Part 3 Day 8 Auch to Barran

It rained the night before I left, seemed to let up, then continued to rain, getting heavier at times, then becoming a sprinkle again a the way into Barran There was a fair amount of road-walking, which I don't usually like, but it has its advantages when it rains and the ground is muddy. I ran into one fast-walking French couple who started in Toulouse, but they quickly outpaced me. Then a slower group of French walkers, who had started in Castres for their annual portion of the Voie'Arles, joined me they were slower and called themselves "the snails." They would walk with me as far as Barran.  As we approached Barran, we could see the village and its church with the helical spire and one of the women offered to take my photo.

Barran is a bastide town and surely one of the most beautiful villages in the Gers, but less appealing in the rain, than in the sunshine. The church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste (13th-16th century) was closed, and getting the key was too complicated, so I just took photos from the outside. It is one of about 30 such churches remaining in Europe with that kind of twisted spire.

The bastide town, founded in 1279, one boasted two pilgrim hospitals in the Middle Ages. 

Part 3 Day 7 Auch

Auch is a lovely place to visit. The current Cathedrale Sainte-Marie, following a succession of previous structures, only dates from the mid-16th century and is not that impressive apart from some lovely stained glass windows.

The monumental staircase added in the 1990s, a huge bronze metal flooring now covering one of its landings with a passage from Genesis 6-8 in Latin ( which refers to the Biblical flood during the time of Noah). This was done by an artist from Barcelona commemorating the flood the city suffered on 1977.

I enjoyed walking along the river enjoying some of the many parks.

Below is the entrance to the pilgrim gite maintained in the presbytere of the Cathedral.

Henri IV also had a house in Auch

And below is the former Hospital St Jacques rebuilt in 1765, which was located along the Voie d'Arles 

 

Part 3 Day 6 Montégut to Auch

In Montégut I stayed at the gite La Tour des Fées and the older couple that have been doing it for 10 years. They must be well into their 80s now, and they were most accommodating. The husband opened up a bottle of local Gascon wine for me at dinner last night and only charged me 1 Euro for it!  The place was very clean and modern with a beautiful view of the surrounding countryside.

There had been another storm and heavy downpour last night just before midnight. It was overcast when I left, but walking in cooler weather was a plus. The negative was, however, was the mud. The short walk to Auch went very smoothly until I was well within the city limits then must have missed a balise and after walking a long time on a road never saw another. I ended up in a suburb, asked for the city center and had no problems. There was mixed road walking on little used roads interspersed with walking through a wooded areas. Mostly level with a few hilly portions.  The two French women from Pibrac and I are staying in the Acceuil Pelerin in the presbytere. Since it seems pretty empty the volunteer gave me a private room which I appreciated, although it is pretty spartan. The Acceuil Pelerin doesn't take reservations, so I will have to show up at 3 pm tomorrow agsin. as I'm hoping to stay another night.

Auch. the capital of Gascony, is perched on a hill that overlooks the Gers valley.  It dates from Roman times. During the Middle Ages the territory of Gascony became defined, and Auch was its head.  The cathedral has been the archbishop's seat since 879 although there were some power struggles back and forth in the 10th through 12th centuries with the lords of Armagnac. Auch's memory has also been linked to the character of D'Artagnan (musketeer)

Part 3 Day 5 L'Isle Arné to Montégut

Today I walked from L'Isle-Arné to Montégut with a little detour somewhere after Lussan on the outskirts of Montégut where the waymarking got a little sketchy [shall we say, nonexistant]. There had been a violent thunderstorm early in the morning where I was, but it must have been very localized as the area around Montégut seemed untouched. There were 4 of us in the gite last night, three local French walkers and me. I waited until the storm had subsided and found it an easy, pleasant walk except for the unsettling lack of balises and the few moments of wondering where in the world I was--no indication in the MMDD.

The walking was easy until Lussan, whose main attractions were a little chapel and a restaurant, my walk being a little ill timed to take advantage of the latter.

After Lussan the walking became more difficult, not because of the terrain, because it was relatively level, but as it started to heat up again, and the way markers became few and far between.

Actually despite the lack of trail markers, my only serious problem didn't come until I was not far from the outskirts of Montégut.  I misinterpreted a marker as did the two women I am staying with ( from yesterday!) and ended up following a wooded area without markers to a small country road. There was  pediatric hospital St Jacques belonging to the Order of Malte. I flagged down a car and asked a driver the direction of Montégut, continued in that direction to La Roquetaillade,  a commune of Montégut  where, after a school, I picked up the trail again.

I finally arrived at the turnoff for my gite and they weren't kidding about paying attention to the descent--it was precipitous, narrow and gravel-covered.