Between Saint-Thomas and Empeaux

Park in the car park on the village square in Saint-Thomas.

(S/E) With your back to the town hall, leaving the D53 (Route de Sainte-Foy-de-Peyrolières) on your left, walk round the castle’s old moat towards Bragayrac. Continue straight on along the Chemin de Moulias, which becomes En Gachot after this hamlet. The road descends steadily towards the bed of the Ruisseau du Mésségué. Carry on to a Y-junction where the road ends.

(1) Take the hairpin bend to the right onto the road towards Le Perygué. The road climbs gently but steadily to another Y-junction with a cross in the middle.

(2) Take the road to Saint Lys on the right, pass the chapel and continue uphill. Pass the Lodge Le Perygué, where the road levels out slightly.

(3) Just past the hamlet of Le Saint-Martin, turn onto the dirt track on the left which descends to the bed of a small stream, then climbs again with a bend to the right at the top of the ascent. Just before the bend, the track becomes tarmac.

(4) Turn right onto the road that descends into the stream bed and continues to the road leading to the motor racing route. Turn right at the junction and head uphill to the roundabout with the D58.
Go through the roundabout and follow the Chemin de La Punto straight ahead until you reach a Y-junction.

(5) Take the track on the right (the other one opposite is a dead end) and head uphill until you join the D58G, the Bonrepos road. Follow it to the left until you reach the^first farm on the right.

(6) Turn right, pass between the farm and its outbuilding, and head down towards the edge of the small wood. Follow the edge of the wood and take a sharp left-hand bend. Then head down the path, pass above the Aussonnelle, follow the embankment of the small lake and continue to the left, following the river until you reach the Bois de Nérat.

(7) Take the path on the right which climbs through the woods to the Roman road. When you reach the tarmac road, turn right until you reach the Marquise crossroads.

(8) Carry on to the right along the D19 Route d’Empeaux and follow this road to the next junction, taking in the view of the Pyrenees.

(9) When you reach the D58, turn left, pass the chapel on your left and carry on to the village square in Saint-Thomas (S/E).

On Place de Saint-Thomas, near the boules club, there is a drinking water tap; a little further down, by Lac de Saint-Thomas, there is a picnic area.

On the descent from the village centre, there’s a superb view of the Pyrenees.
On the slight incline after the climb, near the ‘Le Perygué’ lodge, there is a superb view of the Gers countryside, the church of Saint-Thomas and Empeaux Castle.
On the dirt track between (6) and (7), you can see, on the left, the Empeaux dirt-track route
(7) On the descent, there’s a lovely view of the reservoir on the Aussonnelle, which forms a small lake.