Provence, Languedoc and Dordogne Tour 2010

6 September 2010 to 18 September 2010

Monday 6 September

Today you will arrive in the south of France and transfer to our Provence hotel for the next five nights at the lovely village of St Remy de Provence. You are to make your own way to the hotel today, where the hotel will be expecting you. Of course we will help you with any internal transfers, and wherever possible we like to try and coordinate arrival times in case they work in with John Reese who can help you with your transfers himself.
Tonight we will dine together with a “Welcome to France” dinner. [D]

Tuesday 7 September

Today I want to take you into the Luberon Valley – an area made so well known due to the book “A Year in Provence”. It became popular for a number of reasons, one of which is its sheer beauty. We will drive through the Fontaine de Vaucluse to Gordes, before visiting the red ochre village of Roussillon. For those who haven’t visited Provence before this will be a lovely introduction for you. [B]

Wednesday 8 September

This morning it is market day in St Remy de Provence so you will have free time this morning to experience this wonderful market. Later in the morning we will drive to Avignon, the home town of the Popes in the 14^th century – you will hear the amazing stories of the historical development of this interesting area. Following this we are going to travel to Les Baux de Provence where we are to visit the Cathedrale des Images for one of the most extraordinary visits of your travelling life! What is this? I will say that this “presentation” offers a sensory "art" experience which is not to be missed, and this year the subject will be Picasso! [B]

Thursday 9 September

Today we will be driving through to Carcassone in the Languedoc - along the way we will be visiting sites such as St Gilles and Narbonne, which support our theme of life in medieval France. We will be stopping for lunch (included) on the Mediterranean overlooking the oyster beds of the Bassin de Thau en route to our hotel in Carcassone. Our hotel in Carcassone is right next to the old Cité, and you will have wonderful views to the fortified walls of the town from our hotel. [B,L]

Friday 10 September

Today and the next day we will concentrate on the history of the Cathars in the Languedoc. This morning we will drive through to the village of Rennes le Chateau which has become quite a celebrity lately with its connections to the Dan Brown book “The Da Vinci Code” – what was the secret treasure of Rennes le Chateau?? We will return to Carcassone in the early afternoon to allow time to explore the history of this medieval village, and a chance to learn about one of the greatest men of the 13^th century. [B,D]

Saturday 11 September

Today we will head through to the perched Chateaux of Queribus and Peyrepertuse to explore some of the most impressive Chateaux to have experienced the full force of Cathar history in the region. These spectacular places are located in spectacular scenery near the Spanish border, making this a wonderful day out. We will have lunch in the village of Cucugnan (included). [B,L]

Sunday 12 September

Today we are going to drive through to see one of the greatest engineering feats ever – the Millau bridge, which is the highest road bridge in the world completed in 2004. As well we will visit the Roquefort caves most famous for the cheese with the same name. On our return to Carcassone I would like to make a detour to the centre of the town of Narbonne, one of the oldest towns in France to see some Roman remains there. [B]

Monday 13 September

Today we will drive through to the heart of Perigord Noir, Dordogne.

Tonight we are going to head to the heart of the Perigord Noir to stay for four nights in a charming three star hotel in the village of Le Bugue. This will be our base for the next four nights of exploring.

The hotel is set amongst its beautiful garden - a setting which will inspire even the least impressionable of you! [B,D]

Tuesday 14 September

This morning we are going to spend in Le Bugue at their wonderful morning market in the village – see and taste from all the stalls stocking the local delicacies of foie gras and canard! In the afternoon we will visit the Grottes de Rouffignac just near the prehistoric capital of the world at Rouffignac. Here we experience the stories of life 20000 years ago in this area (and elsewhere), and then drive through the town of Les Eyzies. [B]

Wednesday 15 September

Today we will drive along the Dordogne Valley past the beautiful villages of Beynac, La Roque Gageac, on our way to Domme, and then on to Sarlat. En route today we will visit the lovely the Gardens of Eyrignac. [B]

Thursday 16 September

Today I want you to experience medieval times and we therefore will leisurely explore the “Bastide” villages such as Cadouin and Monpazier. [B]

Friday 17 September

Today we will drive down the Dordogne Valley to the beautiful wine town of St Emilion - this is a very smart place, even the vines look wealthy! We will stay in the town itself of St Emilion – our hotel here has a swimming pool and is centrally located in the village.

We are going to have lunch this afternoon at a Chateau in Bergerac set in the vines, where the owner breeds cattle and dogs!! [B,L]

Saturday 18 September

This morning we are going to visit the Sauternes region, and visit the two most salubrious sweet wines in the world, Chateau d’Yquem and Chateau Guiraud. The first place sells the most expensive wine in the world, but you are not obliged to buy any, so we’ll most likely have a tasting at the second Chateau!!!

Sunday 19 September

Today we are going to explore the Medoc wines to the north west of Bordeaux, seeing some of the greatest wine estates in the world with names that read like a top wine list; Chateau Margaux, Lafitte Rothschild, Mouton Rothschild etc. We will make three visits to leading wine makers.

Tonight we will have an end of tour dinner. [B,D]

Monday 20 September

This morning we will complete our tour and you can be dropped off at the Bordeaux train station or the Bordeaux Airport for onward travel arrangements. From Bordeaux there is easy access to Paris by fast train, or similarly there are direct flights to London. [B]