ghent or Gand in Belgium to commemorate the Flanders campaign in which he had participated.
The town and agglomeration of Pau on Gan : https://www.pau.fr/gan
The town of Gan on its heritage : https://www.mairie-gan.fr/recherche?query=patrimoine
The Bastide64 Pyrénées Atlantiques site on Gan : https://bastides64.org/bastides/gan/
The Pyrénées Atlantique dept 64 tourist office on Gan : https://www.tourisme64.com/en/activities/gan/PCUAQU064FS000HA-bastide-de-gan/
There you go folks, in all a wonderful time we had here with funny moments, great company, pretty town and plenty of memories /anecdotes to last a lifetime !!! Again, hope you enjoy this post on this is Gan !!! as I
And remember, happy travel, good health, and many cheers to all !!!
