The official Soho Solo site for self-employed individuals working in The Gers

Located in the heart of South-West France between the Pyrenees and the Atlantic, the Gers is one of those delightful places where many people would love to live.
You will love the moderate climate, the love of the land, the traditional residences, the warm welcome of the locals and an intact environment that is ideally suited to relaxation and leisure activities. Less than one hour from Toulouse and its international airport, the Gers is a deeply rural, yet resolutely innovative region. The development of new technologies in the region offers a multitude of opportunities to single home workers.

The Gers, rural yet modern

With its strong and secular identity and unequalled natural attractions and heritage, the Gers continues to perpetuate its traditions and to contribute to its own history in the making, so that Gascony remains a progressive region that looks to the future, while remaining close to its roots.

The history of the Gers 

The Gers is in the heart of Gascony, a region that still bears the marks of its rich history. The home of the musketeers, the Gers is also a land tainted by the mystical emotion of the pilgrim route to Saint-Jacques de Compostella.
See Saint Jacques site
The history of the Gers on Wikipedia

The Gers under Roman Power

In 56 BC, Cesar's lieutenant, Crassus, conquered the Gers. There are still many remains left over from the Roman period: statues, treasure, sacrificial alters, Gallo-Roman villages, etc.

The birth of Gascony

In the 7th century, the people from the other side of the Pyrenees, who were known as Vascons, settled in what is now Gascony. In doing so, they created the kingdom of Vascony. During the reign of Felix and the Duc du Loup, the principality of Gascony was born in the second half of the same century. The principality eventually became part of the kingdom of France.

The Gers :  the land of the Gascony cadets

It was in the Gers that the Gascony cadets earned their stripes. Alexandre Dumas immortalized Charles de Batz-Castelmore, also known as d'Artagnan, and raised the Musketeers to eternal glory. Most of them followed military careers, and their courage and integrity became famous throughout the world.

The Gers, a mythical and mystic land on the road to Compostella

Thousands of pilgrims have passed through the Gers since the tomb of Saint Jacques was dicovered in Compostella. You will discover all the magic of the route to Compostella in the shape of the chapels, abbeys and the multitude of remains left behind by the pilgrims over the centuries. On the routes to Le Puy and Arles, you can admire the La Romieu college, the Roman bridge in Artigues and Saint Mary's cathedral in Auch, all of which are UNESCO world heritage monuments.

Texts provided by the Departmental Committee for Tourism and Leisure. Tel: 00 33 (0)5 62 05 95 95.
E-mail: info@tourisme-gers.com
Website : www.tourisme-gers.com

Bonus : discover the Bastides and Castelnaux road seen from the sky

Source : CEEI Gers
Duration 5mn.
Total weight : 26.7 Mo. ~ 90 kb/s.

Cities crossed

• Auch
• Barran
• L'Isle de Noé
• Montesquiou
• Bassoues
• Beaumarchés
• Plaisance du Gers

Geography and climate

The countryside of the Gers is as varied as it is attractive. Hikers and ramblers will love the hillside vineyards and the rolling countryside crossed by a multitude of watercourses.
The temperate climate is influenced by the proximity of the sea, with an average annual temperature of about 15°C.
The Gers weather official site

Economy

Located in the very heart of South-West France, the Gers is one of the eight departments in the Midi-Pyrénées region. The 45,000 km² Midi-Pyrénées region, which is bigger than Benelux, is renowned for its economic vitality. More jobs are created in the Midi-Pyrénées than anywhere else in France and the quality of life makes it the number one destination for the French.
See the Regional government site
see the Tourism in the Midi-Pyrénées site

Less than one hour from Toulouse

Less than one hour from Toulouse, the second-biggest university city in France, with a population of 600,000 and the historical home town of the Airbus aircraft and the Ariane space rockets, the Gers is one of France's most rural departments, with a multitude of activities in the agri-foods sector.
While agriculture remains one of the biggest employers in the Gers, the service sector is booming and now employs more than one half of the working population. The Gers has never been an industrial region and currently boasts 550 enterprises with more than 10 employees, of which about 20 employ more than 100 people.
The growth of new technologies and the fibre optic network that will soon cross the department, will open up significant opportunities for economic development. The Gers is a pioneer amongst France's rural regions in the development of Geomatics applications, among which include : digitisation of the land registry, e-services, promotion of the region on the internet, deployment of broadband networks, etc.

Support for enterprises in the Gers

The CEEI Gers Gascogne offers reception and information amenities as well as a support network available for individual entrepreneurs looking to set up a business in the region.
Many one-man companies have already chosen the Gers to set up their business. More than 170 one-person companies have chosen a different way of working and living in the Gers. You can contact them for useful advice about setting up your business and becoming integrated in the local community.

Infrastructures

Connections to major French and European cities are available at the region's numerous airports. The region's motorways are connected to the Europe-wide highway network. The Gers is also at the crossroads between two major railway lines: the high-speed North-South link between Paris and Spain, and the East-West line from Bordeaux to Italy.
For more information: Midi-Pyrénées Expansion.

The local education system

In the Gers, every child, from a very young age, benefits from a top-quality education thanks to the numerous schools that are evenly spread throughout the region. Many schools are equipped with the latest information technology. The quality of education in the Gers stretches from pre-infant schooling to secondary education and two- and three-year higher education courses. There are more than one thousand students in the town of Auch. Nearby is Toulouse, France's second-largest university town with more than 90,000 students, which offers a broad range of opportunities and subjects in higher education.

Healthcare and social services

A number of hospitals are located in the Gers and all medical disciplines are well represented.

The Gers and sustainable development

In the Gers, we care about sustainable development. The local authorities are taking voluntary action to prepare a regional agenda ("Agenda 21") that will lay new social, economic and environmental foundations.
«'Agenda 21' - 21 for the 21st century - consists in creating a programme of actions that promote sustainable development. All interested local authorities are invited to take on board this programme, which is worldwide in scope. At the end of 2007, the initiative will produce a programme of concrete actions based on a collective diagnosis and discussion between inhabitants, elected representatives and associations of the issues we face together. (...) »

For more information,  visit the cg32 site