Éauze is easy to leave behind. After a few streets, you’re already among the vineyards of the Armagnac. It’s an easy day, with gentle slopes you barely notice. You do walk through open country for a long time, with plenty of sky above you and little to distract you.
That makes this stage peaceful. Around 20 kilometres passes almost by itself here, and with a break you’ll be on the road for a good 5 hours. You pass farms, small villages and the odd little church. You reach Nogaro in good time, with room for a spot of laundry and a café terrace. Behind you, the rows of vines and the maize fields stretching to the horizon fall away.