In Transit: Overnight flight

Note: The hotel is located in a narrow historic street therefore the motorcoach drop off point is 300 feet from the hotel entrance. Luggage in and out of the hotel is handled by porters.

Afternoon: Group transfer from Bordeaux Mérignac Airport to the hotel in the heart of Bordeaux’s historic center. Introduction to the program with a welcome meeting.

Dinner: In a local restaurant within walking distance.

Lodging: Hotel Bordeaux Bayonne Etche Ona

Meals Included: Dinner

Note: Walking and standing on cobblestone streets in the historic district. Use public transportation. Walking up to 2 miles over the course of the day with frequent stops. Walking and standing in the museum.

Breakfast: Expanded Continental breakfast in the hotel breakfast room.

Morning: LECTURE: "Introduction to Bordeaux". FIELD TRIP on foot through Bordeaux’s historic center, including Saint-André Cathedral, a UNESCO listed monument. ENRICHMENT ACTIVITY: Taste the famous “canelets” the signature pastry of Bordeaux.

Lunch: Continue to the Chartrons district, home of Bordeaux’s great wine families, to learn about the importance of the wine trade at the Wine Museum, with a wine tasting and lunch featuring local products.

Afternoon: FIELD TRIP to Museum of Aquitaine, for an overview of the history of Bordeaux and its region.

Dinner: Your choice to explore local fare.

Lodging: Hotel Bordeaux Bayonne Etche Ona

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch

Bordeaux’s Wine Region: The Chateaux, Villages and Vineyards of Medoc and St. Emilion

Note: Travel by motorcoach. Walking up to 2 miles over the course of the day with frequent stops. Walking and standing on visit of Saint Emilion.

Breakfast: In the hotel breakfast room.

Morning: FULL DAY FIELD TRIP: Depart by private motorcoach to the Medoc and Saint-Emilion wine regions. LECTURE (on coach /on site): “Bordeaux wines: History and economic impact on the region” HANDS ON EXPERIENCE: wine tasting in a chateau of the Medoc region.

Lunch: At a chateau.

Afternoon: FIELD TRIP: Continue to Saint-Emilion, to explore the underground cathedral carved deep into the limestone. Enjoy some free time in the village. Return to Bordeaux.

Dinner: Your choice to explore local fare

Lodging: Hotel Bordeaux Bayonne Etche Ona

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch

Note: Travel by motorcoach. Walking and standing on cobblestones and paved streets in the historic center of Bayonne for 1.5 hours. Walking and standing at chocolate tasting.

Breakfast: In the hotel breakfast room.

Morning: Departure by coach to Bayonne, Capital of the French Basque Country. LECTURE “Basque Country and Culture”. FIELD TRIP on foot of the medieval district of Bayonne. Discover the cathedral, the city’s fortifications and its timbered houses.

Lunch: In a restaurant in Bayonne’s Old Town.

Afternoon: ENRICHMENT ACTIVITY: Learn why chocolate is important to Bayonne’s history at the workshop of an artisanal chocolate maker, complete with tasting.

Dinner: Your choice to explore local fare.

Lodging: Best Western Le Grand Hotel

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch

Note: Travel by motorcoach. Walking and standing on cobblestones and paved streets during visit of St Jean Pied de Port.

Breakfast: In the hotel breakfast room.

Morning: FULL DAY FIELD TRIP: Depart Bayonne by coach along the pilgrimage route of Saint James of Compostela, to the village of St. Jean Pied de Port. LECTURE en route: “The Phenomena of Religious Pilgrimage in the Middle Ages” Explore the village with your Study Leader.

Lunch: Enjoy typical Basque cuisine.

Afternoon: LECTURE en route: “The Spanish Basque people" Travel along the Nivelle Valley to the village of Espelette, famous for its peppers and to Aïnhoa, a “bastide” dating from the 17th century. Continue to the village of Sare and explore Ortillopitz, a restored Basque house that is a fine example of the typical ancestral farmhouses that are the pillars of traditional Basque culture. Return to Bayonne.

Dinner: In a local restaurant.

Evening: PERFORMANCE: Enjoy a private performance of traditional Basque folkdances.

Lodging: Best Western Le Grand Hotel

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

The Seaside Resorts of European Aristocracy: Saint Jean de Luz and Biarritz

Note: Travel by motorcoach. Walking and standing on cobblestones and paved streets during visit of Saint Jean de Luz.

