The Image Goddess

Bonas (Gers)

Bonas is a tiny village just a little bit west of Auch, which in turn is just a short drive (an hour or so) west from Toulouse. The exquisite and well-appointed Château de Bonas was our base of exploration for several days. From here we visited nearby sites such as the Abbaye de Flaran (a Cistercian abbey), the tiny fortified village of Larresingle, the villages Vic-Fezensac and Castera Verduzan, and, bien sûr, a local Armagnac distillery. Some of the most profound visual pleasure was to be had simply by looking about while traveling from one place to another. Quels paysages! Everywhere we roamed, our eyes fell upon rolling fields of sunflowers (to be harvested for their oil), corn (to be fed to animals and humans, presumably), grapevines (definitely for eventual human consumption) and even roses. There was also no shortage of free-ranging farm animals - and no question in our minds as to why this region is known as the breadbasket of France.
For more information on the Château de Bonas, by the way, see their web site at www.bonas.com.

Château de Bonas	Distillery	Local "grappes"
Château property, early morning
Eglise, Bonas	Cyclamen on the château lawn	Farmland near Bonas
Bonas landscape	More local beauties	Urns, Château de Bonas
Near Vic-Fezensac	Rose farm	Outside Larresingle
Cynthia contemplates destination options	Abbaye de Flaran	Sunflowers, Castera Verduzan
Inside l'Abbaye de Flaran	Cow in motion, Castera Verduzan	Michael down on the farm, Castera

Behind l'Abbaye de Flaran	Sleepy river near Bonas	Ch. de Bonas ruin	Produits du terroir...	au château de Bonas

Castera Verduzan	Sunflower dust, Castera	Church ruin, Castera	Window, Castera

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All images copyright Cynthia Mitchel 2000

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