Midi-Pyrénées / Dordogne

March 27 – April 10, 2007

March 27, 2007 — TOULOUSE

• Welcome at the Toulouse-Blagnac airport by Mélissa Buttelli (Toulouse Tourist Office) and Cécile Sénard (Regional Tourism Board) with transfer by taxi to the hotel.
• Suggestion for the evening: Cinécita (bar-restaurant lounge decorated under the theme of movies located on “rue Labéda”), or “rue Gabriel Péri” for a last drink in one of the mythical place of Toulouse by night such as: the Maximo Café, la Bodega, or the Texas Café (located on street Castellane).
• 

• Night at Hôtel Mercure Wilson
• 7 rue Labéda
• 31000 Toulouse
• Tel: 05 34 45 40 60
• Fax: 05 34 45 40 61
• www.mercure.com/ mercure/ fichehotel/ fr/ mer/ 1260/ fiche_hotel.shtml

March 28, 2007 — TOULOUSE

• Guided visit (in English) of the historical monuments of the so called “Pink City”
• www.toulouse-tourisme.com/ visite/
• Le Capitol: Actual city hall and theatre of Toulouse. Striking and wonderful edifice built over 8 pink marble (symbolize the eight "capitouls", these city magistrates were ruling the city, at the 12th century, when the count was absent.).
• La Basilique Saint-Sernin: Biggest Romanesque basilica of the 11th century considerate as a really important step in Saint James of Compostela road.
• The cloister and steeple of the Jacobin monastery: build during the XIII and XIV centuries, beautiful example of an amazing monastic construction.
• The Bernuy hotel: Private property of Jean de Bernuy. He was a Spanish Jewish man deported by the Inquisition. He became a rich wood merchant. He built this architectural marvel mixed of Gothic art, Italian and Spanish Renaissance style (“Louis Private style”) which tower is the highest of the old town.
• Afternoon visit to more Toulousan buildings.
  • The Bemberg Fondation and the Assézat Hotel (hosting a tremendous collection of many sculptures, paintings and works).
    Place d’Assézat
    Tel: 05 61 12 06 89
    www.fondation-bemberg.fr
  • Le Musée des Augustins (Museum of Arts)
    21 rue de Metz
    Tel: 05 61 22 21 82
    www.augustins.org
  • La Place Saint-Georges (friendly place with its red bricks buildings, its carrousel, its little cafés…)
  • The area of Saint-Etienne (its cathedral, its antiques dealers, the Niel palace, its “jardin des plantes” (oldest green area of the town yards), and the “Grand Rond” (Big Circle, a circular garden).
• Suggestion for the evening:
  Meet in one of the mythical bars in town (Bar Basque, Couleur de la culotte…) of the convivial Place Saint Pierre, along the Garonne River. Good ambiance insured until late at night thanks to the numerous students and the rugby fans.

• Night at Hôtel Mercure Wilson

March 29, 2007 — TOULOUSE

• Stroll in the typical market of Victor Hugo (local stands and renowned boutiques: Xavier, Betty = fromages, Garcia = pork butcher’s shop and delicatessen, Samarran (foie gras), Maison Busquets (wines and delicatessen), Pillon (chocolates, etc.)
• Guided Visit of la Cité de l’Espace
  Avenue Jean Gonord – 31500 Toulouse
  Tel: 08 20 37 72 23
  Fax: 05 62 71 56 01
  www.cite-espace.com
• Afternoon visit of various other main Toulousan buildings.
• Visit to les Abattoirs (modern and contemporary art museum)
• Stroll in the Raymond VI gardens along the Museum (wonderful point of view).
  76 allées Charles de Fitte
  Tel: 05 34 51 10 60
  www.lesabattoirs.org
• Visit to the Garonne River’s edges, the Daurade embankments, The “Pont Neuf” (= new bridge), the “Place Saint-Pierre” etc.
• Dinner followed by a nocturne guided visit to Toulouse unlighted. Take an unusual minibus tour of Toulouse by night at a time when the city's historic monuments, modern architecture, districts and waterways are transformed into paintings that make up a monumental urban fresco.
• The tour takes visitors on a voyage of discovery of these illuminated scenes that form part of the city's "Illumination Plan.”
• 
• Inaugurated in April 2004, the illuminations are an ambitious, original project. It uses the latest lighting technology to give Toulouse a new night-time face, enhancing the beauty and variety of its heritage: a graphic staging of the city, its districts, bridges and monuments. Toulouse is a pink city by day, and a city of light by night.
• The lighting is designed to highlight the wealth of detail on each building and as you walk around the city, offers a new way of looking at its architecture. View a night-time staging of the urban landscape, which adds to the heady atmosphere of Toulouse “by night”, already rich in dynamic life.
• As night falls, historic monuments, modern architecture, districts and rivers are transformed into tableaux that combine to create a monumental urban fresco (http://www.toulouse-tourisme.com/ balade/ content.php?lang=2)

