Programme:
Day 1: arrive in Toulouse or Carcassonne : settle into
your central hotel in Toulouse and step out to explore
the Romanesque heritage of this Roman city: the Basilique
St Sernin, the Augustin and Jacobin monasteries ... and
the tomb of St Thomas of Aquinas. Overnight in 3* hotel.
Day 2
South into the Pyrenean piedmont, by way of Mas d'Azil
and its extraordinary cave which we can drive through,
to visit the Parc
de l'Art Préhistorique in
Tarascon: this will give a taste and an explanation of
what is to come.
On a few kilometres to the Caves of NIAUX, an important
site with paintings of bison, dear and bear dating from
the Magdelian age. The only tour of the day in english
is scheduled for 1pm.
Then on to Massat and St Girons and St Gaudens to
visit ST BERTRAND de
COMMINGES , its cathedral and the
Roman church of St Just de Valcabère.
Overnight in country auberge in St
Laurent de Neste.
Day 3
GARGAS - la grotte des MAINS - paintings and etchings
from the late Paleolithic (about 27,000 BC) of which the
most startling and unusual are the 'hands'. 
Silhouettes
and stencils of human hands, all shapes and sizes, some
with fingers missing, out-lined in strong reds and ochres.
Hands have appeared in other caves and other civilizations
but Gargas presents the most singular collection in the
world.
VILLA ROMAINE de MONTMAURIN - a well-preserved Roman Villa
just north of St Gaudens. The site is unspoilt and probably
unchanged since roman times.
overnight in St
Laurent de Neste
Day 4
Drive to Lourdes, the holy city of Bernadette, to visit
the Sanctuary.
On into the Basque Country and the Grotte de Oxocelhaya,
a little-known splendour of high-vaulted chambers with
colourful stalagmites and a number of cave drawings and
paintings dating back 50,000 years to the Bronze Age. The
caves around Isturitz housed important Paleolithic settlements
and much remains to be explored.
overnight in Biarritz, on the Atlantic coast.
Day 5 - breakfast - return to airport
(3 hours)/continue trip
