photo courtesy of AERA (Route équestre d'Artagnan)
Un projet de route équestre européenne sur les traces de d'Artagnan a
été lancé dimanche à Lupiac, dans le département du Gers, où est né il y
a 400 ans le plus célèbre des mousquetaires, a indiqué la maire du
village.
La «Route européenne d'Artagnan», qui doit ouvrir en 2017, doit
permettre de relier à cheval Lupiac, où est né d'Artagnan en 1615, à
Maastricht, aux Pays-Bas, où il est mort en 1673 lors du siège de la
ville.
D'Artagnan horse trail follows path of famed Musketeer
Horse riders will soon be able to
follow the trail of France's most famous Musketeer, d'Artagnan, under a
project launched Sunday in the town where he was born 400 years ago.
Due to open in 2017, the "D'Artagnan European Route" will stretch from
his home town of Lupiac in southwestern France to Maastrich in the
Netherlands, where he died during a siege in 1673, the organisers said.
Charles de Batz-Castelmore, count of d'Artagnan, was a real-life figure
who served King Louis XIV as captain of the Musketeers of the Guard.
His sword-wielding adventures were fictionalised in "The Three
Musketeers" and other books by 19th-century novelist Alexandre Dumas,
which in turn inspired scores of films.
The 4,000-kilometre
(2,500-mile) trail, annotated with moments from d'Artagnan's life, will
take riders through six countries visited by the Musketeer -- France,
Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy and Spain.
The launch coincided with the annual D'Artagnan Festival in Lupiac, where he was born in 1615.
Hundreds of locals dressed up in the traditional plumed hats and cloaks
to re-enact duels and battles and a new 3.5-metre (11.5-feet) statue was inaugurated.
Article from AFP
photo courtesy of AERA (Route équestre d'Artagnan)
(photo courtesy of AERA (Route équestre d'Artagnan)