• Night at Hôtel Mercure Wilson

March 30, 2007 — CASTRES/ALBI

• Departure from Toulouse heading for Castres with Christian Riviere from the Comité Départemental du Tourisme of the Tarn region (= Tarn County Tourism Committee) and Nathalie Brixi, director of the tourist office.
• Visit of the local market of Castres and its typical rural products.
• Meeting there with students from the “Ecole superieur de l’audiovisuel ce Castre” (school of audiovisuel of Catres).
• Stop at the carillon Notre Dame de la Platé (musical instrument composed of at least 33 carillon bells), one of the last steeple where music is still played for the angelus and events such as Christmas or Easter.
• Visit of Castres and its monuments (old Houses along the Agout river, private hotels).
• In terms of comparisons, Florence and Arno spring to mind: like the dyers and weavers in Tuscany, the Cardayres, the Teisseires, the Parayes, the families of Castres needed water. The river Agoût was the textiles thoroughfare: houses of brightly painted wood - best seen today from the pleasure craft the 'Coche d'eau' - were veritable sweatshops, even right up to the roofs where the cloth or leather was hung out to dry in attics specially ventilated by 'solheilhou' windows. Castres industrious, but also belligerent.
• The leading centre of Protestantism in the Tarn: both agent and victim in the wars of religion. No point in searching for evidence of Castres during the Middle Ages for nothing remains.
• Mansart and Le Nôtre rebuilt the town, wealthy families did the rest, as evidenced by the mansions built by rich merchants and known as 'hôtels', such as the hôtel Leroy, the hôtel Viviers, the hôtel Lacger.
• Family wealth was made from clothing and textiles, and then invested in property and art with collections of paintings by Spanish artists such as Goya, Murillo, Pacheco, Velasquez, Zurbana.
• Castres is the second chief town of the Tarn. Well-known for being one of the most important textile centers in the south of France.
• As a trade center, Castres welcomes 4 days a week a traditional market in the main and just restored square Place Jean Jaurès. This morning, you will visit this market were the local gastronomy take birth with all the products of local farms.

• Lunch at l’Europe
• 5, rue Victor Hugo
• 81100 Castres
• Tel: 05 63 59 00 33

• Visit of the Goya Museum - Museum of Spanish art.
• CASTRES is also a town of art, with the most important collection of Spanish paintings in France. The Goya Museum in the the Bishop’s Palace displays the works of Spanish painters, from early Catalonian and Aragonian masters, right through to contemporary works.
• Works by Murillo, Velasquez, Ribera and Antonia Purga can all be found here, along with the works of Goya himself, including the remarkable “Junte des Philippines” and “Self portrait”, as well as the series of engravings with titles such as “Les Caprices”, “La Tauromachie”, “Les Disparates” and “Les Désastres de la Guerre”.
• A few kilometres from Castres, Sidobre was created by erosion: the result-massive granite boulders. Rocks in chaotic formation, underground rivers, the eye beholds and then interprets - the goose, the three cheeses, these cyclopean masses defy the laws of physics. The 'Peyro Clabado', 780 tons on a tiny plinth, or the rock 'Sept Faux', weighing 900 tons and yet one can make it oscillate gently just by using a lever!
• Historically out of bounds to all but demons and witches, Sidobre remains strange and mysterious. Adventure starts the moment you leave the beaten track.
• Then on to Albi through the medieval village of Lautrec and its windmill.
• The medieval city is the cradle of the painter’s family
• When crossing the gates of Mercadial, the main street is lined with half-timbered houses whose roofs nearly touch one another over the street.
• You have to walk up to discover an old well on the main square where the covered hallmarket still remains. Don’t miss the wind mill called “Moulin de la Salettes”.

