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At Chateau de Laumiere, you are
warmly invited to experience a beautiful, peaceful
corner of Southwestern France – and do as much or as
little as you like. Family owned and home to Chris,
Lynda and Tanya, Chateau de Laumiere offers luxury
accommodation and a truly wonderful environment in
which to relax, chill out and ride lovely horses. We
generally ride for three hours in the mornings.
You’ll discover picturesque farmland with small
fields separated by pretty dry stone walls and
mature woodland sloping gently upwards to open out
onto scenic countryside that stretches forever to
meet with clear blue skies. The only sounds being
perhaps the call of a buzzard as it glides
effortlessly, high above you.
After a delicious, substantial lunch, you can either
snooze in the gardens - or by the new swimming pool
- and help yourself to unlimited refreshments. Or
explore this fabulous area with its many sights,
attractions and activities. Or if you wish, you can
arrange extra riding (also lessons) for the
afternoon.
Relaxing is as important as riding, so although
you’ll need to be fit enough for a few good hours in
the saddle, you’ll also have plenty of time to enjoy
all the other aspects of your holiday too!
On that note, you can be as formal or informal as
you like. This is your holiday and the choice is
yours!
 IT-FRSR05
Rates include accommodation with private
bath, breakfast, 6 lunches and 3 dinners with
5 riding days
8
days/ 7 nights $ 1,495
Single room +$250
-- based on € 955 / 162
2008 Dates:
Weekly from Saturday to Saturday - all year
Meeting: Promihanes
Airport: Rodez
Train:
Cahors train station
Transfer: Euros 150
from Rodez airport return for up to 4 people. From
Toulouse on request.
Level:
levels from novice to
advanced can be catered to
Pace: all paces according
to riding level
Tack:
English
Horses:
Irish
Sport, Anglo Arab,
Merens French selle
Min/Max: 2-6 riders
Min Age: 14 years
Shorter stays
are available:
4 days/ 3 nights - 3
riding days --
Breakfast, 3 lunches and 1 dinner, (arrival
FR, SA, SU or MO)
$ 745
-- based on € 470
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5 days/ 4 nights -
4 riding days --
Breakfast, 4 lunches and 2 dinners, (arrival FR, SA
or SU)
$ 945
-- based on € 588
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-- extra riding hours are available at
~€30
Accommodations
Laumiere is situated in seventy acres of land on
the Causse de Limogne, with superb views over the
surrounding countryside from all rooms. It offers
spacious gardens, a large outdoor arena, a cross
country course, and the attractive stable block is
just a stone’s throw from the house - making it the
ultimate way to enjoy riding in France.
When you’re on holiday, and certainly after a few
hours horse riding, you’ll want to enjoy a little
luxury at the end of the day.
The three Chateau bedrooms are a very good size and
extremely comfortable. They all have en suite shower
rooms (one also has a bath) with towels, soap,
shampoo, shower gel and hairdryer supplied, tea and
coffee making facilities. One room has an oak four
poster bed, one a super king-size bed, or the option
of twin beds if required (please state at time of
booking) and the third room opens directly onto the
garden and has twin beds.
On the first floor is the main salon room with yet
another spectacular fireplace and views out to both
sides of the house. This is a large, comfortable
room which includes a well-stocked small library
with books to suit most tastes - all of which you
are welcome to browse through during your stay. The
lovely garden area around the house has several
shady seating areas, including the 'secret garden'
which also has a hammock. For sun worshippers, there
are loungers on the two sun terraces - one of which
surrounds the new swimming pool (10mx5m).
You'll also find our bread oven which is yet another
extremely cool and comfortable place to sit - and
although we don’t bake our own bread, it is
extremely useful for the odd barbeque.
