Saturday started with a visit to the Château de Lavardens, a medieval castle that fell on hard times in 1653, when the plague chased out the 200 construction workers before it was completed. A series of owners over several centuries failed to maintain the castle in good order, until it was taken over by the Club du Vieux Manoir in 1979. Since then, volunteers have worked to restore it and turn it into a public space for exhibits and cultural activities. In keeping with the theme of our tour, the exhibit on display that day was “D’Artagnan: The Man and the Myth.”

We also walked around Laverdens, the village that the castle once protected (or might have, if it had been completed). Charming town, especially if you couldn’t understand the signs.

You may be thinking, “No mention of food or aperitif, and it must be almost noon.” Well, a short distance away was the small village of Jegun, where Michael was waiting for us with an aperitif. Michael was an Irishman, also a U.S. citizen, but fell in love with his wife’s native Gascony, and opened, Les Celtes de Gascogne, a bed and breakfast (with a pub). Why did he stay? Among other things, he loved the same cuisine we were experiencing on this tour: “My heart is Irish, but my stomach has become French,” he told us.

He wasn’t the first Celt to put down roots here. The name of the town drives from the Celtic word juguen, “branch of the vine.”

Ariane had arranged another surprise for us, a band to play Bandas, music of the region. Just for us. In the town square. They were great fun, playing a range of genres, including some New Orleans jazz. (Again keeping with the theme of the tour, the band’s name was D’Artagnan.)

Lunch was right there in the square, provided by Restaurant la Halle. The band joined us, and every 10 or 15 minutes, they would jump up and play more music. At some point, they were told that it had been Pat’s birthday the day before, so they performed a little birthday jazz.

Lunch: Blood sausage, paté, and magret with fries cooked in duck fat.

Prunes in Armagnac for dessert.

Our final stop of the day was to Hitton Farm, where the owners raise the Pyrenean donkey, a breed specific to the south of France bordering the Pyrenees. We were given a tour of their distillery, where they extract essential oils from the herbs they grow — oregano, thyme, coriander, rosemary, lavender, and more. Their main product is soap, made from these oils and donkey milk. They also operate a series of eco-lodges on the property.

After leaving Hitton, we returned to Auch, where we were given about 45 minutes off, during which time I had to make a run to Carrefour — sort of like a Walmart — where I bought an extra suitcase to carry all the food, drink, and other souvenirs from this trip.

The group was treated to happy hour on the rooftop of the Hotel de France, with a view of the Pyrenees in the distance.

After happy hour, it was time for our farewell dinner in the Hotel de France. I don’t mean to sound like a broken record, but it was another fabulous meal. From my notes:

• Various amuse-bouches
• Brioche, with local butter
• Turnip and carrot soup
• Foie gras mousse on a bed of confit of shallots in red wine
• Shrimp in tempura batter on a bed of shiitake mushrooms with lemon Sabayon cream sauce
• Monkfish with herbs and a monkfish stock
• Lemon sorbet (palate cleanser)
• Chuck steak with cèpe, butternut squash purée, red wine sauce, cèpe emulsion.
• Figs in a sauce of honey, lemon, thyme; honey ice cream with basil & time logs
• Chocolate financier, chocolate sauce, chocolate ice cream
• Digestif: Armagnac.

The dinner was the last act in our tour of Gascony. Sunday, the bus took us back to Toulouse, where most of the group had flights to Paris and the U.S. Pat and I, however, were taking the train to Bordeaux, where we had planned to spend another week.

Bonus portrait: