FRANCE A LA CARTE
Mantet - outpost on the GR10

Mantet - the details

90 minutes from Perpignan airport. 2 1/2 hrs from Carcassonne and Gerona

Price includes:
3 nights in 3* b and b (sharing double or triple room)
full-board from dinner on day 1 to breakfast on day 4
Services of fully-qualified mountain guide
Rental car from Girona, Perpignan or Carcassonne airport (unlimited mileage, CDW insurance: type VW Polo or similar)

Price does not include:
Drinks
Personal expenses
Petrol
Travel insurance

2008 PRICES : ASK (Minimum 4 people. Maximum 10).

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NB - the 3 night program is available March to June and Sept to November.

In July and August there is only a 7 night program, Saturday to Saturday, which includes 3 outings including a two-day hike with packhorse into the high peaks.

BOOKING ENQUIRIES

HIKING in the EASTERN PYRENEES

WALKING NATURE DISCOVERY TRIP to the EASTERN PYRENEES

" the best b and b in the french Pyrenees"

4 days of nature activities in the high Pyrenees – walking, mushrooming, exploring a canyon and bathing in hot springs – two star B&B accommodation, full board and hire car included.

Right up by the Franco-Spanish border, at the end of a long and twisty road, lies Mantet, tiny stone-built village perched on the sunny southern side of the mountain at 1500 metres. This is your base for an exhilarating three day break where you will fall in love with this exceptional landscape. Your host Guy will take you on wonderful walks around the region, and Erica, your hostess will make you fall in love with traditional Catalan mountain cooking.

The programme goes roughly like this, weather and individual temperament permitting:

Friday: arrive Girona, Perpignan or Carcassonne airport
· Pick up your hire car and set off for Prades, Villefranche–de-Conflent and Mantet.
· Arrive late afternoon and settle into your room and have a look around the village, the ancient church and the café and take a small walk to the Mantet river
· Depending on flight times you may have time for a run up to the top of the hill just to get the feel of the place!
· Aperitif, dinner and overnight at the hostel.

Saturday: With Guy (a qualified mountain guide) you will take off for the day, tracking the nimble mountain izard, a type of Pyrenean chamois, which inhabit the upper valleys of the Mantet Reserve. From the high plateau of Pla Segala to the Spanish Border by way of the Roc Colom (2505m), there will be endless strange flora and fauna: the izards, enormous bearded vultures called gypaëtes barbus, the odd golden eagle as well as a wealth of mushrooms, orchids and wild carnations. Full picnic lunch provided.
· Dinner & overnight at hostel.

Sunday : Gorges de Carança and the hot thermal springs of St Thomas
Today’s outing starts with the “Gorges de Caranca” . Guy will guide you through this impressive canyon following a dramatic footpath which crosses rope bridges and hanging walkways. A certain head for heights required but no real danger. Guy will look after you – and provide another of his ‘mountain picnics’
· By afternoon we will have reached the hot springs of St Thomas, where we will bathe in the rocky pools where the healthy thermal spring water gushes out at 40°C.
· OR (in summer time when it’s too hot to take a hot bath) : the Villefranche adventure park: in a dry and rocky river valley you can spend 2 hours swinging from cables , ropes and rock-faces. A professional guide will provide the equipment and 100% security .
· Dinner & overnight at hostel

Monday: depending on flight times:
· A shorter or longer walk with Guy (botanical, pastoral …) in one of the 4 valleys of the Mantet territory
· A quick run into the forest for a last handful of morilles
· Early departure and a visit to Villefranche, or Ceret (modern art museum) or Figueras (the Dali Museum) on the way to the airport.

3* B&B accommodation. This programme is for 6 to 8 people, children welcome but they should be older than 8. Accommodation is in double rooms with either double bed or twins. 6 bed dormitory available. Meals are taken in the dining room around a wood fire. Home-cooking by Erica, professional chef. Wine not included in price. Lunches supplied by the B&B. This is recognized as one of the best b and b in the French Pyrenees.

You will need to bring: stout walking or hiking boots, rain clothes, warm clothes, swimming togs.