Artistic Route (VAE): "On the Wings of the Butterfly." Intimate Beats in Gascogne Toulousaine

Departing from the Gascogne Toulousaine Tourist Office, by the lake of L'Isle-Jourdain, first take the time to admire the work "The Creature of the Lake" by Virginie Loze (2020), created on the walls of the Tourist Office.

"The Creature of the Lake," a mural painted by Virginie Loze in 2020, pays homage to the cultural and geographic heritage of L'Isle-Jourdain. The aquatic and androgynous side-profile silhouette, half fish, half serpent, evokes the image of "the sower" from Larousse encyclopedias, whose various chronological versions are exhibited at L'Isle-Jourdain in the Claude Augé House, creator of the Illustrated Larousse. The motifs present in the work are references to this iconography.

Then take the D654 to the right towards the town center. At the stop, take the D924 toward Gimont-Auch. Follow the lake. Cross the railway line and continue straight ahead. At the roundabout, straight ahead towards Toulouse.

Take the first right (Maniou CR no. 67). Climb about 1.2 km until you reach a fork. Take the right white path of pebbles and stones. These are the remains of an ancient Roman road that connected Toulouse and Auch. 1.5 km further straight on, you enter the village of Clermont-Savès. After passing the church, go 40 m and on your left, you will discover the work "The Dance," made by artist Pedro Richardo in 2020.

This mural, created in Clermont-Savès by Pedro Richardo in 2020, references elements composing the universe of the Nantes artist: the 80s, skate culture, the world of US comics, 20th-century painting up to 90s graffiti, colors, shapes, and materials used as a unique language, an unconscious zoo between abstraction and figuration. This universe was enriched by the contributions of the commune's inhabitants, integrated by the artist into the different motifs used.

Return along your path and turn left in front of the church. Cross the village until you reach the D161 intersection. At the stop, cross carefully and turn left towards Razengues. 200 m further, at the fork, turn right on D161 direction Beaupuy. 3 km further, turn right again direction Beaupuy.

In Beaupuy, cross the village passing in front of the church. At the first crossroads after the church (landmark: electric transformer), turn right. Go 100 m and stop at the building following the town hall. On the rear façade, admire the work "The Hunt," created by artist Kazy-K in 2020. Attention! This work is not visible from the direction you arrive.

A mural on the edge of the countryside, a passage place for many animals, the artist Kazy-K delivers his view on the relationship between man and animal. It challenges our visions here, man lurking in the shadow of the humanized wolf. Influenced by classic painting, underground imagery from the 80s to today, or more broadly by "popular art," Kazy-K does not hesitate to incisively twist certain sacred iconographies.

 At the exit of Beaupuy, continue straight for about 6 km.

At the RD654 crossroads, cross carefully to turn left towards Sainte-Livrade. You are now on a cycle path, which will show you on your left two Gascon-style dovecotes and pass by the Las Martines golf course. The path leads to the N542 intersection, where you will turn right towards Ségoufielle. Stay on this road up to the village of Ségoufielle.

In the center of Ségoufielle, go straight at the stop (Chemin du Pountet). After crossing, you will discover on a façade adjoining the town hall the work "I Stay Here" by Jérôme Souillot (2020).

A dreamlike landscape in Ségoufielle, composed of bushes and thickets that unfold on and beyond the confined surface of the wall, this work by Toulouse artist Jérôme Souillot continues the work undertaken by the artist in his series "I Stay Here": inviting the spectator to immerse themselves in vegetal islets, stay there for some time, and perhaps lose themselves in these motifs, starting or continuing elsewhere, leaving us free to imagine their extension.

Continue your crossing of the village via Chemin du Pountet. At the D9 roundabout, go straight onto Chemin de Jouan de l'Homme. At 300 m, at the fork, turn left (direction "A Jouan de l'Homme") then straight on for about 1.8 km.

At a "T" intersection at the foot of the village of Mérenvielle, turn right onto D42C, then D531.

After 4.5 km on the hills, you will reach the village of Pujaudran. At the entrance to Pujaudran, turn left onto Allée des Muriers (landmark: "bean" on the road). At 100 m, turn right onto Chemin de la Rose. Follow it up to Avenue Victor Capoul, where you turn left. 60 m further, you find the Pujaudran Town Hall and the work "Portrait" by artist Amandine Urruty (2020).

