Béarn is one of the traditional provinces of France, located in the Pyrenees mountains and in the plain at their feet, in Southwestern France. Along with the three Basque provinces of Soule, Lower Navarre and Labourd, the Principality of Bidache, as well as small parts of Gascony, it forms the current Pyrénées-Atlantiques department. The capitals of Béarn were successively Beneharnum, Morlaàs, Orthez and then Pau.
Monument to the world's first aviation school at Pau Pyrénées Airport.
Occitan, also known as lenga d'òc by its native speakers, sometimes also referred to as Provençal, is a Romance language spoken in Southern France, Monaco, Italy's Occitan Valleys, as well as Spain's Val d'Aran in Catalonia; collectively, these regions are sometimes referred to as Occitania. It is also spoken in Calabria in a linguistic enclave of Cosenza area. Some include Catalan in Occitan, as the distance between this language and some Occitan dialects is similar to the distance between different Occitan dialects. Catalan was considered a dialect of Occitan until the end of the 19th century and still today remains its closest relative.
This bilingual street sign in Toulouse, like many such signs found in Toulouse's historical districts, is maintained primarily for its antique charm, and is typical of what little remains of the lenga d'òc in southern French cities.
Aranese signage in Bossòst, Val d'Aran, Spain
Occitan dialects according to Pierre Bec
Supradialectal classification of Occitan according to Bec