Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques
Pau [ po ] (Basque Paue ) is a town in the French region of Aquitaine ( Aquitaine) and with 79 798 inhabitants (as of 1 January 2011) is the largest city in the department of Pyrénées- Atlantiques to Bordeaux and the second largest city in the region. The city is the seat of the prefecture of the department. The prefecture also manages the district Pau, which consists of 21 cantons. It is the main town (French: chef- lieu) of the cantons Jurançon Pau Centre, Pau -Est, Pau -Nord -Ouest Pau and Pau -Sud.
Geography
Pau is situated on the river Gave de Pau.
Economy and infrastructure
Pau TGV is connected to the French high -speed network. There are speed connections towards Bayonne and Dax ( more on Bordeaux to Paris ) and Tarbes ( and on to Toulouse). Furthermore, commuter trains go to Oloron -Sainte -Marie (on the 1970 to partially disused railway Pau - Canfranc ).
7 km outside the town is the airport Pau Pyrénées, are served by inter alia, Amsterdam, Brussels, London and Bristol.
Education
Pau has a long tradition as a university town. The first university was established in 1722. Today she has an interdisciplinary university ( law, economics, natural science and human science ), two UIT ( Institut Universitaire de Technologie ) and IAE ( Institut d' Administration d' Entreprise ).
Culture and sights
Structures
The Pau castle in the center of the old town was founded in the Middle Ages and is the birthplace of Henry IV
Sports and Events
The city of Pau is famous for its annual motor sport events. Similar to Monaco and Macao A narrow street circuit ( Circuit de Pau) is traversed between the houses.
By 1963, eleven Formula 1 races were held, but did not count for the World Cup. Then found until 1998 here race in Formula 2 and Formula 3000 Championship instead. Since 1999, international races in the Formula 3 will be played on this track. As the most successful driver in Pau applies Jim Clark, who won this race twice each in the F1 and F2. 2007, 2008 and 2009 WTCC races were held in Pau.
Pau part because of its proximity to the Pyrenees passes very often to the stage cities of the Tour de France. So far, the tour made 62 times in Pau maintenance. So Pau is on the list of the most common tour cities to Paris and Bordeaux in third place.
In eventing the Stars de Pau are among the six most important tournaments in the world.
With Élan Pau - Orthez Béarnais, the city one of the most important French basketball clubs. Overall, the team nine times champion of France and took six Cup titles. In addition, the team was able Korac Cup win in 1984, a former European Cup title.
Another well-known sports team is the Section Paloise. Their rugby union team is represented in the second highest French professional league Pro D2.
In Billère located with the Pau Golf Club from 1856 to the oldest golf club in the European continent.
New in 2005 a large pelota system has been added.
Sons and daughters of the town
- Henry IV (1553-1610), King of France and Navarre
- Jeanne d' Albret (1528-1572), Queen of Navarre
- Auriacombe Louis (1917-1982), conductor
- Jean -Baptiste Bernadotte (1763-1844), as Charles XIV John King of Sweden (1818-1844)
- Charles Denis Bourbaki (1816-1897), General
- Auguste Brun (1881-1961), linguist and Provenzalist
- Bertrand Cantat (born 1964 ), singer of the rock group Noir Désir
- Nathalie Cardone (born 1967 ), French actress and singer
- Jérémy Chardy (* 1987), tennis player
- Édouard Cissé (born 1978 ), football player
- André Courrèges ( b. 1923 ), French fashion designer
- William David (born 1969 ), race car driver
- Hervé Duclos - Lassalle ( b. 1979 ), cyclist
- Tony Estanguet (born 1978 ), Olympic gold medalist and world champion in Canoe Slalom
- Cédric Gracia (born 1978 ), mountain bikers
- André Labarrère (1928-2006), French politician
- Alain Lamassoure ( b. 1944 ), French politician (UMP ) and Member of the European Parliament
- Guillaume de Latrille Lorencez (1772-1855), General
- Francis Mer ( b. 1939 ), industrialist and politician
- André Minvielle ( born 1957 ), jazz musician
- Philippe Rombi ( b. 1968 ), composer
- Louisa Siefert (1845-1877), poet
- Emmanuelle Sykora (born 1976 ), football national player
Twinning
Pau maintains with the following cities twinned:
- Spain Zaragoza, Spain, since 1970
- United States Mobile ( Alabama), USA, since 1975
- Italy Pistoia, Italy, since 1975
- Japan Kofu, Japan, since 1977
- Portugal Setubal, Portugal, since 1981
- Wales Swansea, Wales, since 1982
- Germany Gottingen, Germany, since 1983
- Ivory Coast Daloa, Ivory Coast, since 1984
- People's Republic of China Xi'an, China, since 1986
- Nepal Kathmandu, Nepal