page_title: Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques
section_title: Events
hierarchical_section_title: Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques / Sport / Events
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Le boulevard des Pyrénées de Pau pendant la Féminine
context_page_description: Pau is a commune overlooking the Pyrenees, and capital of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques Département in the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France.
  The city is located in the heart of the former sovereign principality of Béarn, of which it was the capital from 1464. Pau lies on the Gave de Pau, and is located 100 kilometres from the Atlantic Ocean and 50 kilometres from Spain. This position gives it a striking panorama across the mountain range of the Pyrenees as well as the hillsides of Jurançon. The appellation Horizons Palois has been created with the aim of protecting the view, in particular from the Boulevard des Pyrénées which extends for 1.8 kilometres from the Château de Pau to the Parc Beaumont. Alphonse de Lamartine said: "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. However the first references to Pau as a settlement only occur in the first half of the 12th century.
context_section_description: Since 1930, Pau has become a mainstay of the Tour de France cycling race, thanks both to its geographical location and to its marvelous infrastructure. Pau hosted its 63rd stage in 2010, and only one other city besides Paris has done better. The 2010 Tour visited Pau on three occasions: First as a passing town, second time as a finish, and the third time as a departure town on the way to the Col du Tourmalet. Pau is behind Bordeaux as the town of the province to have had most stages in the history of the Tour. Pau will receive the Tour for the 67th time in 2015.
  Perhaps the highest-profile sporting event is the Étoiles de Pau ("Stars of Pau"). Held annually in October, it is one of only six annual competitions in eventing that receive the highest rating of CCI**** from equestrianism's world governing body, the FEI. It's also the only event of this level in France.
  In 2008, between 11–23 August, Pau hosted the 83rd French Chess Championship. The men's event was won by Étienne Bacrot, on tie-break from Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, while the women's event resulted in a victory for Sophie Milliet. Thirty-six players took part. Pau was previously the Championship venue in 1943 and 1969.
  Other events include:
  Stages of France's canoeing Championships.
  Marathon de Pau, whose departure takes place every year from the Palais Beaumont.
  The Féminine de Pau, walking race held twice per year from 2012.
  International meeting of capoeira.
  Dance international meetings organized by the Rezodanse association.
  Frequent events such as the Davis Cup of tennis (four times), the World Championship of handball, the Championship of European nations of basketball, France's Gymnastics Championships, the Championships of France of parachute jumping.
caption: The Féminine on the Boulevard des Pyrénées
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "", "Image Make": "SONY", "Image Model": "DSC-HX50", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "350", "Image YResolution": "350", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "DSC-HX50 v1.00", "Image DateTime": "2015:04:12 11:06:16", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "286", "Image PrintIM": "[80, 114, 105, 110, 116, 73, 77, 0, 48, 51, 48, 48, 0, 0, 2, 0, 2, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0]", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail ImageDescription": "", "Thumbnail Make": "SONY", "Thumbnail Model": "DSC-HX50", "Thumbnail Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail Software": "DSC-HX50 v1.00", "Thumbnail DateTime": "2015:04:12 11:06:16", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "38984", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "16546", "Thumbnail YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/250", "EXIF FNumber": "63/10", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Landscape Mode", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "80", "EXIF SensitivityType": "Recommended Exposure Index", "EXIF RecommendedExposureIndex": "80", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2015:04:12 11:06:16", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2015:04:12 11:06:16", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "3", "EXIF BrightnessValue": "12407/1280", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "85/16", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "1328/25", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "5184", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "3888", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "38692", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Landscape", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF LensSpecification": "[43/10, 129, 7/2, 63/10]"}