Meals
Exploring the Southern French countryside on
horseback will boost your appetite - so we're here
to keep you well fed! You will have breakfast and
dinner (lunch is usually served alfresco) in our
vaulted dining room which is situated on the ground
floor - and has a magnificent fireplace and doors
opening out onto the garden. You’ll enjoy mouth
watering home cooked meals with a regional flavor,
accompanied by the area's delicious wines. The walls
in this part of the house are up to one and a half
meters thick - so this room is wonderfully cool and
comfortable even in the height of summer! Guests are
welcome to wander in from the garden and relax over
a coffee or cool drink at any time of the day.
Tea/coffee, soft drinks, beer, wine and fresh fruit
are available at all times with no additional cost.
On Wednesday, when we do the Couanac Ride, we’ll
ride with you to Chateau Couanac, which is home to
the Comte and Comtesse D’Armagnac, who will serve
you a sumptuous lunch in their grand dining hall! Of
course, you can’t be expected to get back on a horse
after an experience like that, so we’ll take care of
the horses and you will then be driven back to
Laumière in our horse drawn carriage.
History
The chateau was built in the sixteenth century
by Morlhon de Laumiere, the youngest son of the
wealthy and powerful Morlhon family of Rodez and it
was originally ‘L’ shaped. In the late 18th century
it was sold to aid the family’s diminishing fortunes
and the smaller of the two wings fell into disrepair
and was finally demolished. The last owner started -
and we have continued - the restoration of the
Chateau, retaining the original central stone
staircase and several superb 16th century
fireplaces.
On horseback
Once you have arrived at Laumiere, we know
you’ll be keen to see the horses. So as soon as
you’re settled, you can make your way to the stables
to meet the team of equines who’ll be your
companions for the duration of your holiday.
After this, please join us for an aperitif before a
delicious home-cooked dinner, where we can properly
welcome you to Chateau de Laumiere and you’ll know
your French riding holiday has truly begun!
The horse riding holidays are organized around a
relaxed schedule. You can ride in the mornings for
around 3 hours and explore the vast expanse of
beautiful and accessible French countryside. Most of
the horse riding is on the charming Chemin Rurale
(by-ways) which means virtually no cars, although
the odd encounter with a French farmer and his herd
of cows/sheep is not unheard of.
The farms here are very much homesteads – rather
than huge agricultural concerns - with gorgeous
rambling barns and quaint French features straight
out of the pages of a magazine - and this makes the
countryside we ride through immensely interesting
and charming. The nature of the terrain lends itself
to riding at a relaxed pace so you can experience
the beautiful scenery and wild life. However, there
are plenty of opportunities for trotting and
cantering and the horses are familiar with the
routes, so they’re happy and interested to ride out.
The ability to ride along for hours in a world of
your own with no traffic, noise or people is
something many riders from the cities can only dream
about. You can follow a curve in the chemin and find
yourself riding by a farmyard, or through a small
hamlet, where anyone who happens to be around will
take the time to smile and call out a greeting.
You’ll find the local people friendly, gregarious
and welcoming.
Here, time seems to almost stand still and you’ll
feel the stresses and strains of everyday life just
ebb away as you and your horse absorb the
environment around you.
After your morning ride back at
Laumiere, there will be a cool refreshing drink
waiting for you, followed by a thoroughly decent
lunch which is usually taken alfresco in a shady
area of the garden. After this, the rest of the day
is yours to relax in the grounds, set off to explore
this outstanding area of France or more riding.
Tack, Riding & Horsemanship
All riding is with English tack.
All horses are well-schooled and adaptable. Groups
can consist of between 2 and 6 riders and all riders
need to feel confident on a horse outdoors.
During your stay, please feel free to spend as much
or as little time with your horse as you like -
bringing in, grooming, tacking up, turning out - in
general building up a relationship with him or her.
If you’d like to learn more about natural
horsemanship, or would like a riding lesson to brush
up your skills, Tanya is always happy to arrange
things to suit your needs.
If you come as a non rider –
whether you have never ridden before or just don’t
feel confident enough to ride out in a group – and
decide that you would perhaps like to have a go or
build a bit of confidence whilst you are here, this
can be arranged in the afternoons, and organized at
any time during your stay with us (paid for
separately at the time). |
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