From the windows of the rooms allotted to us, we beheld the whole of the long chain of the magnificent Pyrenees, from the Pic de Bigorre to the giant du Midi, and the countless peaks beyond.

Our first impression was almost wild delight at the prospect of living long in a spot with these splendid objects always before our eyes, in uninterrupted grandeur; with a glowing sun always shining, sheltered from the north wind by the high promenade at the back of the house; with a beautiful little rapid stream running along at the base of our tower, the murmuring, sparkling, angry Gave[25] meandering through the meadows beyond; the range of vine-covered and wooded hills opposite, dotted with villas, which glittered white amidst their luxuriant groves; and, at the back of all, the everlasting awful mountains, purple and transparent and glowing with light.
[Footnote 25: _Gave_ is the generic name of all the mountain streams in this region, but that of Pau is called _"the Gave,"_ par excellence.] We were not deceived in the enjoyment we anticipated in this particular, for, to make amends for the unwilling _discoveries_ we made as to the reputation of Pau, our mountains seemed to devote themselves to our pleasure, assuming every form of beauty and sublimity to satisfy and enchant us.
When we took our first walk in the promenade, improperly called _the Park_, we were fascinated with the extreme beauty of this charmed grove, which is planted in terraces, on a _coteau_ bordering the Gave, and is _one of the most_ charming possessed by any town in France: there is the same glorious view of the range of giant mountains even more developed than from the Place Royale; the paths are kept clean and clear and neat; the trees are of the finest growth, and everything combines to make it a most attractive spot, though the usual somewhat Gascon mode of describing it, adopted at Pau, as _"the most beautiful in the world,"_ appears to me rather hyperbolical when I recollect those of Laon, Auxerre, Dijon, Dinan, Avranches, and others; which have not, however, the Pyrenees as a back-ground, it must be confessed.
The only part of the town of Pau which will bear mention, is that portion which borders the Gave, above a fine avenue of trees, which extends to a considerable distance along the banks of the small clear stream of the Ousse: that is to say, _the houses_ which face the mountains; but the street in which their entrances are found is narrow, dirty, slovenly, and worse than _ill_-paved.

These mansions--for some of them are large and isolated--have a magnificent position, and, seen from the Bois Louis, as the grove below is called, have a very imposing aspect.

The principal street, Rue de la Prefecture, is extremely mean, and the shops of the least inviting appearance.

It is very badly paved throughout its great extent, for it reaches from one end of the town to the other; but here and there a few flagstones serve to make their absence elsewhere regretted.