Description
La Baïse Cycle Route
Distance: Currently 164km From Barbaste through to Lannemezan).
Difficulty: Moderate. Some small hills of gradient 1-2%.
La Baïse Cycle Route is one of France’s best ‘off-the-beaten’ track Cycle routes.
following the river Baïse from Barbaste, just west of the Canal de Garonne, through beautiful Nerac and Condom to Valence-sur-Baïse.
The route largely shadows the main D930 road.
It links with the Voie Verte de l’Armagnac in Condom.
It will eventually run some 165km through to the source of the river Baïse in Lannemezan in the foothills of the Pyrénées.
The Tour de France often visits this region, so keep a look out for your cycling team hero’s.
Barbaste
La Baïse Cycle Route
Barbaste is the start of the La Baïse Cycle Route
A municipality with 1529 inhabitants (as of 1. January 2012) in France in the Lot-et-Garonne department in the Aquitaine region.
History
La Baïse Cycle Route begins on the Ténarèze, a Gallo-Roman road between the Pyrenees and the Garonne, already in the 12th Century built a Romanesque bridge with ten arches over the Gélise.
A century later, a water mill with towers was built by the local lords before it was bought by the d’Albret family in 1308. It has a square floor plan of 15 m side length and is flanked by four reinforced square towers of about 29 m in height.
Since it is located near the bridge, it was also used as a fortress for the collection of the toll.
In the 16th to 19th centuries, it was more a castle than a mill and was often visited by the French King Henri IV, who emerged from the d’Albret family and became the owner of the mill.
In the 19th century, it was sold and the new owners built the Maison Aunac, a magnificent residence, in 1821.
Sights, Romanesque bridge over the Gélise and a Fortied mill.
Flaran Abbey
Continuing on the La Baïse Cycle Route
Flaran Abbey is a former Cistercian abbey located near Valence-sur-Baïse , in the département of Gers, France.
The abbey was founded in 1151, as a daughter house of Escaladieu Abbey.
The abbey was founded by Burgundian monks and today represents one of the best preserved abbeys in the south-west of France.
After its foundation in the 12th century, Flaran Abbey experienced rapid growth.
In the middle of the 13th century, the abbey, jointly with Gerald V, Count of Armagnac, founded the nearby fortified town of Valence-sur-Baïse.
The abbey did not escape the vicissitudes of history, beginning with the Hundred Years’ War, which ended with the Plantagenet county of Gascony being realigned with France.
Engulfed by fire during the French Wars of Religion, the abbey was restored by subsequent abbots.
In 1913, the Archaeological Society of Gers intervened so that the abbey would not end up in the architectural collection of George Grey Barnard.
The site purchased by the department of Gers in 1972 and underwent an intense restoration project; it is now the site of numerous cultural activities.
The site houses a permanent exhibition on the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela, the Way of St. James.
Château de Herrebouc
The Château de Herrebouc is a castle in the commune of Saint-Jean-Poutge in the Gers département of France.
Though an older building, the present look of the castle is the result of a major campaign of construction work at the start of the 17th century.
On the ground floor, the 17th century ceiling is partially conserved. The farm buildings date from this period. The pigeon loft is characteristic of the architecture of the time of Henri IV (reigned 1589 to 1610).
The wine cellar is probably a later structure.
The mill retains an intact medieval base. Medieval walls are also visible in the buildings of the farm.
It has been listed since 1926 as a monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture.
Mirande
Mirande founded in 1280 is a French municipality in the Gers department in the Occitanie region.
It is the administrative seat of the arrondissement of Mirande and the capital of the canton of Mirande-Astarac.
until the 19th Century Mirande was surrounded by a city wall with four gates.
Above the city was the count’s castle, through which Mirande became the capital of the county in 1297.
The church of Sainte-Marie was founded at the beginning of the 15th century.
After the destruction of the church of Saint-Jean de Lézian in the 16th Century, it was upgraded to an archpriestly church.
In 1410, the Pope designated the church in a bull as the seat of the newly created diocese around the Berdoues monastery.
Although this document was revoked only three years later, Notre-Dame de Mirande was able to retain the status of a cathedral.
Striking at the building is the imposing portal stem, which supports the bell tower and spans the nearby road.
Also worth seeing are the choir stalls, a church window from the 15th Century and the cloisters.
Remains of the old fortification and magnificent houses from the 15th Century at the Place d’Astarac.
A bridge from the 18th century.
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