Lauzerte : Quercy Pays de Serres

The garden retraces the pilgrimage of Santiago de Compostela and the daily life of pilgrims on their journey: their departure, the hospitality they receive, their joys and sorrows, the bridges they cross, their unpleasant encounters, their bed and board, and the miracles they witness…

Working in collaboration with an architect and a landscape designer, Marianne Sanna, designer of the garden, has recreated the pilgrims’ journey, the “starry path”, by juxtaposing photographs and verses of contemporary songs and poems in a landscaped environment directly illustrating the pilgrim’s experiences, both good and bad.

Located at the foot of the former rampart, where the Barbican once stood, the garden – the only one of its kind in France – is remarkably placed, both geographically (with its exceptional views) and because of its wealth of architectural features (remains of the rampart, stone steps, exceptionally fine masonry).

Interface between all the following facets of the garden

Songs
Each glazed lava stone panel contains an extract from the songs (dating from the 11th to the 17th centuries) which the pilgrims sang as they walked.
Key words are translated into four languages: French, Spanish, Occitan and English.

Vegetation
The flowerbeds of perennials and shrubs, chosen for their symbolic medieval meanings, provide a direct illustration of the experiences, good and bad, evoked in song.

Photographs
Black and white photographs, taken by Marianne Sanna, represent landscapes, sites and monuments along the Route of Santiago de Compostela.

Contemporary verse
Alem Surre-Garcia, writer, poet, and head of mission for Occitan culture and language in the Midi-Pyrénées Regional Council, composed two poems specially for the garden, at the start and at the finish of the journey.
"Voici le chemin vers la fin des terres. Prépare-toi, voyageur inlassable". Case départ. 
" Me voici enfin de retour ". Case n° 35.

Minerals
are to be found in the numbered squares on the ground making up the pathway as well as along the bench of 51 glazed stoneware “carpet squares”, the work of Jacques Buchholtz, on the esplanade of the Barbican.

Here the Game of the Goose progresses along the Routes of Santiago de Compostela . To throw the dice is to take up the pilgrim’s staff … and ultimately to arrive at the “Goose’s Garden” or “Paradise”.
Players progress - as fast or as slowly as the dice dictates - along a track dotted with numbered squares and illustrated panels. Their path is strewn with traps, joys and sorrows, their lives dependent on chance and luck.
According to the rules of the traditional Game of the Goose, players may jump ahead, be forced to pause, or be sent back … they first have to cross water, avoid prison, and then after the inn, the bridge comes before the well, with death lying in wait on square 31…. before they reach the final square, Paradise, square 36 – thus winning the game.

Lucky players will land on “goose” squares, illustrated with a pilgrim photo, and advance the same number of points again.
The unlucky will land on bad squares – desolation (square 29), prison (square 25), or death (square 31).
The winner is the first to land exactly on the “Goose’s Garden” or “Paradise” – square 36.

To play the Goose Game, here’s my aim…
To get a copy of the explanatory notes from the Office de Tourisme
To borrow dice, also from the Office de Tourisme

Open all year. Free entry.

Midi-Pyrénées region Architecture award 2003
Special mention, Landscape in heritage (“Un Paysage en Heritage”) trophies 2003
1st prize, Midi-Pyrénées Cultural tourism trophies 2001
Listed Remarkable garden (Jardin Remarquable) by the Ministry of Culture and of Communication, 2006