ESCORTED TOURS to French Catalonia

Included in prices :
- Transport in luxury mini van
- The services of a professional driver guide throughout the tour with commentaries in English.
- Accommodation and meals for the driver
- Accommodation in 3* hotel in Toulouse and 4* hotel in Perpignan
- Breakfast from day 2 to day 6.
- 4 dinners
- Visits as mentioned :
- Cité de Carcassonne including château comtal - Villefranche de Conflent and Fort Liberia - Modern Art museum of Ceret - Dali museum in Figueres - Dali Triangle (Figueres, Port Lligat, Putbol) - Cathedral & cloister of Elne - Guided visit (2 hours) of Toulouse (no entrances)

BOOKING ENQUIRIES

Other escorted tours in France:

a Tale of Pink Cities

Carcassonne and Catharism

Romanesque Art

Biarritz & Basque Country

Dordogne Discovery

Bordeaux Wine Tour

Carcassonne & Catalonia

French Food and Wine

Airbus and Foster's viaduct

Cave Paintings in France

CARCASSONNE & FRENCH CATALONIA

Wine, cuisine, history and culture of a region off the beaten track

This French wine and cuisine tour programme presents the wine, food and culture of the Languedoc-Roussillon and Catalonia region, as a heady mix of French, Catalan and Spanish culture, in Southwest France. The five-day/four-night trip is designed to provide a coherent balance of culture, gastronomy and tasting and is based in the capital of French Catalonia, Perpignan.

Day 1 : Toulouse / Carcassonne / Perpignan
Gather in Toulouse
Departure for Carcassonne
Visit the citadel which dominates the old town.

It's a town within a town, a maze of narrow cobbled streets within severe ramparts of thick walls and turreted towers, but bustling with life and colour.
• Perpignan
Perpignan is an enjoyable city with a lively street life. Its heyday was in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, when the kings of Majorca held their court here. Located on the Mediterranean coast at the foot of the Eastern Pyrenees there is a heady mix of French and Catalonian culture.
Dinner and overnight in Perpignan.

La Villa Duflot****
Perpignan

Location :
Overlooking the town of Perpignan, in an estate rich in palm trees and Cypresses, the Villa Duflot is an island of peace and tranquillity at the heart of the Languedoc-Roussillon: a warm welcome awaits.

Rooms :
24 spacious rooms and suites, sound-proofed and air-conditioned, give on to the mediterranean patio with its scent of orange blossom or on to the pool and the wooded gardens.
Rooms are decorated in art déco style and boast king-size beds, wifi, satellite tv, personal safe, mini-bar, bathroom with tub and shower, hairdryer and terrace.

Restaurant :
Michel Védrines (1 star in the Michelin guide) works with a range of local produce: fruit and vegetables from Roussillon and Catalonia, fish from the Mediterranean, meat, cold cuts and cheeses from the Pyrenees .. a gourmet cuisine with an exotic touch.
La Vinothèque – the restaurant cellar - is quite exceptional with over 5000 bottles including over 150 locally produced wines from Côtes de Roussillon Villages and Collioure. Franck Mauger, the sommelier, is only too happy to advise.
Service:
A wonderful warm ambience of an Italian villa with its terraces, salons in colours of the sun and the earth, bars and turquoise pool will seduce and impress.

Day 2  : Perpignan / Prades / Villefranche de Conflent / Ceret / Perpignan

• Prades situated at the confluence of several rivers and the foot of the Canigou Mountain. St Peter’s Church is the most important monument of the town, rebuilt in the 17th century to replace a Romanesque church.
•Villefranche de Conflent is a mediaeval walled city founded in the XIth century and further fortified in the XVIIth century by the most famous and effective French military architect Maréchal Vauban. Villefranche is one of the 14 areas chosen to represent the work of Vauban and to be accepted as a UNESCO world heritage site.
• Céret : The Museum of Modern Art at: nearby Céret has works by many artists including Picasso, Dufy, Braque, Gris, Soutine, Dali, Chagall …. as well as works by more recent artists.

Dinner and Overnight in Perpignan.

Day 3 : Le Canet / Cadaques & Salvador Dali's Triangle/ Perpignan
(about 280 km. Of which 150 by highway)
• Cadaques is a traditional Mediterranean fishing village with steep cobbled streets, white-washed houses and surrounded by olive groves. It owes its notoriety to the artists who passed through (Matisse, Picasso, Max Ernst ...) and especially Salvador Dali who made it 'his village'.
Depart for Figueres and 'Salvador Dali’s Triangle.'
• The life and works of Salvador Dali from Figueres are condensed into three emblematic areas:
The Dalí Theatre-Museum in Figueres perfectly represents Dali's extravagant nature combining the collection of his works and installations.
The House-Museum in Portlligat a small village adjacent to Cadaques is the place where Dali lived with his wife Gala for many years (till 1982) and created the major part of his works. The house in Portlligat is probably the most interesting one of all three museums - it is a private place built step by step incorporating many amusing ideas.
The Púbol Castle where he spent last days of his life. The Gala Dalí Castle in Púbol allows visitors to discover a mediaeval building in which Salvador Dalí lent material form to an exuberant creative effort with his mind set on one person, Gala.
Dinner and Overnight in Perpignan.

Day 4 : Perpignan / Elne /Collioure / Toulouse
• Elne - 13 km south of Perpignan, on the way to the resorts of the Côte Vermeille lies the town of Elne. It's worth a stop for its fortified, partially Romanesque cathedral and extremely beautiful cloister.

• Collioure
The heritage of Collioure is the result of a rich history of successive invasions. Monuments were built, destroyed and built again. In 1905, Matisse and Derain discovered Collioure and invented the Fauvist Art movement.
Free time in Collioure and depart for Toulouse.
Dinner and Overnight in Toulouse

Day 5 : Toulouse

Breakfast at your hotel.
2 hours walking tour “Discovering Toulouse” : this tour offers a comprehensive overview of the main sites and monuments. During the tour, you will be able to admire the Capitole city hall and Saint-Sernin basilica, as well as many churches and private mansions, and appreciate the wonderful views along the Garonne River.
End of our services.