One for all ...

Neuvième jour - Thursday 25th June, La Romieu - Condom - 15.0 klms (running total approx 164.2 klms)

Here we are in Condom. Let's start with the obvious - name clarification. Condom is pronounced, I think, something like condoh. Between my guidebook and the local tourist brochure I'm told that because it is situated between Baïse River and the Gèle Stream the town's name comes from an ancient Celtic or the Aquitanian settlement called condate-o-magos, which means 'market of the confluence.' So there you go, not quite what you thought ;-). For a bit nore detail and a bit of humour, see Wiki here

But back to the start of the day. Even though it was to be a short day, we decided to leave early to beat the heat. The plan was breakfast at 6:30, get at lift into La Romieu at 7:15, on the road shortly thereafter. Executed fairly well, we walked out of La Romieu at about 7:40.

As a btw, we both independently concluded, at day's end, that today was the easiest walk. Not, I think, because it was a bit shorter, but mainly I think (again) that we are getting much fitter and used to being on the road for some hours, even in this heat.

Here's a happy departure

And here's the final picture in the cat story. House numbers ...

Our first stop was the village of Castelnau. There's much I could say, but I'll limit it to a reproduction of one of the many informative plaques throughout the town.

The battle of Castelnau-sur-l' Auvianon

June 20th a party of six Spaniards stationed in Castelnau clashed with a German convoy in Francescas [Lotet-Garonne). Five Resistance fighters were killed.

In the early morning of June 21st, 500 German soldiers from the Wehrmacht are moving towards Castelnau, Romieu, in the East. In the North, the Italians prevented the village from being hemmed in. In the South, elements headed by Lieutenant Weber left their position.

The fight converged to the center of the village where valiantly resisted Spaniards (such as Captain Baldomero RODRIGUEZ), French (such as Captain Roger PROST) and also one New Zealand pilot, Leslie BROWN.

After severa| hours of confrontation, Hilaire ordered the evacuation of civilians and the withdrawal toward the west at about 1.30 PM, after Robert BLOCH had prepared the explosion of the ammunition depot Camilo and his men cover the retirement. Eleven Resistance fighters were killed (7 Spaniards, 4 French) and three French civilians.

When the Germans entered Castelnau, the ammunition depot had been blown up, putting a number of attackers out of action. Fires and explosions wiped out greater part of the village,

We happened to be walking through just a few days after the anniversary. I'll let the wreaths and decorations tell the story, but I have to say that this little experience felt rather special.

Another version of the italicised story above is that the Germans set fire to the town.

Whatever the truth, it's obvious that much of the town is relatively young:

And some old:

And then there's the cute little town church:

There's lots more I found out about Castelnau, but this will do for now.

The walk today went through various scenery phases:

Which brings ut to Condom. Condom is the center of the Armagnac industry. Armagnac is the oldest French brandy, distilled from white wine grapes and aged in black oak casks. I'd always thought that Armagnac and Cognac were just variations on the brandy theme, but I suspect there's a bit more to it than that. Something for later research.

Condom's other claim to fame is that of being the home, loosely, of Count d'Artagnon of Three/Four Muskateers fame, a story I suspect many of us grew up on (along with Dumas' other famous story - although he wrote lots - The Count of Monte Cristo).

We've actually been walking a locally "re-labelled" stretch of the GR65 in the last couple of days - the Route D'Artagnon - so it's good to arrive in D'Artagnon central.

Here are the Muskateers, immortalised in bronze 2.2m high outside the Cathédrale, by themselves and then with an accomplice:

And for the final tourist element, a couple of shots of Cathédrale Saint-Pierre de Condom, a somewhat flamboyant 500-year old gothic affair, and its fairly unimpressive cloisters (compared to some):

Similar plan and day tomorrow. But I can't leave today's post without a selfie ...