Spacious cottage for 4 people with stunning views of the surrounding meadows, large garden with swimming pool. Comfortable living room with seating area, TV, dining area with terrace views and semi-open kitchen with hob, extractor fan, oven, microwave, washing machine and fridge freezer. Separate toilet. Upstairs with mezzanine, two bedrooms with double bed and a bathroom with walk-in shower and sink. In front of the house, large terrace with garden furniture. Parking on the grounds.
Saint-Micheis a commune in the Gers department in southwestern France. From a historical and cultural point of view, the commune is located in the Pays d'Astarac, a very hilly region in the south of the Gers. Around Saint-Michel are several picturesque villages that deserve to be discovered:
La Bastide Mirande is known for its famous country music festival, which takes place every year in July, but also for its Museum of Fine Arts and Decorative Arts. This museum, located on rue de l'Évêché, houses a rich collection of Italian, Flemish and French paintings from the fifteenth to the nineteenth century, as well as a fine collection of ancient pottery. After visiting the museum, you can explore the centre of Mirande, with the Place d'Astarac, adorned with a kiosk and surrounded by arcaded houses, and the church of Sainte-Marie, a former 15th-century cathedral in southern Gothic style, whose buttresses magnificently span the Rue de l'Évêché.
The small village of Tillac, 11 kilometres from Marciac, is worth a visit for its charming main street lined with beautiful old half-timbered houses with exposed beams. When visiting this picturesque village, you can also admire the two medieval towers and the church of Saint-Jacques-le-Majeur.
The city of Auch, the historic capital of Gascony and Grand Site Occitanie, is welcoming and warm and seduces with its atmosphere and rich heritage. Overlooking the Gers valley from the top of a hill, the historic centre of Auch can be discovered on foot, strolling through its picturesque streets lined with old houses and along its major monuments, such as the Sainte-Marie cathedral, the monumental staircase and its vineyards, or the Armagnac tower. The Americas-Auch Museum, housed in the former Jacobin convent, houses remarkable collections of pre-Columbian art and Latin American sacred art, Egyptian, Gallo-Roman and medieval collections, paintings, sculptures and decorative arts from the southwest, as well as popular art and traditions from Gascony. Two large traditional markets take place every week, one on Saturday mornings in the upper town and the other on Thursday mornings in the lower town. An unmissable event for all lovers of local products!
The abbey church of Notre-Dame, which dominates the beautiful village of Simorre and the Astarac region with its towers and battlements, was built in the fourteenth century, then remodelled in the nineteenth century by Viollet-le-Duc. This magnificent brick building, which resembles a fortress, has an octagonal lantern and houses stained glass windows from the 14th and 15th centuries, carved stalls from the 15th century and murals from the 14th century in the sacristy. Around the fortified church, you can discover picturesque alleys and squares lined with half-timbered houses and corbelled facades on a walk.
The imposing castle of Lavardens, former military capital of the Counts of Armagnac, to which a picturesque village is attached, proudly dominates the Gascon landscape. This magnificent building, built in the twelfth century and rebuilt in the seventeenth century by Antoine de Roquelaure, companion of Henri IV, is classified as a historical monument and can be visited from mid-February to mid-January. Art exhibitions are regularly held there. Inside, be sure to admire the beautiful brick and stone floors with geometric patterns! The charming medieval village, nestled at the foot of the castle, is also worth a visit to discover its pretty streets and the remains of its ramparts.
King Louis XIV's famous musketeer, d'Artagnan, whose real name was Charles de Batz-Castelmore, was born around 1610 in Gascony, in the castle of Castelmore, near Lupiac. This legendary hero, immortalized by Alexandre Dumas in his famous cloak-and-dagger novel The Three Musketeers, is honored in the Notre-Dame de Lupiac chapel, with an audio-visual tour dedicated to the famous Gascon.
