Transfer Option:

Rocamadour Itinerary

Day 1:  Arrival
Rendezvous at the riding center where Hans and Hermina welcome you and present the itinerary for the week, while drinking a home made cocktail. In the evening Périgourdine dinner served by Hermina and accommodation in comfortable rooms at the farm.

Day 2: Champagne
You will then set out on the four day trail ride. Discovering the Lot and passing on ancient Roman roads, mule paths and parts of the road to Santiago de Compostela. All these tracks eventually lead you to the once revered Christian site of Rocamadour, a place of pilgrimage, which has clung to the limestone cliffs of the Alzou Canyon for over nine hundred years. Your first night stop is at Le Vigan in a converted watermill, where you might like to enjoy a soak in the outdoor pool after the day’s exertions.

Day 3: Discover Rocamadour 
An early start so that there will be lots of time to look around Rocamadour. The scenery changes from gentle grassy lands to rough country. You pace is fast with the longest gallop of the ride (10 -15 minutes). The ride ends at the Swiss Robert Domaine de Lagerdelle, on top of a calcium stone rocky  plateau in the heart of the national park Causses du Guercy. Far below us runs the  river Alzou. In  the 120 meter deep gorge  lays the  magical town with golden houses clinging to the side of a cliff over the Alzou canyon. Rocamadour is famous for its little round goat cheeses (Cabecous) but most of all for its historical monuments and its sanctuary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which for centuries has attracted pilgrims from every country, among them kings, bishops, and nobles.
The story is that a follower of Jesus, Amadour who had a vision to settle in the middle of France and to devote himself to honor the Virgin Mary (a wooden statue of Maria holding Jesus in her lap  - The famous Black Madonna). Eleven hundred years later in 1166 the body of Saint Amadours was found entirely intact.  This made Rocamadour a famous pilgrimage.
The pilgrims are expected to climb the 217 steps on their knees to show their devotion to the seven little churches and chapels, although tourists are discouraged from doing this and have the choice of taking an escalator to the top.

Rocamadour Info: The exquisite natural setting and beautiful buildings have made Rocamadour France's second-most visited site (after Mount St. Michael, Normandy). Rocamadour, 36 miles north-northeast of Cahors and local to the Dordogne Valley, never fails to make a stunning visual impression. But this quaint village is best known for its peerless cheese making, as well as the religious pilgrimages made each year by clerics and laypeople alike.   But Saint Amadour's crypt isn't the only sight of interest in this historic burg. The Chapelle Notre Dame--Our Lady's Chapel--contains the famous Black Madonna, a twelfth century rendition of the virgin Mary holding an infant Jesus. Here Rocamadour's many visitors light candles and pray to the Madonna. A bell, which has supposedly rung of its own accord in response to sailors' prayers to Mary, hangs from the ceiling.

Day 4:  Paradise
Another early start for the longest part of the trip. It starts with a  steep hike leading the horses down into the gorge. Once in the forest, another long fast gallop under many low hanging branches! After a while you pass Rocamadour again, but now it is high above you hanging off the cliffs. Eventually we leave the gorge in a south west direction up a steep hill. We stand in the stirrups to help the horses on this steep climb. Once on top, the nature  changes to a gentler environment. Four hours later we arrive at a sunny meadow where Hans his wife Hermine await us with yet another gourmet lunch set on a table in the middle of the meadow.  The longest day ends in style  in the paradise of Corinee and Bill.  We approached it from the back, through a big hedge. We carry our luggage through the small gardens full of grape vines with delicious grapes and roses, passing an inviting pool and pond with goldfish. We are at Vieux Couvent, the old convent. The inside is spectacular with fresh cut flowers everywhere not the typical convent atmosphere. In the evening we are spoiled with another perfect dinner. We cannot keep track of the number of courses , it is all excellent gourmet and we end up with an after dinner digestive.

Day 6  The Wild Bunch
Today's ride brings some excitement. We pretend we are in the Wild West and gallop up the slopes, make lots of noises and ride with our arms up in the air.  If we stayed another day we would be riding without a saddle.  We ride through fields with resting cows, and cannot resist rounding up some in a wild make-shift rodeo. Overnight is back at the riding center in Dégagnac.

Day 7: The final day’s ride is a ‘wind down’ ride, taking you in a completely different direction from where you have come, ensuring that in only a week you will have seen as much as possible of what ‘Le Lot’ has to offer.  

Day 8: Departure after breakfast.
**subject to change.

Center-based Option

It is also possible to enjoy a stationary center-based holiday for up to 7 nights. Every day after a leisurely breakfast, you will ride out with Hans in the green valleys and beautiful forests nearby and explore your surroundings – taking different routes each day. Sometimes you will take a saddle-bag lunch and on other days Hermina will be waiting for you in a specially selected spot with a delicious picnic lunch. Later you ride back to the farmhouse for a  four-course dinner served with a delicious local Cahors wine!

The Midi-Pyrenees is France's largest region, bordering Spain in the south, Languedoc Roussillon in the east, Aquitaine to the west and stretching up to the Dordogne in the north.

Much like the majority of France, the best time to visit Deganac is in the spring time when the flowers and trees are blooming. You escape the throngs of tourists and hot weather that go hand in hand with summertime.

The months from March through until May bring a maximum average temperature range of 15 to 20 degrees. Average rainfall is at its lowest in April, sitting at 48mm average precipitation. It is not unusual for weather conditions to relapse back to winter and as a result there are occasional cold snaps interspersed with drizzles of rain.

The conditions are much the same in Autumn (minus the blossoming flowers!) however the majority of the wineries close their doors in October whilst grape harvest takes place, so if you want to take in what Bordeaux’s wine region has to offer its not recommended to visit during the Autumn.

Winters are short and not too cold but have a tendency to feel quite ‘damp.’ November through to January is when the region receives its greatest rainfall, December being particularly wet. The average minimum for December is 2 degrees moving up to an average maximum of 9 degrees. January is generally the coldest month, with an average minimum of 2 degrees however the coldest temperature ever recorded in Bordeaux was recorded in February when the mercury plunged to -15 degrees!

This trip includes some wine with dinner and can accommodate special dietary requests.

Passports
Passport valid for at least three months beyond length of stay required by all nationals referred to in the chart above except:
(a) 1. EU nationals holding a valid national ID card.
Passport Note
France is a signatory to the 1995 Schengen Agreement.

Visas
Not required by all nationals referred to in the chart above for the following durations:
(a) nationals of EU countries for an unlimited period;
(b) nationals of Australia, Canada and the USA for stays of up to 90 days.