I was up quite late last night checking emails and booking tonight's accommodation in Pau. I got a room in the Hotel Altica Pau for 39 Euros.

Before leaving Salies, I bought a few items for lunch, then headed towards Orthez, but didn't cross the river Ousse, rather heading South beside the River Laa, along the D947 then D110. Along the way I spotted a gite with tables and benches outside, which looked like a nice spot to eat my packed lunch. Indeed it was, and I had an interesting chat with a German and a Dutchman who were staying there, doing the Camino de Santiago - incredibly popular nowadays.

When I got the the D111 junction at Viellesegure, there was a policeman stopping traffic from heading East. No way of arguing with these chaps, so I was forced to take a rather hilly diversion along a minor road (as can be seen in the route on off-exploring dot com).

Eventually back down in the valley of the Ousse, I stopped briefly in Abos to watch a game of boules (or petanque?) being played in a field by the roadside. Crossing the Ousse by the D802, I was immediately in the rather strung-out urban sprawl of Pau. Unfortunately I then got rather lost trying to find the hotel. I thought I was in the vicinity, but eventually I asked at an office in a science park, and was directed about 5km back West! Once I found it, it was a nice hotel, though somewhat isolated, and I had about a 15 minute walk down a busy boulevard to reach a fast-food restaurant. And back again of course, in the dark.