Exploring South Tarbes: Aerodrome, Courte Boule, Gespe and Odos Nord

Start from the car park on Impasse des Cavaliers.

(S/E) Join Rue de la Chataigneraie and follow it to the right for 350 m towards Laloubère. Turn left onto Rue de l’Aéroport. At the end, turn left onto Avenue des Pyrénées (route de Bagnères-de-Bigorre).

(1) Turn right onto Impasse de l’Aviation, running alongside the aerodrome. Turn left, cross a car park and join Boulevard du 8 Mai 1945. Turn right to reach the Ormeau roundabout.

(2) Turn left onto Avenue d’Altenkirchen, towards the town centre. At the next roundabout, go straight on and follow the road alongside Parc Bel-Air. At the traffic lights, turn left onto Rue Georges Ledormeur. Take the^first right onto Rue Alphonse Meillon.

(3) At the end, turn left onto Rue Vaussenat, then onto Avenue Fould. At a junction, turn right onto Rue de la Verrerie. At the end, turn left and, at the crossroads (with the fountain), turn right and follow Chemin d’Odos for a few dozen metres.

(4) Take a side street on the right. Soon after, turn left, then right into Rue Camille Saint-Saëns. At the end, take Avenue Aristide Briand on the right, then turn immediately left into Rue Gabriel Fauré. At the end, turn right onto Boulevard Jean Moulin, then take the^first left onto Rue Matisse.

(5) At the end, turn left onto Boulevard Eugène Delacroix (in the Gespe neighbourhood, where many streets are named after artists). Take the^second right onto Rue Paul Cezanne. Walk past Saint-Martin Church and, before the theatre, turn left onto Rue Claude Lorrain. At the end, turn left onto Rue Henri Duparc. At the traffic lights, turn right onto Boulevard Jean-Moulin. Continue straight on until you reach the Hôpital roundabout.

(6) Leave the roundabout on your right and cross Boulevard du Général de Lattre de Tassigny. Join Boulevard Jean Moulin and follow it to the left. At the end, turn right onto Avenue Aristide Briand. Take the^first left, Rue de Gavarnie, and you’ll immediately reach a roundabout.

(7) Then turn right onto Avenue des Cimes (in this part of Tarbes, many streets have names reminiscent of the mountains). At a T-junction, go round a housing estate anti-clockwise, staying on Avenue des Cimes. Then return to the roundabout.

(7) Turn right onto Rue de Gavarnie. Continue straight on until you reach Chemin d’Odos (D92) and follow this road to the left.

(8) At the traffic lights, turn right onto Boulevard Claude Debussy. At the next set of traffic lights, turn right onto Chemin de l’hippodrome. Return to Impasse des Cavaliers,^{the first} right, and you’ll arrive back at the car park where you started (S/E).

Fitted runners will complete this in around 40 minutes, or in 1 hour at a (very) brisk walking pace. At a leisurely walking pace, this route can be completed in two hours.