Having lived here over 20 years, I am quite happy to stop off at little cafés for my short, sharp shock of caffeine whilst I glance through Sud Ouest or the Depeche du Midi.  However on long weekends we cheat and fill our take out Costa Coffee flasks with frothy, milky, homemade, breakfast-style coffee and head off to the mountains for a walk.  When we arrive by a lake, we sit on a rock and drink from the flasks and feel very civilised with our pretend take-out coffee.

Payolle in the Hautes Pyrenees is perfect for a leisurely walk with lake and mountain views and  the goal of a restaurant and wellness centre at the far end and tree top cabins that you can rent for a night or two. Out at 10am and back by 4pm but what a world away – certainly beats the AwayDay to Margate we did as children.

Useful References:
http://www.arcochpayolle.com/

http://www.tourisme-hautes-pyrenees.com/web/FR/1531-campan-payolle.php

Properties: Haute Pyrenees on Gascony Property