Gers: Armagnac, Foie Gras, and D'Artagnan Country
Gers is the heart of Gascony, a land of rolling hills, sunflower fields, and the best foie gras and Armagnac brandy in France. Auch, the prefecture, has a cathedral with Renaissance stained glass and choir stalls that took a century to carve. D'Artagnan, the real-life musketeer who inspired Alexandre Dumas, was born in the department, and his statue stands in Auch.
The department has about 193,000 residents and an economy based almost entirely on agriculture and gastronomy. Lectoure, Condom, and Fleurance are small towns with medieval centres. Jazz in Marciac, an annual festival held since 1978, draws major international artists to a village of fewer than 1,500 people. Gers has one of the lowest population densities in France and, somewhat incongruously, one of the highest life expectancies.
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Gers is the heart of Gascony, a land of rolling hills, sunflower fields, and the best foie gras and Armagnac brandy in France. Auch, the prefecture, has a cathedral with Renaissance stained glass and choir stalls that took a century to carve. D'Artagnan, the real-life musketeer who inspired Alexandre Dumas, was born in the department, and his statue stands in Auch.
The department has about 193,000 residents and an economy based almost entirely on agriculture and gastronomy. Lectoure, Condom, and Fleurance are small towns with medieval centres. Jazz in Marciac, an annual festival held since 1978, draws major international artists to a village of fewer than 1,500 people. Gers has one of the lowest population densities in France and, somewhat incongruously, one of the highest life expectancies.
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