• Dinner at the restaurant le Papillon
• 12 rue Henri de Toulouse lautrec
• 81000 Albi
• Tel: 05.63.43.10.77

• Night at the Hotel Mercure Bastides
• 41, rue Porta
• 81000 Albi
• Tel: 33 5 63 47 66

March 31, 2007 — ALBI/GAILLAC

• "Crucible of brick", "fortress of faith", "Italian city", Albi has stimulated the imagination of those seeking an epithet to describe its appeal. With the trilogy of the Sainte Cécile cathedral, the Palais Berbie (which houses the Toulouse-Lautrec museum) and the “pont vieux”, not forgetting the charm of the old streets. Bright red in the morning sunlight, sombre red at dusk, deserted in the heat of the afternoon. Half timbered corbelled houses, narrow passages, cobbled streets... medieval buildings with the colours of the south.
• Stroll around, follow your instincts; the slightest opening may reveal hidden treasures: the Hotel Reynes with its extraordinary loggia, built by a rich pastel merchant in 1530, the cloisters of Saint Salvy (13th century) with their triangular lawn and twinned columns... Beyond the obvious and the well known, Albi likes to surprise its visitors, particularly rewarding for those who are not in a hurry. From the 'pont vieux' (one of the oldest in France), watch the sun go down: night descending as it casts its shadow over the belfry - from the dungeon to the nave, from the nave to the ramparts and finally down to the water's edge
• The Toulouse-Lautrec Museum
  Since 1922, over a thousand works, paintings, lithographs, drawings and all posters by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec have been kept and shown at the Museum in Albi. This exceptional collection is on display at the Palais de la Berbie, or Berbia Palace, a powerful fortress built in the 13th century, which has thus become the largest museum in the world to show the works of Toulouse-Lautrec, who was born in the town in 1864.
  This most prestigious collection was given to the Museum by the artist's relatives, the Count and Countess of Toulouse-Lautrec, advised by Maurice Joyant, a friend of the artist, and by Joyant's cousin, Doctor Tapié de Céleyran. The museum's paintings exhibited are considered among the painter's most famous works.
• The Saint-Cécile Cathedral:
  This unique Cathedral built in the 13th century offers an astonishing contrast between the outer defensive style and the inner riches of its sumptuous decoration.
  Indoor decoration is both rich and refined, including 16th century wall paintings, a rood screen, without mentioning the lace of stones enhancing the last judgement day paintings, all of these being rare examples of church indoor ornaments.
  Next to the cathedral is the former Bishop’s Palace built during the 13th century, the ancient fortress is the unexpected site for the artistic work of Henri the Toulouse-Lautrec.

• Lunch at the restaurant La Table du Sommelier
• Place du Griffoul
• 81600 Gaillac
• Tel: 05 63 81 20 10
• Daniel Pestre elected Best Wine Waiter of France (2004) welcomes you in his charming restaurant were local gastronomy and local wines will give you a taste of the local life.

• Afternoon travel: The Bastides villages
• “Bastide”: the word is used to describe fortified ‘new’ towns built in the south of France during the Middle Ages. These towns were constructed in order to exploit the natural resources of the locality and to serve as centres of commercial exchange. They played a major role in the struggle between the English and the French for domination of the region.
• The noble who founded the town normally paid for the construction of the two principal gateways to the town, at both end of the main street, whilst the rest of the building and maintenance costs - often no more than a simple embankment protected by a palisade - fell to the inhabitants.
• The Tarn lived through a golden era in the Middle Ages: the commercial revolution resulting in the construction of 36 Bastide towns, more than any other département. They were Towns which symbolised liberty and prosperity. Villages of light and shade, gardens and narrow streets full of evocative scents.
• You need to take time, wandering as the mood takes you, deviating from the classic tours: adventure and chance discovery await you at every corner.
• Castelnau de Montmiral
• The albigeois (or cathar) bastide of Castelnau-de-Montmiral appears in the background of the forest of Grésigne, over the Vère river. In the heart of the 13th bastide built by Raymond VII, count of Toulouse, 16 and 17th c houses surround the covered square and the old well. The église ND de L’Assomption has a 15th c retable and pietà, as well as the cross of the counts of Armagnac, adorned with 310 precious stones
• Puycelsi towers above the Vère valley and is in the heart of the Cathar country and its many fortresses.
  The village is walled behind a 1200-feet-long wall, its towers and fortified gates which are still in good conditions after sieges. Near at hand, you the Grésigne forest and the glassmakers’ workshops.
• Cordes-sur-Ciel is imposing on its promontory, defensive behind its ramparts. Incontrovertibly Cordes-sur-Ciel is a bastide town, with its charter dating back to 1222, a difficult birth during a century of intermittent warfare. The first impression of Cordes is formed by its military role during the Middle Ages; thickset and austere, where the stones are piled high for protection. One has to break through the first line of defence (there are five in all!), the gateways 'les portes de l'Horloge, de la Jane or des Ormeaux' to discover the hanging gardens, the fig trees, the almond trees. Secrets like oriental gardens. Higher still, the central market square and the covered market, the Middle Ages give way to the Renaissance: elegant facades - the magnificent houses of the Grand Fauconnier, Grand Ecuyer, Grand Veneur- the large mullioned windows, genre sculpture, hewed out of stone. Here the wealth of Cordes, its taste for life is there for all to see. At the end of the summer, under 'les Halles', the villagers gather to celebrate the good life.

