FRANCE A LA CARTE
SELF-DRIVE
TOURS
Carcassonne,
Toulouse, Albi
PRICE: from €350
per person
includes
3 nights bed & breakfast in superior double room in hotel 3*
1 gourmet dinner on first night
entrance to Abbey museum
3 days rental car ex-Carcassonne or Toulouse airport (VW Golf with CDW, insurance
and unlimited mileage)
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These
are short breaks based on a hire car awaiting you at the regional
airport of
your choice, accommodation reserved for you in advance in country
inns or guesthouses ... and a 'suggested itinerary' mapped out
for you. You can stick to our suggestions (they are based on
years of experience and actually living here!) or just use the
programme
as a rough guide. You can be between one and five people, as
you wish.
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Cultural
weekend in the French Midi based near CARCASSONNE
Discover three mediaeval centres in one weekend
from a base in an 8th century abbey in the country. Gourmet dinner,
3* hotel and rental car included. 
Our cultural break is based in the tiny village
of Soreze at the southern tip of the Massif central. Equidistant
from Carcassonne, Albi and Castres it is the perfect base from
which to explore these three ancient cities.
The suggested programme:
Friday:
arrival in Carcassonne, pick up rental car and exploration of
the fortified citadel of
Carcassonne before a leisurely drive through the vineyards of Cabardès
to Revel, in the lea of the Montagne Noire (40 minutes). Settle
into your room in the 3* Abbey-hotel and take a look around the
tiny mediaeval village before a champagne welcome and gourmet dinner
of regional specialities. Overnight in Abbey.
Saturday:
drive over through the Gaillac vineyards to Albi, magnificent
pink-bricked town on
the banks of the Tarn. Admire the fortified cathedral of Ste Cécile
before touring the Toulouse-Lautrec museum in the old Bishop's
Palace. Lunch where you will in one of the many restaurants in
Albi.
After lunch a thirty-minute run through the Tarn
countryside brings you to Castres - the Midi's best-kept secret.
This unpretentious weaver's town over-looking the river Agout abounds
with interesting corners and sights. Above all it houses a museum
devoted to the works of Goya among which:
* Self-portrait with glasses, c. 1800
* The portrait of Francisco del Mazo, 1815-1820
* The Phillipine Junta, 1815
From Castres you could go on to Mazamet - a protestant
weavers' stronghold - and a few miles further to Hautpoul, one
of the most extraordinary village strongholds in the area. Children
especially like this as they do the ajoining 'toy museum' which
celebrates all-wood toys - made on the spot.
Return to Soreze (25 kms). Overnight in Abbey.
Sunday:
A day with which to catch up on the sights of the previous days
- return to Castres or Carcassonne
- or even to explore nearby Toulouse with its exceptional galleries
and museums housed in 16th century townhouses, its 'Space Centre'
and its tree-lined boulevards. Alternatively you could go to the
Lac Ferréol a few miles away for a spot of sun-bathing and
swimming. Overnight in Abbey.
Monday: Guided tour of the Abbey's
buildings and estate. Return to Carcassonne airport.
This programme is only a suggestion: you may prefer
to take things a little easier and use the abbey as a base to explore
the local villages and countryside. For example, the Saturday market
in Revel (10 minutes) in the 13th century market hall is a fascinating
experience as is a visit to the 'Woad' museum in Magrin. The distances
involved in these suggested itineraries are really very small:
you barely leave the Tarn département.
how to get there:
by hire car (included in price) it is a 40 minute drive from Carcassonne airport
to the Abbey and 60 minutes from Toulouse.
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accommodation
Premium quality double room in a 3* Abbey-Hotel - a French Historical Monument.
There are only a handful of Historical Monuments in France where the public
can actually spend the night: this is one of them. Set in a 20 acre estate,
the abbey dates back to the year 754 when monks built the first abbey on one
of the pilgrim's ways to St Jacques de Compostelle.
Repeatedly
destroyed and rebuilt, it was Louis XIII who finally established
the building we see today
in 1636. Louis XVI turned it into a Royal Military Academy and added the
'swimming pool' so that future officers (and his son) could learn
to swim. And this was
in 1776!
The
rooms, with private bathroom and toilet, are spacious and superbly
decorated, each one giving on to either the verdant
park or shady courtyards.
The restaurant is top quality with regional specialities served in eye-catching
fashion.
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