Navarrenx

Navarrenx claims to be the first bastioned town in France built on the Italian model: between 1538 and 1546 Henri II d'Albret had it ringed with walls designed by Fabricio Siciliano after the citadel of Lucca. The 1,818-metre circuit, with five bastions and the Porte Saint-Antoine, is free to walk, above a 13th-century bridge on the Gave d'Oloron, a salmon river crossed by pilgrims bound for Compostela.

Highlights

• A walk on the ramparts, with views of the Pyrenees
• The Porte Saint-Antoine, with grooves left by its drawbridge chains
• Salmon fishing at the Masseys pool and the fishing festival at Pentecost
• Rafting and canoeing on the Gave d'Oloron
• A stop on the Way of St James from Le Puy-en-Velay

Summary based on Wikipedia and Wikivoyage (CC BY-SA), written with AI assistance.