• Night at the Hotel Mercure Bastides

April 1, 2007 — SAINT CIRQ LAPOPIE/CAHORS/ROCAMADOUR

• Departure for the Lot Region
• Arrival at Saint Cirq Lapopie where students are welcomed by Aude Leconte from the CDT (Comité Départemental du Tourisme = County Tourism committee) of the Lot region.
• Meet at the Safaraid boat pier in Bouziés for a river cruise on the Lot River, along the “halage” path, right next to the village of St Cirq Lapopie. Lunch in Saint Cirq Lapopie.
• Departure for Cahors through the valley. Visit of the town (olds quarters, the cathedral square, the Valentré bridge, the secrets yards etc.).
• Then on to Rocamadour through the natural regional park.

• Night at the Hotel les Esclargies
• Rocamadour
• Tel: 05 65 38 73 23

April 2, 2007 — ROCAMADOUR

• Meet at the Rocamadour tourist office (tel: 05 65 33 22 00), called the hospitalet, for a morning visit of the old historical town.
• In the afternoon, visit of the famous park of the rocher des aigles (eagles rock, opening at 1pm), of the moulin de Cougnaguet (Cougnaguet mill) and discovery of the Ouysse and Alzou Valley. The day ends with a visit of the gouffre de Padirac (Padirac abyss, open from 2 to 6pm).

• Night at the Hotel les Esclargies

April 3, 2007 — PERIGUEUX

• Department for the Dordogne region with Mrs Morissonneau of the CDT (Comité Départemental du Tourisme = County Tourism Committee) of the Dordogne region, with lunch in Périgueux
• Afternoon: visit of the town with several representatives from the tourist office of Périgueux.
• Périgueux, beautiful capital of the Périgord area, is listed as ville d’art et d’Histoire (City of art and history) offering an incredible architecture with more than 2000 years of history. www.tourisme-perigueux.fr
  • Group 1: visit under the thematic of Gallo-Roman vestiges with the museum of Vésunna.
  • Group 2: visit of the medieval-Renaissance areas as well as the Cathedral of St Front.

• Night at the Etap Hotel
• 33 Rue Du Président Wilson
• 24000 Perigueux
• Tel: 08 92 68 32 37
• Fax: 05 53 35 93 42

April 4, 2007 — PERIGUEUX/BRANTOME

• Visit to the local market of Périgueux along with members of the Tourism Office, followed by a visit to the village of Brantome and the “Green Périgord.”
• Lunch with organizer from de Green Perigord region (www.fildutemps.com) at the restaurant “au fil du temps” in Brantôme (www.ville-brantome.fr)
• Following lunch:
  • Group 1: Will visit the amazing village of Brantôme (with its Abbey Benedictine, its bent bridge from the century…), commonly called “the Green Venice” of the Périgord region.
  • Group 2: Will visit the Regional natural Parc and its craftsmen, including visit of the knives industry and local museum of the charming small town of Nontron. The Nontron knives, oldest ones in France, are famous for its sleeve made with box tree.

