Depart Bristol at 6.30am for London St. Pancras where we board Eurostar for the rail journey through the Tunnel to Lille. Transfer there to the T.G.V. for the rail journey down to Montpellier where we arrive late evening and are collected by French coach and taken to our 3*** Mercure Sete Balaruc les Bains hotel, our first base for the tour where we shall spend the next five nights.
A day to relax after our train journey. We start with a guided tour of the delightful port town of Sete followed by lunch at leisure. The afternoon is free to spend time in Sete or at Balaruc les Bains, famous for being France's third spa town. There is time to swim in the sea or at the pool of the hotel.
We shall spend the day in Montpellier with a guided tour of historic Montpellier in the morning and lunch at leisure. The afternoon is free to explore Montpellier with its range of museums, the Promenade de Peyrou or the post-modern architecture of the Antigone district.
We start with a leisurely drive down the coast, heading west past Béziers and along the Canal du Midi for lunch in lower Carcassone. In the afternoon we have a guided visit to the 'Cité' of Carcassone, the largest fortress in Europe. We return to our Balaruc hotel bypassing Narbonne.
Today we return to Narbonne for the morning free to explore this fascinating city, the ancient capital of Gallia Narbonensis, with its archaeological museum possessing one of the finest collections of Roman paintings. We have the chance to see also the Cathedral St-Just and the Archbishops Palace. We take lunch at leisure before travelling the short distance to the tranquil setting of the tastefully restored old Cistercian Abbey of Fontfroide for a guided tour, with time to inspect the rose garden.
Leaving Balaruc we start the day with a visit and tasting of the delightful Noilly Prat aperitives, whose production seems to defy all notions of carefully adjusted temperatures as is common to so many drinks producers in France. We travel to Béziers for lunch at leisure and time to explore. Mid-afternoon we rejoin the coach for the leisurely drive along the coast to Perpignan and our second base at the Park Hotel.
A full day in Perpignan with a guided tour of Old Perpignan in the morning and the rest of the day free to explore this city. With its Catalan links, it was once the capital city of the Kings of Majorca and still has the old Palace enclosed by the later citadel.
Today we visit the Cerdagne region in the eastern Pyrénées. We travel up the Tet valley, calling en route to see the geological formations intriguingly named 'organ pipes' near Ile-sur-Tet. We stop for lunch at leisure in Font Romeu then follow the road looping around the Llivia, which is Spanish territory enclosed within France. The rest of the day is spent on a lovely scenic drive via Mont Louis and the Aude valley to Axat, returning to Perpignan along the Maury valley.
A day spent along the rocky Cote Vermeille coastline south of Perpignan. We travel to Banyuls for a visit and tasting of the famous wines. We will retrace to Collioure, in its beautiful setting so beloved of painters, for lunch and time to explore this delightful town which is well known for its anchovies.
For our last full day in this area we travel up the winding roads of the Tech valley to the walled fortress town of Prats-de-Mollo. We then retrace to Ceret in the fruit-growing area with irrigated orchards of peach, apricot and cherry. Ceret has a spacious museum of Modern Art.
We leave our Perpignan hotel today and travel to the fascinating exhibit and museum of prehistoric man at Tautavel where remains of early humans dating back around 450,000 years were found in 1971. We then return to our first base at Balaruc les Bains to overnight.
Taken by coach to the T.G.V. station at Montpellier for our return rail journey via Lille to London and collection by coach for the return to Bristol, arriving around 8pm.