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The Gers has 461 municipalities, which represents as many possibilities for visits and walks in the towns or villages of our department. But, whether you are from Gers or a tourist, take care when reading your map or programming your GPS!
Indeed, many of our municipalities have a name similar or identical to another city, sometimes located thousands of kilometers from our land ... A quick overview of spellings to remember, under penalty of spending your weekend or your holidays. vacation away from home!
Identical name, different destination ...
It is very rarely -10 ° C there and you will probably not see skunks or brown bears: Montreal, not to be taken for its Quebec counterpart of nearly 2 million inhabitants, is ranked among the beautiful villages of France. This bastide created in 1255, whose name comes from the Latin “Mons regalis” which means Mont royal, contains a XNUMXth century church, an arcaded square and the Collegiate Church of St-Philippe. There is also the archaeological site of the Gallo-Roman villa of Séviac.
The flagship of the West German automotive industry, Cologne is no red flag for our Cologne the territory of Arrats et Save and its magnificent XNUMXth century market hall; Bastide whose architecture has been able to combine Lomagne stone and Toulouse brick. As for Barcelona in Catalonia, its Ramblas and Camp Nou stadium will not detract from the charm of Barcelonne-du-gers which is distinguished by its XNUMXth century church and its washhouse, one of the largest in the department.
Closer to home, Roquefort in Aveyron, which gave its name to the famous raw sheep's milk cheese, has many namesakes including Roquefort 17 kilometers north of Auch where it is possible to discover its XNUMXth century castle, now private property, and its late XNUMXth century church.
If Pauillac gives you the desire for wine delicacies, know that Pauillac in the Gers, a XNUMXth century fortified village, you will not be left out in terms of alcoholic sweets with our Flocs de Gascogne, Armagnac and other Côtes de Gascogne to name a few. In Gers Lomagne, between Lectoure and Fleurance, the town is home to the beautiful departmental forest of Ramier for long walks (advice to fans of mushroom picking ...).
Except for a few letters ...
The order of letters in Gers names is sometimes very important. Not to be confused with the town of Castres in the Tarn famous for its rugby team, the town of Crasts, literally "small streams", 23km north-east of Auch, proudly displays an old mill and three churches with listed furniture.
The pronunciation is no more secondary. 30min north of Auch, Fleurance, with its southern Gothic-style church from the XNUMXth century and its stained-glass windows by Arnaut de Moles, and its renowned Italian neighbor Florence, are the best example of this. Always, on the road to Mont-de-Marsan, 150km from the pink city, has a Gascon peasant ecomuseum to go back to the past.
Many Bastides recent such as Cologne, Barcelona, Pavie or Fleurance, have looked for a name to give to their town and by mimicry, have decided to borrow the names of major global cities that were, in the past, experiencing rapid economic growth.
From now on, even if the name of your destination sounds familiar to you, you will surely be more vigilant when planning your holidays in the Gers ...
The map of the villages mentioned in the article
