Stage Bordeaux - Le Barp

South of Bordeaux begins the crossing of the Landes de Gascogne, the most solitary section of the Via Turonensis. The first stage, long and completely flat, passes from the urban fringe to the great pine forest, and calls for careful management of water and energy because of the distance between services.

The way out of the city heads south-west through Talence and Gradignan. In the latter stands the priory of Cayac, a former pilgrims' hospital of medieval origin on the banks of the Eau Bourde stream. The restored ensemble preserves the church and hospital buildings on either side of the old road, and is one of the best-preserved Jacobean testimonies in the Gironde.

Beyond Gradignan, the last vines of the Pessac-Léognan area give way to the first pines. The route advances along forest tracks and straight roads towards Cestas, among plots of maritime pine, heather and bracken. The soil is sandy and the horizon closed in by the trees.

Until the mid-nineteenth century these lands were an immense plain of waterlogged moor and pasture, roamed by shepherds. The systematic planting of pines, promoted under Napoleon III, turned them into the largest cultivated forest in western Europe. Medieval pilgrims feared this section: the Codex Calixtinus describes it as a desolate land of three days' journey, without bread or wine.

Le Barp, which once had a hospital for travellers, is today a service town within the Landes de Gascogne Regional Nature Park. It offers shops and accommodation, and a well-earned rest after one of the longest days on the route.