Day 32 - Montreal du Gers - Eauze - 2 June

Time Departed: 8.30am

Time Arrived: 1.00pm

Distance: 19kms 

Cumulative Distance: 543kms

Percentage Completed: 70% (899,800 steps) 

Weather: Sunny and warm, humid

Accommodation: Henry IV Hotel

Feelings: Neil - Happy, Henk - Relaxed,  Di - Happy

It was a very easy, relaxed walk and the mud is starting to dry up. The walk went quickly for us as it was mostly flat. It was a warm day and we were pleased to be walking mostly in shaded woods for majority of the way. There were acres and acres of Armagnac vineyards which we walked alongside and through. Wheat is still another major crop in the area.

We passed a number of houses near the vineyards with beautiful flowering gardens. The roses are still in full bloom and our photos don’t capture how beautiful the climbing roses are. One house had a pond with lily pads complete with frogs. 

At about ten thirty we arrived at a tiny village called Lamothe where there was a gite with a coffee outlet. We caught up with Charlotte and Kevin for morning tea before completing the section to Eauze on a straight covered track. This section was a former railway line.

When we arrived at Eauze at one o’clock we headed to the first outdoor cafe and had a three course lunch. We took our time as we knew we had the remainder of the afternoon.

Eauze has a long history dating back to the first century when it fell to the Roman armies of Julius Caesar and at one stage becoming a Roman capital and by the fifth century becoming one of the most important Catholic dioceses in France. Henry IV repeatedly visited the town during the Wars of Religion and our hotel is named after him. Many of the buildings in the centre of the town date back to Henry IV’s time. 

After resting and showering we ventured out to see the town. The church which is about 20 metres from our hotel started ringing its bells for a long time and we turned the corner to find a wedding party in front of the church in the town’s square. 

We visited the Eauze Treasure which is a Roman treasure found in 1985 near the Eauze railway line and is France’s biggest and fully preserved Roman treasure. Over 26,000 coins and jewellery were found. It is on display in what was originally one of the town’s bank vaults. Mystery surrounds who had collected the coins. Some date back to 261BC.

We went to bed tired, not because we had walked nineteen kilometres, but because for the first time in our lives the three of us have eaten three courses twice in one day!