Auvillar – Fête des Potiers

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A little over a week ago, 60 potters gathered together for their twenty-first year in Auvillar, one of the plus beaux villages de France, to share their remarkable skills and imagination with the public.  The village is situated in the Tarn-et-Garonne départment in the Midi-Pyrénées region of the southwest, a picturesque 45 minute drive from either Agen or Toulouse. It is perched on a hill with a breathtaking, panoramic view of the Garonne river and its expansive, lush valley sloping towards the Quercy.  From certain vantage points, the two colossal nuclear cooling stacks of Golfech rise in the distance like foreboding salt and peppers shakers and provides almost half of the electricity for the surrounding area. I arrived on a very brisk Saturday morning. Entering the village through the Porte de l’Horlage, a beautiful, rose brick and stone clock tower gateway dating from the 16th century, I was immediately captivated by its rustic, pastel charm.  I walked a short distance past cobbled streets that veered off towards secret destinations and alleyways woven with the fabric of history.  Upon reaching the triangular town square, I was awe struck by the Halle aux Grains, one of the most satisfyingly executed, architectural structures I’ve encountered in the southwest. This circular grain exchange is the only one of its kind in France.  Its roof is supported by a Tuscan colonnade which is surrounded by half timbered arcades, perfectly proportioned covered walkways providing shelter for some of the ceramicists exhibiting their earthenware creations. Earthenware pottery created the main wealth of Auvillar because of the excellent quality of the surrounding soil and its port on the Garonne river.  In the 1700’s the village had about 20,000 inhabitants and 400 resident potters.  In the Musée du Vieil-Auvillar there is a lovely collection of faïence from the 18th and 19th centuries. The pottery displayed around the village center was some of the most varied I have seen recently.  Whimsical animals were juxtaposed with Provençal dishes and the quality of each piece was superb.  The Fête des Potiers is the second weekend of October, year in and year out, rain or shine. After three leisurely trips through the different pottery stalls, I succumbed to a delicate tea cup which was a scant 5 euros and wandered towards the church spire of St. Pierre.  The exterior of the church has a strangely captivating, disconnected appearance.  It’s ruined west tower with two turrets and a belfry was built in the 16th century, but severely damaged during the Wars of Religion and the Hundred Years War. It was restored in the 19th century and remains an odd composition of brick and stone. The north apse of the chapel is all that’s left of the original church, built in the 11th century. Auvillar is also one of the villages on one of the four Santiago de Compostella, (Saint Jacques de Compostelle) pilgrimage routes throughout France which ends at the Cathedral of Saint James in northwestern Spain.  The Apostle, Saint James is purportedly buried there. The beautiful hilltop aerie of Auvillar offers something for everybody.
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Sue Aran lives in the Gers department of southwest France. She is the owner of French Country Adventures, which provides private, personally-guided, small-group food & wine adventures into Gascony, the Pays Basque and Provence. She writes a monthly blog about her life in France and is a contributor to Bonjour Paris and France Today magazines.