48 hours in the Gers

The four of them made Gers gastronomy sparkle. The master, the lord, is André Daguin. In his fabulous Hôtel de France, the whole world knelt before his works on duck gras. The world's greatest artists come to pay tribute to him. His friends include Bernard Ramounéda (Le Florida, Castéra-Verduzan), Maurice Coscuella (Ripa-Alta, Plaisance), Roger Duffour (Le Relais de l'Armagnac, Luppé-Violles)... The rich cuisine of Gascony is flourishing. Gastronomic tourism flourished, Maïté la Landaise popularized canardises in her TV show "La Cuisine des Mousquetaires", and fine inns, such as Chez Simone in Montreal, won admiring acclaim. Today, as in most of France, the terroir has given way to pizzas and burgers. The inns have disappeared, the new generations have moved to the city, and the musketeers have put away their rapiers. And yet, how beautiful the countryside is! How the villages shine, when the sun shines on the pink brick, when the octagonal Toulouse steeple of Notre-Dame de l'Assomption church in Gimont, or the proud square towers of Auch cathedral, or Condom cathedral and its cloister - the natural setting for the annual induction of the Musketeers of Armagnac - stand out against the azure sky. When the horizon blazes over the snowy crests of the Pyrenees, a superb backdrop from the Astarac and Armagnac hills. And yet, it's all here, there's nothing missing: the landscapes, the farms, the ducks and the good producers. The Gers is still the land of milk and honey that has been touted for ages. The foie gras market in Samatan takes place on Mondays, earning the little town the nickname of "Mecca of foie gras", while Eauze rightfully boasts the title of Armagnac capital. For this itinerary, we invite you to follow our "circuit des auberges", starting from the prefecture. Auch is a beautiful, lively little town, well worth a long stop for its cathedral and ancient streets, notably the shopping street Rue Dessoles. To take things a step further, turn right from the cathedral to discover the oldest medieval corner, with its pousterles (poternes), stairways linking the upper and lower towns to fetch water from the Gers. This tour of inns will take you to Saint-Lary, Castéra-Verduzan, Gondrin, Lannepax, Préneron, the beautiful bastide town of Bassoues with its 14th-century market hall and keep, Samatan, L'Isle-Jourdain, from valleys to villages, from ugni and colombard vineyards on sunny Armagnac hillsides to the green, agricultural landscapes of the south.