[click photos to enlarge]
Borde Basse [click to enlarge]"Discover Gascony"
A 7-night cultural holiday based at Borde Basse, our 200-year-old traditional farmhouse.
Visit some of the most beautiful towns, villages, châteaux and churches in this historic part of South-West France.

950€ per person per week
200€ single supplement		Moissac [click to enlarge]
The holiday includes:
  • Accommodation at Borde Basse in a spacious double room with private bathroom
  • Half-board: breakfast and evening meal each day at Borde Basse
  • Tea, coffee, aperitifs, beer and wine on a self-service basis at Borde Basse
  • Six day trips in air-conditioned vehicles with knowledgeable English guides
  • Transfers from Toulouse on the first day and back to Toulouse on the final day
  • Loan of easels and stools for those wishing to sketch or paint
  • NB: lunches and entry charges not included
Discover Gascony : The Programme
Day 1 Saturday - Arrival:
Collected from Toulouse at 15:00 by your host, Mike Nicholls.

Arrival at Borde Basse, with time to unpack and settle in to your comfortable bedroom before exploring the country lanes, woods and farmland nearby with your sketchbook, or relaxing in the gardens, by the pool with a book or enjoying a swim.

Aperitifs on the terrace before the evening meal.
Briefing on the week’s programme by your hosts in the lounge.		The poolside terrace at Borde Basse [click to enlarge]
Day 2 Sunday - A day in the Gers, La Romieu, Larresingle:
Breakfast at your leisure, then leave at 9:30 to visit La Romieu and the Coursiana Gardens. La Romieu is a lovely bastide village with arcades and a magnificent 14th-century collegiate church with cloisters.

