  The ability of the Gogny forces of the D1 family to describe the
nucleon-nucleus scattering is studied. To this end, we use an optical model
potential built up using a semi-microscopic nuclear matter approach. The real
and imaginary parts of the optical model are provided by the first and
second-order terms, respectively, of the Taylor expansion of the mass operator
calculated within the Brueckner-Hartree-Fock method using the reaction G-matrix
built up with the effective Gogny force instead of a microscopic interaction.
The optical potential in finite nuclei is obtained through the Local Density
Approximation using the neutron and proton densities provided by a quasi-local
Hartree-Fock calculation with the same Gogny force for the sake of consistency.
A reasonable good agreement is found between the theoretical differential
cross-sections and the analyzing powers of the elastic neutron and proton
scattering along the periodic table from Ca to Pb calculated with the Gogny
forces and the corresponding values predicted by the global phenomenological
potential of Koning and Delaroche. To investigate the limits of the
approximations used in this work, comparisons with the results of
nucleon-nucleus elastic scattering in $^{40}$Ca and $^{48}$Ca obtained using
the Nuclear Structure Model are also performed.
