Our tour was an introduction to the cuisine and culture of Gascony, a historic, but no longer political region stretching from Toulouse (at the foot of the Pyrenees mountains) to the top of the Médoc in the outer reaches of Bordeaux. Made famous by the Three Musketeers, Gascony is also the land of Cyrano de Bergerac.

Its original pre-Roman inhabitants were the Aquitanians, a people captured by the Gauls, and ultimately by the Visigoths who then established the kingdom of Toulouse. Eventually the population became Basques who named the territory Gascony. The land became part of the kingdom of France during the time of Eleanor of Aquitaine, in the 12th century.

Gascony includes the current departments of the Landes, the Gers, and bits of several others. The city of Auch, historic capital of Gascony, was our headquarters for the tour. Auch is located in the Gers, the department where we spent our days.

The Gers is very rural with a population of less than 200,000 spread through its 2,000 plus square miles. It is considered among the least populated and least urban areas in Western Europe. Politics lean left.

It’s a largely agricultural area that strongly emphasizes its culinary heritage. Gastronomic specialities include wild mushrooms, Armagnac, wine, and foie gras. We were the beneficiaries of its beautiful countryside and toothsome cuisine.

The population in the Gers is older than the French national average, a more than 10 percent difference. This caused every resident we met to say the reason for this longevity was duck fat, foie gras, and red wine. Can’t think of a better reason!