Coursiana Gardens has an arboretum of 700 species, including over 60 varieties of lime/linden trees, a fascinating garden of aromatic & medicinal plants and beautiful rose and herbaceous gardens.
Lunch in La Romieu at a village restaurant.		Larresingle [click to enlarge]
Drive to Larresingle, a tiny, walled medieval village surrounded by a moat which was once the summer residence of the bishops of Condom. Larresingle is now designated one of "des plus beaux villages de France". Visit the interesting museum, craft shops, keep and church, with time to sketch, paint or relax.
Return to Borde Basse, aperitifs and evening meal.
Day 3 Monday - Aveyron Gorge, Cordes, Château de Mauriac:
Breakfast at your leisure, then leave at 9:30 to drive through Les Gorges de l’Aveyron, a spectacular valley with medieval villages and castles perched either side on the clifftops. Arrive in Cordes-sur-Ciel to explore, sketch, paint and find a restaurant for lunch! Cordes-sur-Ciel was a wealthy small town in medieval times and has some magnificent medieval architecture. Built on a steep hill and with superb views, the town often appears to be floating on a cloud on misty mornings.		Château de Mauriac [click to enlarge]
After lunch, drive to the amazing 14th-century Château de Mauriac. Bought as a ruin in the 1960s, the painter, Bernard Bistes, has spent his life rebuilding and restoring the château, which now houses a wide and varied range of his own work.
Return to Borde Basse, aperitifs and evening meal.
Day 4 Tuesday - Moissac, Auvillar:
Breakfast at your leisure, then leave at 9:30 for Moissac, which is situated on the River Tarn and the Canal-des-Deux-Mers. Walk around the old town, explore the craft shops and galleries in the "rue des Arts" and visit the abbey and cloisters before driving to "Auberge de Bardigues", an outstanding local restaurant for lunch. The abbey and cloisters at Moissac date from 1063 and many of the stone carvings and sculptures are thought to be some of the finest examples of Romanesque art in France.		Moissac : the abbey [click to enlarge]
After lunch, sketch, paint or explore the village of Auvillar with its unusual circular marketplace and ceramics museum. Named as one of "des plus beaux villages de France", the half-timbered buildings are built in old red brick and overlook the Garonne valley, where a small port on the river was used for the export of local painted ceramic ware.
Return to Borde Basse, with time to go for a walk, have a swim in the pool, paint, sketch or relax before aperitifs and the evening meal.
Day 5 Wednesday - Toulouse, "La Ville Rose":
Breakfast at your leisure, then leave at 9:30 for Toulouse to visit the 11th-century basilica of St-Sernin, the unusual gothic convent church and cloisters of the Jacobins, the "Salle des Illustres" in the Capitol building with its huge impressionist paintings by Henri Martin and the superb renaissance Hôtel d’Assézat, which houses the fabulous Bemberg art collection of furniture, sculptures and paintings by Cranach, Tintoretto, Veronese, Sisley, Bonnard, Dufy, Picasso and many others. Lunch at the Marché Victor Hugo.		Toulouse : Hôtel d’Assézat [click to enlarge]
Known as "La Ville Rose" because of the warm red colour of the roman brick buildings built either side of the River Garonne, Toulouse is the capital city of the region and is now the fourth largest city in France. The mediaeval centre has narrow winding streets with small shops which lead to the impressive Place du Capitole, magnificent merchants’ palaces and numerous churches and convents.
Return to Borde Basse, aperitifs and evening meal.
Day 6 Thursday - Prehistoric caves, Lot Valley:
Breakfast at your leisure, then leave at 9:00 to drive along the valley of the River Lot to Pech Merle. Known for its rich Cahors wines, the Lot is one of the most beautiful rivers in France. Enjoy a guided visit of the Pech Merle prehistoric caves with their incredible 25,000-year-old paintings of horses, reindeer, bears and mammoths. Drive to St-Cirq-Lapopie to choose a restaurant for lunch.		St-Cirq-Lapopie [click to enlarge]
This medieval village, which is also one of "des plus beaux villages de France" winds up a cliff which overlooks the Lot valley and has superb views of the river. Explore the narrow pedestrian streets with their restaurants, craft shops and even a ruined castle!
Return to Borde Basse, aperitifs and evening meal.
Day 7 Friday - Albi & Toulouse-Lautrec:
Breakfast at your leisure, then leave at 9:30 for Albi, the chief town of the Tarn department and the birthplace of Toulouse-Lautrec. Albi’s austere red-brick cathedral dominates the town and has an interior which is as lavish as the exterior is severe. The cathedral is a symbol of power illustrating the defeat of the Cathars in the Albigensian crusade		Albi : view from the archbishop’s palace (Toulouse Lautrec museum) [click to enlarge]
Visit the Cathédrale Ste-Cécile, the cloisters of St-Salvi, the winding streets of the old town and choose a restaurant for lunch. After lunch, see the Toulouse–Lautrec collection in the imposing archbishop’s palace.
Return to Borde Basse, with time to relax before aperitifs and the evening meal.
Day 8 Saturday : Departure:
Breakfast at your leisure, then leave for Toulouse and your journey home.
Special features of this holiday:
  • Borde Basse is not a hotel but a private residence providing a warm and relaxed family atmosphere. Your hosts, Mike and Kate Nicholls, live on site and will be available throughout to help you feel at home and to guide you on your visits. They can also provide advice and assistance with additional travel arrangements.
  • Guests have exclusive use of a lounge, kitchen (for tea, coffee, snacks etc), terrace, garden and swimming pool, plus wi-fi access in the house, the use of a PC and use of a washing machine.
  • No constant packing and unpacking as you have the same comfortable accommodation for the whole week.
  • No long coach journeys – you will be chauffeured in an air-conditioned car and the longest trips are no more than a 200-kilometre round trip (most are much shorter).
  • Quiet, restful surroundings with opportunities for painting and sketching.
  • Briefings on places to be visited each day.
2012 Dates
Participants are collected from Toulouse on Saturday afternoon and taken back to Toulouse the following Saturday morning.
  • Saturday 9 June to Saturday 15 June
  • Saturday 8 September to Saturday 15 September
How to book
To make a reservation, please e-mail : mikeandkate@bordebasse.co.uk
  • To confirm your reservation, a 15% deposit must be sent at the time of booking (by bank transfer or by credit card via PayPal).
  • The balance should be paid by 1 April 2012 (for the June programme) or by 1 August 2012 (for the September programme).
Your Hosts
Mike and Kate Nicholls, your hosts, have lived in this unspoilt part of France for 20 years. After many years spent working overseas teaching in Africa and running English language schools for the British Council in Egypt, Singapore and Japan, they decided to establish their own English language school in France at Borde Basse where they ran residential courses for small groups from the French Directorate of Civil Aviation and other major international companies. In 2010, they decided to retire from language teaching, but are now offering art and culture holidays for two weeks each year. Mike will be your guide on most of the trips and hopes that you will share his enthusiasm for this beautiful, but little-known, historic part of France.
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