• Night at the Etap Hotel

April 5, 2007 — BERGERAC

• Depart Périgueux for Bergerac
• Meet at the tourist office of Bergerac with it director: Pascal Dupouy. Visit of the town of Bergerac, legendary homeland of Cyrano de Bergerac (old commercial port, half-timbered houses, its typical squares and museums) www.gergerac-tourisme.com
• Following lunch in Bergerac, visit the surrounding country of Bergerac with its abbeys, castles and bastides from the medieval time.
  • Group 1: Along with Xavier La Verrie, producer and professional of the CIVRB (wine company of Bergerac) and the group will all go to a cellar belonging to the renowned “Route des Vins de Bergerac” (Bergerac wine road) www.vins-bergerac.fr
    Visit to the 2nd biggest vineyard of the Aquitaine region with 12000 hectares and its 13 known AOC quality wines (Monbazillac, Pécharmant,…).
  • Group 2: The second group will visit with Micheline Morissonneau some of the beautiful bastides of the Périgord region, medieval villages, some fortified French and English constructions (Monpazier, Beaumont du Périgord, Villefranche du Périgord) www.pays-des-bastides.com
• Return to Périgueux for dinner with Stephane Colin at the restaurant Le Cercle. Stephane, director of the New-Orleans Jazz festival organized every year in Périgueux during the week end of August 15.

• Night at the Etap Hotel

April 6, 2007 — PERIGORD/MONTIGNAC

• • Group 1: will visit (along with a member of the Perigord Cine Passion group) of the Hautefort château (and its traditional French gardens (place where the American movie Ever After was shot). www.chateau-hautefort.com
  • Group 2: From 9.30 am – 11.30 am: French cooking class at the restaurant “L’Imaginaire” located in Terrasson with the one of the top French chef (Michelin awarded). www.l-imaginaire.com
• Both groups and Micheline Morissonneau will enjoy lunch in the restaurant “L’Imaginaire”.
• Afternoon in the Vézère valley, enjoying its picturesque villages (St Geniès, St Amand de Coly, St Léon sur Vézère), its prehistoric sites (La Roque St Christophe, Les Eyzies de Tayac). Later, the group visits the famous Lascaux II caves in Montignac. This is an exact reproduction of the two original galleries. They will admire the 5 big black bulls, the red cows, some black, red, yellow and brown horses…as if it was the original paintings. www.semitour.com

• Night in Montignac at the Hotel “Gardette”
• 24290 Saint Amand de Coly
• Tel: 05 53 51 68 50
• Fax: 05 53 51 04 25
• www.hotel-gardette.fr

April 7, 2007 — SARLET/DORDOGNE VALLEY

• Drive with Katia Veyret from the Tourism Office of Sarlet to the medieval town of Sarlat, listed as “ville d’art et d’histoire” (city of art and history). Visit to the house of la Boëtie, the Maleville’s Hotel, and the market for a chance to taste local gastronomic products. www.sarlat-tourisme.com
• Following lunch, leave Sarlet for the Dordogne valley.
  • Group 1: Visit of the Dordogne’s valley castles« château des Milandes » (castel owned by Joséphine Bakker) located in Castelnaud La Chapelle, « château de Castelnaud” etc. www.milandes.com
  • Group 2: Driving trip in the Dordogne valley (driving through the picturesque villages of Domme, La Roque Gageac, Beynac, all listed as « plus beaux villages de France » (most beautiful villages of France) and the wonderful castles of Castelnaud, de Beynac… + mini river cruise on gabarre boats (typical boats of the region).

• Night at the Hotel/Restaurant “Plaisance”
• Le Port
• 24200 VITRAC (family owned place listed as “Logis de France”).
• Tel: 05 53 31 39 39
• Fax: 05 53 31 39 38
• www.hotelplaisance.com

April 8, 2007 — DORDOGNE

• Biking trip with a professional of the cycle touring, www.peritrek.com followed by a tour of the Marqueyssac’s gardens, www.marqueyssac.com . Lunch in the café located in the middle of the gardens.
• After lunch, everyone joins in a six kilometer egg hunt in the beautiful gardens of Marqueyssac, with astonishing view on the Dordogne Valley.

• Night at the Hotel/Restaurant “Plaisance”

April 9, 2007 — BORDEAUX

• Transfer from the Perigord region to Bordeaux (Gironde region) for a free day in Bordeaux.

• Night on own. The Dordogne region can book a bedroom for you at the citéa residence www.citea.com located in the center of Bordeaux.

April 10, 2007 — BORDEAUX

• Departure to Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport