Day 7: Castelnau s/ Auvignon via Condom to Larressingle

Matthew 11:28 "Come unto me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest."

My hosts were very kind at Castelnau sur Auvignon and there were only eight of us at the gîte, l being the only one from far. Our host produced a magnum bottle of armagnac after dinner, which he insisted he did not do for everyone, or so he said.

view from my window

Dinner at Les Arroucasses--hostess Jeannine in the foreground

André serving us armagnac from a magnum bottle

We were all out of there by 7:45 am the next morning as it promised to be even warmer than the previous day. The walk was fine into Condom, 11 km away, but it is a fairly large city, so just crossing through it took awhile. And after doing so, I can say that they can use a few additional trail markers.

Entering Condom

St. Peter's Cathedral of Condom

tympanum

Condom Cathedral

 

d'Artagnan and the three musketeers

I took in some of the major sights but didn't have time to linger too long as this was going to be a long day. After coffee at a café, a stop at a bakery, and an early lunch by the canal, I continued on my merry way, the sun increasing the temperature as the afternoon wore on... I had at least an additional six kilometers to reach  Larressingle.

Arriving early at my gite, I walked on to medieval Larressingle to have a look at the tiny walled town. There were several shops and cafés open, and I was able to enjoy a nice cold beer. Larressingle, called "the little Carcassonne of the Gers [region]," was restored with aid from a group of American financiers from Boston in the 1930s at the request of the Duke of Treviso. It is also included in the register of the "most beautiful villages of France."