France's Lot Valley Walk
Day 1:
After meeting the group at Toulouse airport, you will be driven to your first accommodation. En route, you will stop at the pretty pink Hotel les Thermes for a light lunch in the medieval village of St Antonin Noble Val which is seated on the banks of the river Aveyron under the formidable Roc d’Anglars. In the afternoon your guide will tell you more about this extraordinary town that was restored by Violet le Duc in the nineteenth century and described by him as a museum of medieval architecture. You will drive on to the Château Couanac which is now owned by the Count and Countess d’Armagnac de Castenet and was once owned by the Prince Bishops of Cahors. It is a splendidly majestic chateau that greets you after a short drive through the large oaks of the estate. There is time to wind down before dinner with tea and to wander, at leisure, through the grounds with the grazing sheep. You will spend two nights in their simply and beautifully restored gites (shared facilities for two bedrooms) and eat traditional French food cooked by the Countess herself.
Day 2:
Your first day of walking will be a good stretch through the surrounding causses that are seeped in ancient history. You will meander between dry stone walls, paths littered with Early Purple Orchids and see interesting gariottes, dolmens and wells which are landmarks of this well grazed causse, before returning to Château Couanac for the first of Diana’s picnics beneath the massive oaks and maples. After lunch, a stroll around the grounds for those keen on walking or you can take it easy, read, paint, swim and just enjoy your surroundings at leisure. Dinner at Couanac. Walk: 7 miles
Day 3:
Accompanied by donkeys, you will leave the majesty of Couanac, and set out on you journey through the causse with its typical stonewall paths and wonderful flowers. You will arrive to an area where you will feel like you are in the middle of nowhere for a lovely al fresco picnic with your hostess in a pasture surrounded by lombardy poplars and cliffs. After lunch you will climb a big hill and soon find yourselves in the medieval cliff hanging village of St Cirq Lapopie. Surrounded by iron red and manganese blue cliffs, you will have an outstanding position over the river Lot. An area cited as being one of the most beautiful villages in France. As you are there during the off season it is truly a magical experience, especially at night when it is beautifully floodlit and quiet. You stay at La Pelissaria where you will spend the next three nights in comfort and with wonderful views. Dinner at L’Oustal in St Cirq Lapopie. Walk: 10 miles
Day 4:
You will cross the river Lot and walk up to the outstanding views of the river valley. Donkeys in tow, you will walk to the sixteenth century Chateau of Cénévières where you will have a picnic lunch on the terrace perched above the river that overlooks Lot valley and across to the hilltop village of Calvagnac. You will have a special visit with the owner, Monsieur de Braquilanges, whose family bought the chateau from the Gordons of Scotland at the time of the Revolution. While you wander back along the river valley, keep an eye out for kingfishers as you return to St Cirq. Dinner L’Atelier, St Cirq (Chef = Hugues). Walk: 11.5 miles with vehicle option
Day 5:
You will be driven to St Sulpice where, with donkeys and kit you will walk the ‘Four Bridges’ along the cliffs and down the Célé valley littered with lofty poplars and checkered with fields where corn can be seen stacked in stooks. Lunch at ‘Chez Pierrette’, in the historic village of Marcillhac, for a delicious local feast on the terrace beneath the cliffs. This is where Pompidou regularly ate when on holiday. Its beautiful Romanesque abbey overlooks the river. A chance to take the afternoon off at St Cirq to relax; paint, read, swim etc. Or, set off in the afternoon towards Sauliac where the last of the stone bridges spans the babbling brook. Drive to St Cirq. Dinner at the Quercy Gourmet. Walk: 4.5 miles + optional 4.5 miles
Day 6:
Walk to Bouziès along the tow path, carved into the cliffs alongside the Lot, where the heavy barges trailed by slow horses slid along these paths and which is a famous part of the equally famous Chemin de St Jacques. You will be met by vehicles and drive along roads chiseled through the cliffs before reaching the hustle and bustle of the market at the ancient city of Cahors. You will have lunch today at the Vieux Cahors restaurant before a drive through the Quercy Blanc landscape. Here you will visit the famous medieval masterpiece of the Pont Valentré and the tiny bastide of Castelfranc before arriving at Le Vert, Mauroux where you will stay for your last two nights. Walk: 3 miles
Day 7:
This morning you will be dropped off for a long walk through the gentleness of the Quercy Blanc passing through pastures full of orchids and other wild flowers. Here you can hope to see some of the local birds such as the golden oriole, hoopoe and nightingales. You will visit a local lavender distillery before arriving at the Château Figeac where you will be welcomed by Diana before a table laden with local produce. The Chateau Figeac is the home of the de Roaldès’ family, a family in the Quercy since the sixteenth century. Later you will take a drive to a charming fourteenth century frescoed church before returning to Le Vert for tea. Walk: 7 miles
Day 8:
You leave in the morning for Toulouse airport.
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