Yes, there is a village near to where we are staying in the Gers that is called Condom.

Mick always smiles when he sees or hears its name, and so today we decided we had to visit. To us, it is a funny name, but to the 6000 locals it is simply ‘home’. And apparently, it is quite common for tourists, such as Mick, to pose in front of this sign or others displaying the name of the town.

But, the name has nothing to do with the prophylactic. A condom in French is called a préservatif. So the French don’t think it is an odd name at all.

We arrived during siesta time (between 12.30-3.00pm) and so the streets were quite empty. Condom too (like Auch and many other villages around here) lays claim to a connection with d’Artagnan and therefore, the Three Musketeers.

 

The town  was once important as a stopping point along one of the routes of the Santiago de Compostela – and the symbol for that pilgrimage was displayed outside this cathedral.

Condom is now more famous for making and selling Armagnac (a spirit likened to brandy). We saw signs pointing to the Port de Condom and wondered what that was until we crossed the Gers River and could see it was large enough to be used for transporting loaded ships. And I’ve since read that this was how the Armagnac was shipped to Bordeaux.

This is one of the old streets in Condom – Rue Carron. Crazy how there can still be cars in such narrow streets.

And below, this majestic building, which is now a restaurant, is in the same square as the cathedral.

We drove through more spectacular countryside (unfortunately this shot does not do ti justice, but I had to find a spot on the narrow road to pullover to take this) on our way to Condom and further on to…………..

……….Fleurance.

Here we wandered around the markets and bought some of our favourite tiny potatoes to go with sardines for dinner tonight. We enjoyed a coffee in the square and the entertainment offered by this gentleman who was also selling interesting walking sticks and canes (bâtons et cannes).

Very different to Condom, Fleurance was busy today because of the weekly markets. These were being held in the main square, with the arcades providing shade for the stall holders, however, because it was a beautiful day, many chose to set up along the streets in the sunshine.

I was very taken with this old building and its faded signs. Obviously, it was once a brasserie.

There are many of these old buildings in all the villages around here, which just show in a small way the long history of the towns – very different to home.

Tomorrow there is another village to explore. We have set ourselves a program of visits for each day we are here. Well almost. Because this is such a short house sit, we want to make sure we see as much as we can. Sadly, we are not keen on the Armagnac, but that won’t stop us from trying it.