Part 3 Day 4 Giscaro to L'Isle-Arne

Today was a short, uneventful walk from Gimont to L'Isle-Arne. Gimont would have been nice to visit as it is a sizeable town with some history, but my 4 gite-mates were up early as high heat and humidity was promised for today. After yesterday's torrential downpour in the late afternoon, I could expect a fair amount of mud as well. 

I accompanied a German pilgrim out of the town as exiting and finding the GR was complicated by that construction of the highway around Gimont. There were a few spots that could have been better way-marked, but the walk was an easy, leisurely one to L'Isle-Arne except for the mud.

 As I was credibly early, and the place is isolated except for the Château of L'Isle-Arne, a small chapel, and a cemetery, I just relaxed and took it easy.  The gite here is very welcoming and there is an interesting library of books to explore.

Part 3 Day 3 L'Isle Jordan to Giscaro

I had a slight head start as Eliane drove her children to school and dropped me off a little further along the GR as they are located a little out from the town. It started out flat, and uneventful with wooded areas alternating with asphalt. Upon arriving at Monferran-Savès I was impressed by this tiny environmentally and pilgrim friendly town. There were picnic tables and a wc.

My walk continued with a peaceful walk through the countryside, always with Monferran in sight and a disturbing feeling that I was not progressing, passing by a farm, which has set up a bench for pilgrims in the shade by the side of the road where I took  break just before noon. Giscaro appeared not long afterward, without much more than a church and an active pilgrim association that provided a café in the afternoon for walkers. I missed my shortcut, however to Gimont, and worse, ended up having to take a "deviation" into the town, which added even more kilometres.

Part 3 Day 2 Léguevin to l'Isle Jourdain

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. 

Part 3 Day 1 Paris to Toulouse/Pibrac to Léguevin

After spending a few days in Paris, I set off on phase 3 of my walk along the Voie d'Arles, and, since I was walking from Toulouse, the Via Tolosana. I took the train to Toulouse, then transferred to a regional train that took me to Pibrac. I decided to start there on the recommendation of someone as crossing suburbs of Toulouse has no great interest. 

I followed to uphill road towards the church of Sainte-Marie-Madeleine where a wedding was in progress. It was Saturday, after all. I was given the key to the Sainte-Germaine basilica, built of limestone and brick after the saint's canonization, and completed at the beginning of the 20th century. It is very modern inside.

 I glimpsed the The 24th century Château de Pibrac from as distance. I then headed on towards Léguevin taking the historic route and walked through an insect garden.. There are many walking paths and trails as you approach the Forest of Bouconne.

The advantage of taking the historic route is that it tends to pass through towns and villsges where there may be buildings and churches of historic interest, and the possibility of places to eat and drink. The tradeoff is that there is usually a fair amount of asphalt-walking which is very hard on the joints, and often not verymop interesting.  Such was my entry into Léguevin where I stayed at the Maison St Jacques.  The hospitaliere there was an energetic Italian in her 80s who had recently lost her husband. 

Here again I ran into a wedding of a church I wanted to visit. The getaway car for the newlyweds was pretty snazzy,, though.