Walking holidays in SW France - megalithic sites & mediaeval villages

In late May and late September, when temperatures are comfortable, we offer specialised walking tours in the Montagnes Noires and the Corbieres Hills. With many years of hill-walking experience in Ireland, the Pyrenees and Languedoc, we are able to tailor walks specially for each group : not everyone wants to walk every day, and some partners prefer to rest by the pool.

Some events are themed : this year we are organising a long weekend of mixed walks for botantists and birdwatchers from Friday May 14 to Monday 17 (minimum 2 nights - see Birdwatching Page for more details) and a geocaching weekend for those who enjoy hi-tech orienteering/treasure-hunting with GPS trackers (see Geocaching, above).

Immediately following the geocaching weekend, we are offering a flexible-stay week (minimum 2 nights) with explorations of the megalithic sites of the region - the dolmens and menhirs of the Neolithic and Bronze Ages, from Monday May 24 to Friday 28.

If you're interested in wine, Le Cerf Gris is a great place to start your wine tour. It's more than thirty years since wine was made by the house, but the stables and barns and cellar give you an idea of how each wine maker's house was almost a village in microcosm, with forge, sawmill and stables. The eight barrels in the cellar, made in situ, are over six feet in diameter.

In the village itself you can taste Corbieres AOC wine from four very different producers, one of which is now fully organic (exporting to New York and Los Angeles). Our favourite 'petits vignerons' make wine the old fashioned way: picking by hand (in an age where machine-stripping is becoming the norm), cooking and eating with the vendangeurs, adding very little sulphur preservative, not flash-pasteurizing and not oaking. But on the other hand, the doctor's wine - Chateau de Lanes - which does undergo all these treatments, has been a regular on the shelves of Marks & Spencers for a number of years.

As a member of one of France's oldest 'learned societies' - la Societé d’Études Scientifiques de l’Aude [S.E.S.A.] - and as an active researcher and writer on the prehistoric vestiges of our region, Richard - your host at Le Cerf Gris - can take you on a fascinating tour of some of the country's most important Neolithic burial sites. Some dolmens may not impress with their more humble dimensions - but they too have an interesting story to tell, and frequently occupy beautiful and commanding positions in the wild landscape.

A short drive takes us over the Aude and the Canal du Midi to the mediaeval village of Minerve, balanced high above the junction of two rivers. Limestone pavements or 'causses' encourage specific flowers to flourish here.