I was roaming my photo vault on something unique to post and found out the nice city of Auch which we have been a while back and have already posts in my blog came up nicely, I have some pictures left that were not in previous posts and this is as good a time as any to tell you a bit more on Auch, Do read my other posts on the city, rather nice stories and sights,
Let me give you some introduction to the city of Auch,. The city is the prefecture of the Gers department 32, in the Occitanie region, It is renowned for its gastronomy, its rugby team which has long evolved into the elite, its cathedral, (see post) its pousterles and its monumental staircase from the top of which the statue of d’Artagnan (see post) dominates the course from the Gers river, which separates it into upper town and lower town, Auch is considered the historic capital of the old regime province of Gascony or Gasgogne. The city is 69 km from Toulouse, 86 km from Pau, 530 km from Nantes, and 595 km from Paris, We always have come here by the road and the wonderful RN 124 connecting Toulouse to the RN 524 towards Bordeaux.
A bit of history I like
In 333, the Anonymous of Bordeaux, on the road to Jerusalem, stopped there and mentioned on his itinerary the name of Civitas Auscius. During medieval times, the city of Auch was for a time the capital of the Counts of Armagnac 10-11C. After the Battle of Lectoure in 1473 which marked the final fall of the dynasty of the Counts of Armagnac, the city was invested by the troops of the King of France, Louis XI. More particularly under Louis XV, the intendant Antoine Mégret d’Étigny transformed the city by giving it its present face with the construction of most of its remarkable buildings ,such as the city/town hall, Intendance hall, promenade, etc, It was the golden age of Auch.
We many times take a moment to see these government buildings which in many occasions looks fantastic such as this one in Auch.
The Palais de Justice or courthouse in Auch, which was inaugurated in 1864,had a facelift. While keeping intact its superb courtroom. The courthouse was inaugurated the same year as the monumental staircase (see post), The Palais de Justice is located in the historic city center. It is surrounded by various historical and cultural monuments such as the Cathedral of Saint Mary (see post) , in front of the tribunal and which at the same time represented religious power. In this historic center, we find the City/Town Hall, erected in 1777, the Tourist Office located in a 15C corbelled house, as well as the Jacobins Museum which was founded in December 1793. Culture and education are also present in one and the same place, located not far from the court, the University Institute of Technology Paul Sabatier.
The Palais de Justice was built in 1863, during the Second Empire. The architectural style of this building is undetermined. The main entrance is distinguished by stairs, then by an arch delimiting the latter. Above the central door, two columns support the inscription « Palais de Justice ». On the sides of the stairs, there are two statues of the goddess Themis, which means law, in Greek and who was the deity of Justice. These statues are placed on a pedestal, so as to show the importance of the law, even before entering the precincts of the court. On the right statue, the goddess is represented holding a sword, with which she punishes those who do not have not obeyed the law. On the other hand, the one on the left is represented with the Codes (civil and penal …), on which it is based. Before entering the courtroom of the courthouse of Auch, there is an antechamber between the entrance door to the courtroom and the latter, The courtroom is organized into three very distinct spaces: the public space, the space reserved for lawyers and their defendants , and the last part of the Audience room is raised above the rest of the room, as if to show the power of judges, supreme representatives of Justice. The cases dealt with in this court concern the family, in particular marriage, divorce, filiation, adoption or the settlement of inheritances. It can also respond to civil actions for defamation or insults, in the criminal court. It has the right to dissolve an association and it concerns requests for rectification of civil acts.
We did our walks as usual just to soak in the wonderful architecture and history we have in my belle France. One place we love to be in was the Place de la Liberation, this is the old regime name Place Royale , and was Place de la Liberté after the French revolution of 1848 (we had a few lol) , it took the name of Place de l’Hotel de Ville, the regime being then a Republic. Enclosed by the median of the Allées d’Étigny, the Place de la Liberation constitutes the center of animation of the upper town. It has uniform facades and two pillars surmounted by lions which separate it from the Place de la République. Very close to the Sainte Marie Cathedral.
While walking around , of course we have great memories of this restaurant which unfortunately has closed a while back before the covid virus, This was the nicely appropiately name La Cave D’artagnan , was at 4 rue de la République, Now has a new business resto there name Lou Troket, I have it here because need to have it in my blog, for the memories’s sake ! See us!!!
The city of Auch on its heritage: http://www.mairie-auch.fr/index.php/la-ville/patrimoine
The Auch tourist office: https://en.auch-tourisme.com/
There you go folks, it seems to me, maybe just me, that everywhere you turn in my belle France ,there is always something nice to see and enjoy! Hope you get the chance to enjoy visiting Auch, for a true gascon experience! and maybe meet D’Artagnan……sort of.
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all!!!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 
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