Breakfast: In the hotel breakfast room.

Morning: FULL DAY FIELD TRIP: Departure by coach to Saint Jean de Luz, a seaside resort on the Atlantic Coast. Visit St Jean-Baptiste church where Louis XIV and the Spanish Crown Princess, Marie Thérèse were married in 1660. Explore the old port and the narrow streets where you might happen upon a fish auction, the Basque game of “pelota” - also known as jai alai – or the passionate fandango dance.

Lunch: In a local restaurant.

Afternoon: EXCURSION: Continue to Biarritz, made fashionable as the resort of the Spanish nobility. Stroll at your leisure to enjoy the magnificent setting; the rocky cliffs and seaside promenade. Return to Bayonne.

Dinner: Your choice to explore local fare.

Lodging: Best Western Le Grand Hotel

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch

Note: Travel by motorcoach. Walking and standing for up to 3 miles over the course of the day. Walking and standing on cobble stone and paved streets.

Breakfast: In the hotel breakfast room.

Morning: Depart to Lourdes. LECTURE en route: “The Story of Lourdes ”. EXCURSION: Explore the Domain; the Sanctuary and Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes independently.

Lunch: Lunch at a local restaurant

Afternoon: Continue to Pau. FIELD TRIP on foot through the center of Pau. Visit Pau castle, the birthplace of Henri IV (1553), which holds one of France’s most beautiful tapestry collections, and take in the panoramic views of the Pyrenees mountains as you learn how the city became prized as the tranquil winter resort of the British in the 19th century.

Dinner: Enjoy a traditional “Poule au pot” the dish of Henri IV, accompanied by Jurancon wine.

Lodging: Quality Hotel Pau Centre Bosquet

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Note: Full Day Field Trip by motorcoach with stops en route.

Breakfast: In the hotel breakfast room.

Morning: FULL DAY FIELD TRIP: Set out for the glaciated valley s and terraced fields of the Pyrenees National Park. LECTURE en route discusses the “People and pastoral life in the Bearn Region”, the largest of the formerly independent Pyrenees states.

Lunch: At a typical auberge, serving the traditional soup, “garbure,” a stew of ham with cabbage and other vegetables, usually with cheese and stale bread added. It was the daily sustenance of Gascon peasants.

Afternoon: In the village of Lourdios-Ichère, visit the eco museum, which presents agriculture today, the movement of cattle from the plains to the mountain, collecting ferns, sheep shearing, the choice of bells. ENRICHMENT ACTIVITY : Meet a nomadic shepherd and a sedentary farmer. Return to Pau .

Dinner: Your choice to explore local fare.

Lodging: Quality Hotel Pau Centre Bosquet

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch

Note: Walking and standing on Toulouse visit, 2 hours. The hotel is located in a pedestrian area therefore the motorcoach drop off point is 600 feet from the hotel entrance. Luggage in and out of the hotel is handled by porters. The walkway is paved and there is a ramp.

Breakfast: In the hotel breakfast room.

Morning: Departure by coach to Toulouse. FIELD TRIP on foot of the historic center of Toulouse: to Saint Sernin Basilica, the largest Romanesque church in Western Europe and a UNESCO World Heritage Site; the City Hall located within the “Capitole”- referring to Toulouse’s role as a capitol of the Roman Empire as well as the governing magistrates - with its incomparable facades blending brick and stone, its medieval Henry IV courtyard and its magnificent “Salle des Illustres”, housing 19th century works of art. Continue to the church and cloister of the Jacobins, forming one of the most complete group of monastic structures in France; and the 16th century Bernuy Mansion, whose octagonal staircase tower is the highest in the city.

Lunch: In a local restaurant.

Afternoon: LECTURE: “Introduction to the Languedoc region: Occitan people, land and culture.”

Dinner: ENRICHMENT ACTIVITY: Enjoy Toulouse-style Cassoulet, a slow-cooked casserole containing meat (typically pork sausages, goose, duck and sometimes mutton) and white navy beans. The dish is named after its traditional cooking vessel, the cassole, a deep, round, earthenware pot with slanting sides.

Lodging: Mercure Toulouse Saint Georges Hotel

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Note: One hour drive Toulouse-Albi. Walking and standiing in the Toulouse-Lautrec museum, two hours. Two-hour drive Albi-Carcassonne. Carcassonne is a walled medieval city with only pedestrian access. There is a slight incline from the entrance gate to the chateau.Walking on stone payment. One hour drive Carcassonne - Toulouse. This is a necessarily long day that allows the visit to both the museum in Albi and to Carcassonne.

