Lake Badech offers a bucolic setting that invites you to take a stroll close to Luchon town centre.
Lake Badech, located 1.5 km from Luchon town centre between La Pique and the aerodrome, is a great place to take a stroll. Running alongside the river, before reaching a small café-restaurant, its shaded promenade offers a cycle zone and facilities for picnics or a relaxing break in a magnificent setting. Classified as a first category lake, it is home to green-necked ducks, swans and migratory birds that find refuge here in bad weather, as well as trout, roach, gudgeon and pike. It is also home to trout, roach, gudgeon and pike, making it a popular destination for anglers in summer. In summer, it is used as an introduction to canoeing and kayaking, for those who then want to try their hand at paddling. Lac de Badech is also on the GR10, the long-distance footpath that crosses the Pyrenees from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean, so it’s not unusual to come across hikers here.
Alongside the lake, the aerodrome boasts an exceptional location and ideal aerology for magnificent flights in gliders or planes, which share their landing area with paragliders.
In 1950, thanks to the will and determination of the local people, the aerodrome was opened to the public.
In 1950, thanks to the determination and enthusiasm of a handful of enthusiasts, the aeroclub was founded under the impetus of Léon Elissalde, a pioneer of mountain flying in the Pyrenees.
The Musée de l’aéronautique, created in 1991, is open from April to October. It retraces much of the history of aeronautics from 1934 to the advent of Concorde. It is also, and above all, a tribute to all the crews who died for the liberation of our country. Most of the equipment on display was salvaged from the wreckage of aircraft that fell in the central Pyrenees during the last world war. It contains helicopter parts, jet engines, turboshaft engines, ejection seats and flight simulators donated by the French Air Force and Turboméca, as well as a large collection of photographs and literary works. The visit to the museum is guided by two former mechanics from the French Air Force, who will be delighted to tell you all about the history of the crews who often had the “makings of heroes” and the secrets of aeronautical mechanics.
