The walk yesterday into Éauze created a very different first impression than most of the towns we’ve visited – as I mentioned the walk in was on an old disused rail line (to which I think we’ll return in a few days time) that was shaded on both sides by very large trees. The result of this was, instead of gradually getting closer to a town you can see in the distance, we just sort of popped into the commercial area of town, followed by a bit of suburbia and then straight into the old town square and from there to our hotel, just off the square.
We got more of a look around today and found some very nice old buildings, the cathedral of course (which was being used for a funeral this morning), and, a bit out of town, some Gallo-Roman ruins.
The town was originally called Elusa and was the administrative centre for the Roman Empire for about 200 years up to about 420AD, when the empire started to decline – the ruins are of the abandoned Domus Cieutat. After the Romans, the time moved up the hill a bit and the cathedral, La Cathédral Saint Luperc, started as a monastery in the late 900s and built as a cathedral in the 15th and 16th centuries. It is unusual in that, unlike the other churches, abbeys and cathedrals we’ve been in, only the columns are made from limestone and the rest from bricks made locally. Again, for such a small town, the cathedral is huge!
Anyway, after a look around in the morning we had a much better feel for the town, enjoyed a lovely lunch and hit the hotel room for a nap and a rest!
Another 6 day stage starting tomorrow so we’re keeping the feet up today!
steelewalking 