Breakfast: In the hotel breakfast room.

Morning: FIELD TRIP to examine the complete retrospective of the works of Toulouse-Lautrec at the museum dedicated to him in Albi

Lunch: In a local restaurant.

Afternoon: Continue to the walled medieval city of Carcassonne, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Individual audio-guides are provided to explore the chateau at your leisure.

Dinner: Light dinner in Carcassonne.

Evening: Return to Toulouse.

Lodging: Mercure Toulouse Saint Georges Hotel

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Note: Travel by motorcoach. Rocamadour is built into the side of a cliff. Some stairs may be avoided by using the escalator, however there are many steps throughout the village that are unavoidable. Most of the village is pedestrian only.

Breakfast: In the hotel breakfast room.

Morning: Departure by coach to Sarlat, in the Dordogne region. ENRICHMENT ACTIVITY: taste locally-made cheese.

Lunch: In a local restaurant.

Afternoon: EXCURSION to Rocamadour, one of the most famous pilgrimage sites of medieval times. The charming village sits perched on the rugged face of a cliff rising 492 feet above the Alzou Canyon. Follow the path of pilgrims on the Great Stairway or stroll the narrow, pedestrian-only streets. Free Time in Rocamadour. Continue to Sarlat-le-Caneda, in the heart of the “black” Perigord, a reference to the dark foliage of the trees that cover the region.

Dinner: In a nearby restaurant.

Lodging: Hotel de Selves

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Note: Travel by motorcoach. Walking and standing for up to 2 hours. The Lascaux II cave is a reconstruction and the walking surface is paved and mostly flat. Walking and standing for 1 hour on the visit of Sarlat by night.

Breakfast: In the hotel breakfast room.

Morning: FULL DAY FIELD TRIP: Depart to the replica of the famous prehistoric cave, Lascaux II. LECTURE en route: “Prehistoric Art in the Perigord.” Continue to Les Eyzies, along the Vezere valley.

Lunch: In a local restaurant.

Afternoon: Discover the Cave of Rouffignac "Cave of a Hundred Mammoths" on an electric train ride through the caverns and view the more than 250 animal figure etchings that are scattered in this underground maze, made over 140 centuries ago. Return to Sarlat.

Dinner: Your choice to explore local fare.

Evening: FIELD TRIP: Walking exploration of Sarlat at night, when the picturesque stone streets and buildings are illuminated.

Lodging: Hotel de Selves

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch

The Dordogne Valley; Regional Gourmet Specialties and Medieval Bastides

Note: Travel by motorcoach on a full day excursion with multiple stops en route.

Breakfast: In the hotel breakfast room.

Morning: Wednesday is market day in Sarlat. Take some time at leisure to experience the open air market that occupies the main squares of the town. FIELD TRIP: Departure by coach to Vitrac, a charming village along the Dordogne River.

Lunch: Enjoy a gourmet experience of the tastes of the Perigord with a cooking demonstration at the chef-owned La Treille Restaurant.

Afternoon: Continue to Domme, a typical “bastide” from the 13th Century and medieval village, overlooking the Dordogne Valley. LECTURE en route: “Introduction to Bastides”. Continue through the Dordogne valley to La Roque Gageac, a scenic town set in the cliffs dropping to the banks of the Dordogne River. EXCURSION: Meet a truffle hunter and discover the secrets of truffles, a product famous in the gastronomy of the Perigord Region, and taste the “Black Diamond”. Return to Sarlat.

Dinner: Farewell dinner in a wine bar restaurant.

Lodging: Hotel de Selves

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Note: Walking and standing in the museum at your own pace. Travel by motorcoach.

Breakfast: In the hotel breakfast room.

Morning: FIELD TRIP: At the National Prehistory Museum of France, view the largest Paleolithic collection from prehistoric sites in the Vézère valley on a self-guided visit.

Lunch: In a local restaurant.

Afternoon: Continue the return drive to Bordeaux Martignac Airport, with final discussions en route to summarize all that we’ve experienced, tasted and learned.

Dinner: In the hotel restaurant. End of Program.

Lodging: Mercure Bordeaux Aeroport Hotel

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: In the hotel breakfast room.

Morning: The hotel operates a complimentary shuttle to the airport terminals.

Meals Included: Breakfast