This mural is the result of artist Amandine Urruty's residency in Pujaudran in September 2020. It is both a melancholy and burlesque meeting between the history of the commune, a gateway to Gascogne especially for hikers on the Saint-Jacques route, and the personal history of the artist, originally from Auch. Conceived as a diary, this mural is peppered with references to encounters and moments from her life.

You can now retrace your steps and climb the cobblestones of Avenue Victor Capoul to the stop, where you will turn left to leave the village towards "Auch-Toulouse" (Avenue de Gascogne). At the first roundabout, go straight towards "Toulouse." You pass over the expressway and at the next roundabout, go straight (D121 direction Lias).

After 500 m, you arrive at a "bean-shaped" junction where you turn right towards "L'Isle-Jourdain." Stay on this small road along the expressway. Just after passing under the bridge, turn left, still alongside the expressway, with a view over the heights of the Save valley. At a roundabout, take the direction of L'Isle-Jourdain (D924). Ride about 600 m and take a small path on the left (landmark: red and white marking on a telephone pole). Follow this path for about 1 km until you reach a fork where you turn right (Calle Carballo street). At the end of this street, turn left onto Avenue d'Embetpeou. Go down to the junction with Avenue Jean-François Bladé, where you turn right, then first left (rue des Lilas), then right (Avenue Claude Augé), then first left (Rue Maurice Barre) which you descend to boulevard Carnot.

At boulevard Carnot, cross and go 15 m to the left, up to number 39. On the next wall, you can admire the work "Oasis" by artists Koralie and Supakitsch (2020).

This oasis blossomed in the heart of L'Isle-Jourdain during the heat of July 2020, imagined and designed by artists SupaKitch & Koralie. Together they combine techniques such as spray paint stenciling and acrylic brush painting, drawing on their shared taste for travel, art deco, and observing nature (vegetal geometry) to create their elegant and poetic works on urban concrete. This mural in L'Isle-Jourdain is a window of greenery in the city, a water source, and a sunny horizon with holiday scents, a breath of fresh air in the city.

To leave, turn at the corner of the "Oasis" work and climb Saint-Clotilde street. Take the first right (rue de la République), then the first left to go around the collegiate church of L'Isle-Jourdain. After the church, turn left then again right onto rue Lafayette, which you go down to the end. Then take the street opposite, boulevard de la Marne, at the foot of the statue of Saint-Bertrand de Commminges.

Walk up boulevard de la Marne. You will pass the Youth and Culture Center, where another work by Pedro and Kazy-K adorns the courtyard.

You arrive at Compostelle square where the work "The Inside Mess" by Pedro and Kazy-K (2020) awaits you.

At the center of the image, a moon. On this moon is placed a ladder, which a lion on a red background (recalling the L'Isle-Jourdain coat of arms) with a somewhat demonic appearance is climbing. Around, a great disorder of shapes and lines where you can distinguish a checkerboard, a female face, a night landscape above which an eclipse occurs, but also a charred tree, flames. "The Inside Mess," the interior disorder in French, was collectively created by artists Pedro & Kazy-K in the manner of "jam sessions" typical of the graffiti movement, in a record time (2 days) and with raw colors and lines, reminiscent of Jean-Michel Basquiat, a symbol of underground culture whose codes oppose those of the established order. There are also eyes, on the same plane while the figure is in profile, as well as the sharpness and intensity of the colors, which may evoke cubist painters like Picasso or expressionists, whose anguished visions, deforming and stylizing reality, seek more to achieve expressive intensity than to reproduce reality.

At the foot of the work, turn left and leave Compostelle square to the right, crossing the small bridge over a branch of the Save river. After the bridge, turn left along the river. You pass the old city velodrome, which hosted cycling races and legendary concerts until the 1970s.

At the intersection, turn left at the yield sign. You pass another bridge over the Save river.

After the bridge (landmark: intercommunal swimming pool), turn right onto D654 toward Monbrun. Go 30 m and on your left you will find your starting point, the lake and the Gascogne Toulousaine Tourist Office.

Before you start:

This route is mostly on low-traffic roads typical of the Gers hinterland. These roads are used by various motor vehicles, such as cars and farm equipment. Everyone’s vigilance is important.

On some sections, it may be necessary to ride single file due to slightly higher car traffic than on the rest of the route.

In case of emergency, call 112

In Beaupuy, be careful not to miss the work "The Hunt", which is not visible from the direction you arrive. You will need to stop and turn around to admire it and/or take a break.

Due to the sometimes significant elevation changes on some parts of this route, it is preferable to ride it on an electric-assisted bike (VAE).