The GR routes are organised, and a pretty good network of other routes. OP only needs to get something like visorando to show the availability of walking, riding and cycling routes.
I think you win! We can do 13, but a slightly larger radius.
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It was just a play on words and the situation: the op wanting to live in mountains, Pau and Annecy seeming to produce some tension over their comparison.
Possibly a little too obscure as humour if someone is really really focused on the right answer.
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Also many communes have a walking group, sometimes, like ours split into two lengths of walk. Unfortunately ours doesn’t allow dogs, sol we don’t participate; a long walk plus two dog walking sessions would be too much in one day.
Neither does ours and the idea of going for a walk without the dog seems contradictory, so we haven’t joined that group.
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That seems a shame, but I am a doggophile - I can see why some people might be nervous of them.
Actually their argument is that the walks often pass by farmyards and farmland. So do ours, so we put the dogs on a lead.
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I believe there’s natural gas extraction near Pau, I’m planning to live 60 mins up in the Pyrenees from Perpignan, high up and near rivers cos of fires. Then I’m not far from a great city and also Barcelona 3 hour drive. All of the Pyrenees are beautiful, more “oriental” than the Alpes. Most of France is wonderful, Brittany is ruaul and near to UK, Loire amazing chateaux, Dordogne mild winters, Massif Central cheap but extreme temps, Alpes are great, Burgandy food and Lyons is a very cosmo city, as is marseilles, but mind the druggy/crime parts, the camrgue is wild but mosquito ridden may-Oct, the Med coast is nice, and the cote Vermeille cheaper than D’Azur, but subject to droughts now. Eastern France also interesting, why not invest your money and get a camper van and tour for a year?
As mentioned above the Lacq gas field, which was largest gas field in France.
This site seems to suggest otherwise:
Trouver un club - Fédération Française de la Randonnée Pédestre
And there’s always the Mairie/commutée des fêtes.
One of my ‘dream’ places in France was a house we found with a central courtyard, not far from saint Jean pied de port. At the time I dreamt of setting up a 2CV repair business there.
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Thank you for the reference. If I wind up in Pau I’ll definitely be joining their club.
Thanks for the reference to visorando. I spend a bit of time on the website….it’s perfect for my hiking interests.
I guess I Hop’ped to the wrong assumption about beer in France. I’m happy to hear there’s a craft beer scene there.
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I lived just west of Pau (Monein) from 2006 to 2022. Very nice area to live. Very nice people, although I never really encountered anything like an ex-pat “community”. Never felt the need. One of the reasons for choosing the Pau area was the airport. However, Ryanair pulled out of Pau soon after our arrival, which was a bl**dy nuisance, in business terms. Housing costs are quite high compared to where I now live, in the Gers. The views of the Pyrenees are spectacular.
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Great gothic church! And fascinating history which I guess you know! The charpente and the asymmetrical fôret were so interesting that we paid for the son et lumière show and didn’t regret it.
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That’s the main reason that the Gers is high up on the list of places I would move to. It’s a very short list and luckily I really enjoy living where I live anyway.
A wedding photographer friend and his family of mine moved to the Gers (near Condom) pre-Brexit - he chose the area because his father was already living there and it was within commuting distance of various destination wedding venues.
However they found the summers too hot and have now moved to southern Normandy. 
I’ve never found it significantly different to the Dordogne, Charentes, Lot and bordering departments where I spend a lot of time.
I once went down to south of Pau in August to do some mountain walking above Laruns. (and to enjoy the Col d’Aubisque and Col d’Aspin on my motorcycle) At the foot of the mountains on the French side was a comfortable mid to high 20s. I hiked up near the border in 18-20° but down on the Spanish side near Jaca it was in the low 40s. An amazing temperature range in such a small area.
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I think climate change has kicked in. Also, everyone has a different tolerance for heat, and it also depends on the house you are living in. My friend’s house was nice but I’m not sure how good it was at keeping the heat out.
I agree, This is the view we had from the swimming pool at our previous house. A good view makes your house easier to sell in the future if needs be.
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