Psalm 145:18-20 "The Lord is near to all who call on Him in truth. He fulfills the desire of all who fear Him, He also hears their cry, and saves them. The Lord watches over all who love Him.."
Well Larressingle turned out to be a nice side trip, and the time at the gîte has been a restful one. Listed as one of the "most beautiful villages in France" Larressingle is a tiny fortified city dating from the 13th century, but actually dates back to Gallo-Roman times as well. As I mentioned, it has been more recently restored in the early 20th century with the aid of some American financiers from Boston. It is probably only active in the summer with tourism, but a lovely place to enjoy the afternoon.
My gîte, La Halte de Larressingle, was very close to the medieval village and a very tranquil spot. Our host, Martine, fêted us regally, and the pièce de résistance was vanilla ice cream topped with prunes soaked in armagnac.
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| Tourists in Larressingle |
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| Waiting for my gîte to open |
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| Martine spoons the sauce over the ice cream |
In addition to my other issues: sprained left ankle, bad right knee, and blisters on my left foot, my left knee has started bothering me. My hostess, Martine, has been supplying me with cold packs. Usually I do fine in the morning, it is just the last 5 kilometers of the day when the heat sets in that have been problematic..
As today has promised to be the hottest so far, I decided to join the others staying with me and leave the gîte very early. There was also the matter of getting to the Pont d'Artigues before it was closed for repairs in the morning, since, if we didn't take it, another 2 kilometers would be added to the day's journey.
Fortunately when I arrived the hadn't started the day's work yet. The bridge claims to be exactly 1000 km from Santiago de Compostela. It dates from the 12th - 13th centuries, and was specifically built for the pilgrim traffic.
Along the way, I stopped at l'Église de Routgès, which was totally unremarkable, but at least there was a working water spigot. Water is a good thing, especially in the mounting heat.
I made it in record time to Montréal-du-Gers but had to wait around for my gîte to open. There seemed to be only on restaurant open today, so I went there. Unfortunately there is no wifi in my gîte so I am sitting on the steps of the tourist office (closed Mondays) using theirs...
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| L'Église de Routgès |
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| the scallop shell: evidence that I am along the right path |
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| More scallop shells along the way |
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| "Fruit and vegetables for sale"[except there weren't any] |
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| Entering Montréal-du-Gers |
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| Montréal-du-Gers, "Village Fleuri" [floral village] |
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| Many half-timbered houses |
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| The town square, Montréal-du-Gers |
I found no history on Montréal-du-Gers, but it seemed to be a popular vacation spot, evidenced by the vacation housing I passed as I entered the town. There are many beautiful half-timbered houses, some likely dating from the middle ages, and it is located very close to Séviac, where there are some well-preserved remains of a Roman villa I had hoped to visit.
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