Auch

The main part of the day was our visit to Auch, the ancient capital of the Gascogne region. Today it is the main town of the Ger Department. 

Libération Square in Auch

Our day started earlier than usual with an early morning walk into the centre of Fleurance, where the weekly market was getting underway in the old market square - how many of hundreds of years has this been going? Purchased a few items before returning to the van for breakfast. 

Saturday morning market in Fleurance. 

We got on the road at a reasonable hour arriving on Auch mid-morning. We passed through the newer part of the town before we crossed the river and climbed up into the old town on the outcrop overlooking the river Gers. 

No sooner had we ventured into the old town we stumbled upon another market in the Républic Square in front of the cathedral.  

From the market we wandered into the restored late Gothic Cathédrale St Marie, begun

in 1489 - and completed 200 years later. The furnishings of the cathedral are considered remarkable: highlights are the carved wooden choir stalls,  and the equally magnificent 15th-century stained glass. 

Auch went through an urbanisation program in the 18th century. Some fine houses from this period can be seen in the old town. One medieval house that wasn’t replaced was the 15th century tradesman’s house. This half-timbered house is a perfect example of the style of houses of the times. 

Steps from the river lead up to the old town - 274 in fact! Halfway up is the statue of d’Artagan, the captain of the king’s musketeers - a famous Gascon. 

We later visited the Museum of Contemporary Art - located in an ancient convent. Interesting!

We came across other interesting activities around the town. 

Folk Music and Dancing:

Latin Dancing - Tango

... and, of course, a wedding. 

Later in the afternoon we drove on to Gimont where we parked up by the lake and settled in for the night. 

An interesting area along the rampart wall - a place set aside for “doggies do”!

Some notes on:

D’ARTAGNAN

Gascons call their domain the “Pays d’Artagnan” after Alexandre Dumas’ rollicking hero from The Three Musketeers (1844). The character of d’Artagnan was based on Charles de Batz, a typical Gascon whose chivalry, passion, and impetuousness made him ideal as a musketeer, or royal bodyguard. De Batz’s life was as fast and furious as that of the fictional hero, and he performed a feat of courtliness by arresting Louis XIV’s most formidable minister without causing the slightest offense. 

Fleurance

We decided to spend another day here at Fleurance - a great place to while away time. We are currently joined by about another 15 vans without being on top of each other. A very popular spot for the French.

A few notes on ARMAGNAC:

Armagnac brandy is distilled in the Gers Department of SW France. As opposed to  Cognac, which is dominated by big brands, Armagnac is made mostly by small family operations.

Armagnac is one of the world’s most expensive brandies. It is also one of the leading products of southwest France: approximately 6 million bottles are produced annually. Similar in style to Cognac, its more famous neighbor, Armagnac’s single distillation leaves more individual flavours in the spirit. The majority of small, independent producers offer direct sale to the public.

Three Villages - Fourcès, Montréal & Larressingle

The day has been about our visits to three well preserved medieval villages. But before tackling these we said our farewells to Angela and Paul before heading off to Nérac to do a spot of shopping. 

From here we traveled through some very different countryside, with cropping and vineyards complementing each other. The region is also renowned for its sunflowers, for seeds and oil. 

Each of the villages we called in on today are what are described as bastide villages. In the 13th century much of this part of France was in the hands of the English king. The Hundred Years  War saw much fighting by the kings of England and France, which inflicted great devastation across the land and villages of Aquitaine. We therefore see the villages being fortified in areas around Catholic Churches and bastides - fortified towns. 

Over 300 of these towns were designed and built in this era. 

The first village we stopped in was Fourcès, a well preserved, beautifully presented, quaint,  small, circular, medieval village.  Fourcès is a typical medieval bastide, a little village where the houses are built in such a way as to allow a proper defence of the population.

An aerial view of Fourcès, a bastide village. 

The circular nature of the village suits this purpose ideally. Today it has retained its authentic look and draws many visitors to the area. There are many delightful galleries showcasing regional crafts and artworks all mostly situated around the central village green.

Out rim of house  surrounded by a moat. 

We left Fourćes for Montréal, another bastide village. We were given the run-around with sign posts not leading to where they said they were going- that sounds a little French, but there you are!

Montréal, another bastide village, perched on the top of the hill - providing a good defensive structure for the times in which it was built. Montréal was a stopping off point for medieval, and those of today, who were on the Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage. Signs at the church indicated a resting point for weary walkers. One such lady was sitting, having lunch and writing a diary as we walked by - and, with a big heavy pack!

The alleyway leading to the Santiago de Compostela walk - a long way to go too!

Features of the village reflect the constant state of mind of those living in the times of constant war. The EU is not such a bad alternative afterall!!

The outer wall of the village reflects the defensive nature of the community. 

From here we were led a merry dance by TomTom taking us a very obscure pathway to the fortified village of Larressingle - but we got there in the end. 

Internal area of the castle - heavy defensive walls. 

Some interesting art work around the shops inside the walled castle. 

Here we had a wander around for a short time - seen enough bastides for one day - before driving on to Condom - no not a typo! We decided not to stop for long here - the day was getting too warm and the aire de camping had no shade!

Condom, though, has some interesting history. The 18th century saw the prosperity of the village rise due to being the centre of the Armagnac trade, France’s oldest brandy. 

We drove onto Fleurance for our overnight stop. And, what a lovely place, right next to the river and with plenty of trees around providing shade. 

And one more sunflower photo!

Houeillès

Today has been a  day where we have just chilled out in a most relaxing environment! The aire we are in has outstanding tree planting and maintenance, supporting passing travellers to use the facilities. 

We took an early walk around the village this morning - the most exertion undertaken all day!

The village of Houeillès appears to be a place where people pass through on their way north or south. 

At some stage in the past there was a thriving community here but now it appears to be one in decline. Two pubs are boarded up with a whole street of houses with the “Vendre” sign at their front gate. 

The village had an interesting old church - which most do - and some evidence of past interesting architecture with old timber framed houses and some classical merchant houses of a later period. 

Services to the village (postal, library etc) are very restricted in their times of opening. 

We spent a good part of the day sharing stories with a couple of lovely English folk from Bolton. Angela and Paul are on their way back from Spain where they had experienced heat wave conditions as well as unseasonal flooding over the past few weeks. It has been a most enjoyable day with them. 

Bazas

Woke early this morning listening to the first serious rain we have had this trip. Our day was bookended with some serious rain this evening at Houeilles - and the temperature has returned to a more accommodating level!

After spending time shopping this morning we headed further southeast to the village of Bazas. 

This ancient town is dominated by the UNESCO listed Cathedral. The importantance of the town stemmed from being at the junction of the ancient trade routes from The east and those to the Spanish south. It became an important staging point for the pilgrims on the way to Santiago de Compostela. 

Founded over 2,000 years ago, as the capital of the Roman province of Vasates, the town of Bazas later became a bishopric on the pilgrim route to Santiago de Compostela. 

Its magnificent Gothic cathedral was built between the 13th and 17th centuries, and has been restored. 

Particularly striking are the triple Gothic doorway embellished with intricate carvings, both dating from the 13th century. 

The medieval builders used part of the old castle fortifications of earlier times. Behind the facade of the cathedral you can see the remains of a corner tower from an existing fortification. 

In front of the cathedral is the gently sloping square on which a colourful market has been held every Saturday since 1492. 

The square is lined with arcaded 16th-and 17th-century houses, which have finely decorated façades.

An area in one of the old buildings was dedicated to a variety of arts: from upholstery to fine arts. 

After spending an afternoon in Bazas we drove further southeast to the town of Houeilles for our overnight stop. 

Sauterne

Today we visited the village and area of Sauterne. Some suggest it is one of the quality areas for wine production in the Bordeaux region. 

The Château d’Yquem, a very picturesque château in the centre of the Sauterne region. 

After a  very quiet overnight, having been joined under the trees by two other vans, later this morning we were told that we had actually stopped in the wrong area. The moral of the story is that we were just being French. Gotta love the French!

An early morning walk along the canal took us past two lochs at the same time as a large group barge was passing through. Always interesting to see the lochs work and ponder the reasons for their being here in the first instance. The guests on the barge were some Australians and Americans. 

The barge passing through the loch. The lochs  in France are run by paid employees who zip up and down the canals to work all gates - as opposed to the English model where you usually manage the lochs yourself. 

Late morning we left for The Chateau d’Yquem near the village of Sauterne. 

The 15th century Chäteau d’Yquem. 

The Sauterne district is dotted with prestigious châteaux, the most famous of which is perhaps the Château d’Yquem. Rated premier cru supérieur, the Sauternes produced there, it is said, are some of the finest and most expensive wines in the world. 

The design of the reception area reflects the quality of the wine - Evan to the extent of a gold washroom and toilet. 

Dating from the 15th century, Yquem is also one of the oldest wine estates in the area. Its vineyards cover about 100ha (250 acres). The sémillon and sauvignon grapes are the primary grapes grown here. 

 

The Chateau also has a very fine French garden. Being hot and mid-summer many of the flowering plants were past their best, nevertheless, it was quite spectacular. 

The bees were very active in the masses of lavender. 

We later drove back to Castets-en-Dorthe for a late lunch and the rest of the day. 

Saw our first full field of flowering sunflowers today!

We found this note on SAUTERNES interesting:

The grapes used for Sauternes must have been infected by a form of the fungus, botrytis cinerea, known as noble rot. This causes them to shrivel and have a very high sugar content, which accounts for the sweetness of the wines. The Sauternes grape harvest is a long and painstaking process, in which every single grape is picked by hand. After fermentation, the wine matures in barrels for two years, before being bottled. Sauternes is served well chilled, but it is not only a dessert wine. It can also be enjoyed as an aperitif, or sipped with foie gras or Roquefort cheese.(From tourist info)