Pau lies on the Gave de Pau , and is located kilometres 62 mi from the Atlantic Ocean and 50 kilometres 31 mi from Spain. According to Alphonse de Lamartine , "Pau has the world's most beautiful view of the earth just as Naples has the most beautiful view of the sea.
The site has been occupied since at least the Gallo-Roman era. Pau became a leading political and intellectual centre under the reign of Henry d'Albret. It was at this time that Pau became one of the world capitals of the nascent aerospace industry under the influence of the Wright brothers. With the decline of tourism during the 20th century, Pau's economy gradually shifted towards the aviation industry and then to petrochemicals with the discovery of the Lacq gas field in Pau's heritage extends over several centuries, its diversity and its quality allowed it to obtain the label of City of Art and History in The name of its people is Palois in French, and paulin in Occitan.
The motto of Pau is in Latin : Urbis palladium et gentis "protective of the city and its people". Pau is kilometres 62 miles from the Atlantic Ocean and 50 km 31 miles from the border with Spain on the Pyrenees. The frontier is crossed by the col du Somport 1, metres 5, feet and the col du Pourtalet 1, m 5, ft. Access to the crossings partly accounts for Pau's strategic importance. Pau is located km mi west of Toulouse , 30 km 19 mi from Tarbes and Lourdes , 25 km 16 mi from Oloron.
The conglomeration of Bayonne-Anglet-Biarritz is at km 68 mi , Bordeaux km mi. The city, located at an average altitude of metres ft , is crossed by the Gave de Pau , where a ford gave passage to the Pyrenees. Gave is the name given to a torrent in the Pyrenees. The Gave de Pau, which becomes a torrent when mountain snow melts, takes its source in the Cirque de Gavarnie and is the main tributary of the Adour , into which it empties after kilometres mi.
The crossing was used for pasturage for sheep in the high meadows. The old route is now a hiking path, GR 65 , that runs 60 km 37 mi south to the border. The Lau Creek that feeds the Canal du Moulin, meanwhile is also present in the municipality.
