Issue No. 16

Lectoure was the first capital of the Gers
department, considered the heart of
Gascony.
During the Middle Ages it became the
capital of the Counts of Armagnac, three
very influential territorial lords who
commanded strategic parts of historic
Gascony. It was sacked and rebuilt by
Louis XI in 1473, and when Napoléon
Bonaparte created the départements de
France, the Gers’ capital was moved south
to the city of Auch.
Today Lectoure is a beautifully re-defined,
Neo-Classical, hilltop village with its one
main street running east to west. Its
cathedral, Saint-Gervais, which was rebuilt
in 1488, stands as a sentinel at the east
entrance of the village. Walking from one
end to the other, you’ll pass lovely old
convents, half-timbered houses, and
remnants of its original, fortified wall.
Lectoure
Book-ending the west entrance of the
village is the château of the Counts of
Armagnac which was recently renovated
into a sprawling antique mall.
The views from either side of the village are
breath-taking, and on a clear day you can
see the Pyrénées and a large swathe of the
Gers Valley. Lectoure’s pièces de résistance
include its annual crop of potently fragrant
cantaloupe melons, rose-pink garlic
(comprising more than a third of France’s
entire crop), and 20 pagan altars from the
2nd and 3rd centuries which are housed in
its museum.
Lectoure holds a fantastic farmer’s market
every Friday. Sample cheeses, olives, fresh
vegetables and wine, and stop at Maison
Baudequin, a magical chocolate shop, for a
thick hot chocolate topped with whipped
cream that rivals those of the famous
Angelina’s on the Rue de Rivoli in Paris.