Leaving Léguevin the next morning I decided not to take the historic route via Pujaudran because my hositaliere, Isabel, recommended against it. Instead I headed for the Bouconne forest following the instructions posted in the Maison St Jacques, which were quite helpful. Sometimes, particularly in towns and at intersections, the way markings can be a bit sketchy. The Bouconne forest proved to have many trails for walkers and cyclists, and as it was a Sunday, it was full of people of all ages walking dogs, pushing strollers, cycling, riding dirt bikes,, jogging, you name it. Where I was walking mountain bikes fared the best. There were also hunters, so again I was glad for my red hat.
Finally out of the forest, the land became more undulating, and I passed many large farms of sorghum, corn, and sunflowers as I walked along a little-traveled road.
The place where I was staying, the B&B le Pigeonnier de Guerre, on the outskirts of L' lsle-Jourdain is a working farm with an actual pigeonnier [dovecote] located in the area called Guerre. The wife Elaine Bajon, is particularly enterprising, runs several B&Bs and sells her products in a store in town.
She drove me into the town, gave me a cursory tour, then left me on my own to wander while she took care of some business in a boutique. According to one commentary, the old town of L'Isle-Jourdain is one of the most interesting on the Via de Arles. As in Castres, what was once the Saint-Jacques hospital is now a nursing home. There is a tiny stature of Saint James over the doorway. The 18th century collegiate church of Saint-Martin's only relic from the medieval peruod is a brick tower with the attached spiral staircase (14th century). Also of interest is the 18th Hôtel de Ville modeled after that of Toulouse and, on the same square, the home of Claude Augé (1903), creator of the Petite Larousse, and a former covered market which now houses the European Museum of Bell Art, with more than 4,000 pieces from all over the world. Definitely eclectic.
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