Day
1 You will be met by James at the café Hall 5 Arrivals
at Toulouse airport. You will be driven to the pretty brick
and stucco town of Moissac situated on the banks of the river
Tarn. You will lunch in front of the fantastic Romanesque abbey.
After lunch a talk about the tympanum and cloisters admired
so much by Kenneth Clark in his series 'Civilisation'. Then
you will continue by car, passing through the pretty bastide
of Montjoi.before arriving at the charmingly restored stone
mill house of Moulin de Labique near Villereal. Here you will
find yourselves in the depths of the Haut Périgord Agenais
where many of the great chevauchées led by the Earl of
Derby/Duke of Lancaster and the Black Prince took place. The
Moulin has excellent cuisine and delightful hosts. The bedrooms
with ensuite bathrooms are wonderfully comfortable. Your first
three nights are here.
Day
2 After a classic French breakfast we set off by foot
to the great bastide of Monflanquin with the donkeys and full
kit and Daniel the donkey man. You are in an area where the
Hundred Years War was at its foremost. Bastides are dotted
around within a few kilometres of each other. Some French
controlled, some English controlled. Monflanquin was founded
in 1252 by Alphonse de Poitiers, the brother of Louis IX,
in order to keep an eye on the English sympathisers of the
nearby Chateau Biron and Chateau Gavaudun. We will eat lunch
here in the unusually sloping Place des Arcades. After lunch
we will visit the Musée des Bastides in the square
before returning by foot to the Moulin de Labique. Dinner
at the Moulin. 10miles
Day
3 We leave by car to meet Daniel and donkeys again for
a walk to the twelfth century bastide of Monpazier founded
by our Edward 1st in the build up to the Hundred Years War.
This is probably the most beautiful of all bastides.and we
will lunch beneath the perfectly proportioned arcades of the
Place des Cornières. In the afternoon we will continue
by foot towards another historical masterpiece; Chateau Biron.
A cup of tea at the Café du Chateau before a voluntary
visit to this extraordinary chateau. From here we return to
Moulin de Labique for our last dinner. 7 miles
Day
4 A drive in the morning to Floressas. We set off by foot
for stunning views over the valleys of the Quercy Blanc. We
will pass through vineyards and the one church three house
village of Segos before arriving for a leisurely picnic with
Diana beneath the shade of the orchard trees of Mademoiselle
Goul. An option after lunch to take it easy at Le Vert to
read, swim or paint etc. Otherwise we will walk through pastures
littered with stands of orchids and wild flowers to the village
of Sainte Croix. We will visit a Lavender Distillery on the
way. Lavender Distilleries are a dying breed here in the Quercy
and Maryse Theyvenet will explain to us how they obtain their
oil. From Sainte Croix we will be picked up to be taken back
to Le Vert passing by a little known fourteenth century frescoed
Romanesque church painted in the typical Quercy style. Tea
and dinner at Le Vert. 10 miles (or 4 miles)
Day
5 We leave in the vehicles to be dropped off in the Bouriane.
We will walk to the charming vineyard of Domaine d'Ardailloux
where we will picnic with Diana amongst the vines. They have
won a gold medal for their Chardonnay here and their Gamay
makes interesting lunchtime drinking. In the afternoon we
will walk down hill to the mighty honey coloured castle of
Bonaguil built immediately after the Hundred Years War having
been sacked by the English in the early fifteenth century.
Time here to wander around this masterpiece of martial architecture
so admired by T.E. Lawrence. We return in the cars to Le Vert
for tea and dinner. 4 miles
Day 6 A drive to the village of St Vincent Rives d'Olt,
on the banks of the river Lot, to meet up with Daniel and
his donkeys. We will walk along the river for the first part
of the morning catching glimpses of loping herons before we
move on up through woods where wild boar roam in plenty. We
will arrive at the little port of Albas (which used to be
the summer residence of the Prince Bishops of Cahors) for
a drink on the river. Here the vehicles will pick us up for
a drive to the village of Grezels and lunch at La Terrace
where Monsieur Pignières insists that wine is much
better for you than water. A visit after lunch to the Clos
Triguedina, one of the oldest and most respected of the Cahors
'chateaux' to be shown around by the Baldès family.
After a little dégustation we will return by car to
Le Vert for tea. 9 miles
Day
7 We leave in the vehicles for Cahors. We follow the meandering
river passing through the tiny bastide of Castelfranc, Chateau
Lagrezette and stopping at the famous medieval Pont Valentré
in Cahors and on to the hustle and bustle of the local market
beneath the gothic façade of the cathedral. Lunch at
the Rendez-Vous near the tympanum. After lunch we drive before
walking through wooded valleys to arrive at the prestigious
Chateau Mercuès; the old home of the Prince Bishops
of Cahors. You spend the last night here in great style. 4
miles
Day
8 One and a quarter hour drive to Toulouse for departing
flight.
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