Pyreneanism
They bewitch the senses and steal the breath, when it returns, it is transformed into a raw inspiration that has inhabited many masterpieces: for centuries, the Hautes-Pyrénées have never ceased to seduce artists. Facing the Gavarnie cirque, Victor Hugo the prolix remained speechless, describing it as "an impossible and extraordinary object, a colosseum of nature." George Sand was a lover of Cauterets and Juliette Drouet drew from the mountain waters to create Les Amants du lac de Gaube. This romantic impulse carried by the sensitivity of subjugated writers was born in the 19th century, which is the golden age of thermalism. Poets, novelists but also painters come first to recharge their batteries before succumbing to the landscapes of the highlands. Chateaubriand and Baudelaire, to quote only them, praise their beauty and the indefectible link between literature and summits begins then. It even had a name and "Pyreneanism" was born in 1898. In his book, Beraldi explains it in three strong verbs: climbing, feeling and writing. This concept has been passed down through the ages and even today, the Pyrenean Book Fair brings together authors and their works in Bagnères-de-Bigorre every year in October. Many bookshops are dedicated to it and, from photos to stories, this culture is fascinating. Emile Zola surprisingly devoted a novel to Lourdes and its "stirring of souls". The Marian city so captured his heart that he made it one of the volumes of the trilogy The Three Cities, alongside Paris and Rome!
A plethora of authors
The poet Théophile Gautier was born in 1811 in Tarbes, as was Achille Jubinal, a deputy but also a man of letters who founded the Academic Society of the Hautes-Pyrénées, the enchanting or committed words have built the history of the department. Today, the heritage continues, less oriented on the peaks but still at the top, Paul Guth, famous author for his Mémoires d'un naïf, and the virtuoso Christian Laborde, of whom Claude Nougaro said that "he spoke a language of colours to deliver the great kisses of the soul", Violaine Bérot from the valley of Lesponne, a pen that cuts through themes of a rare darkness, or the non-conformist Pierre Domenges and his novels that smell of whiskey over a raspy rock'n'roll. If we tell you that even the world-famous author Paolo Coelho has set down his bags and his heart in a small village in the 65, you will understand that the love story between this contrasting land and the virtuosos of letters is only just beginning!
