Pont du Gard
May 5-14, 2011
Hiram College Alumni Tour
Ancient & Medieval France
Map of 2011 Hiram College Alumni Tour of France
You are invited to join us on a ten-day journey through some of the most ancient and beautiful regions of France.
Explore Roman Architecture of Nîmes, Carcassonne the greatest medieval walled city, the Most Beautiful Villages in France, wine regions of the Southwest, and Prehistoric Painted Caves. Paddle your canoe beneath the Pont du Gard and past castles from the Hundred Years War.
Download Itinerary >> 2011 Hiram Alumni Tour of Ancient & Medieval France
Temple Maison Carrée - Nîmes
Nîmes Arena
Day 1 - Roman Nîmes
Thursday, May 5, 2011 We will begin in Nîmes in the south of France, a major outpost of the Roman Empire under Caesar Augustus. Nîmes is only 3.5 hours from Paris by high-speed train.
Some of the finest examples of Roman buildings remain here. We will take a walking tour of the first century Roman Architecture. The Arènes is the best-preserved Roman amphitheater in the world. The temple Maison Carrée is one of the most beautiful and most
complete temples to survive from the Roman Empire. The Temple of Diana was probably a first century Roman library and the Spring of Nemo in the Fountain Garden actually predates the site’s
Roman monument to Augustus, now gone. The Nîmes Castellum was the water distribution tank at the terminus of the Pont du Gard Roman aqueduct. It is one of only two known Roman distribution tanks. Water was channelled first to public wells and fountains and then to private homes as the amount of incoming water changed.
John will meet us for dinner together in Nîmes, at a restaurant specializing in regional dishes.
Canoeing at the Pont du Gard
Day 2 – Pont du Gard, Museum and Canoe Trip
Friday May 6, 2011 We spend the day at the Pont du Gard aqueduct and museum. For spectacular views of the aqueduct, we will canoe the Gardon river, floating under the Pont to the town of Remoulins downstream. We land in Remoulins in time for the Friday market and shopping for a picnic.
City Market
Full scale replicas, maps, multiscreen video and sound exhibits at the Pont Museum illustrate the marvels of Roman engineering and comforts of Gallo-Roman life. Lunch and dinner are included.
Carcassonne
Day 3 – Carcassonne
Saturday May 7, 2011 We will tour the Corbières wine region on the way to Carcassonne, Europe's greatest Romanesque fortress-city. Roman fortifications date from the first century. Between 795 and 800, Charlemagne failed his seige of the city, but the 1209-29 French Albigensian Crusade eradicated the region's Cathar heretics and claimed the land for France. Simon de Montfort built the massive walls in the thirteenth century. Viollet-le-Duc rescued Carcassonne from ruin in the 1830s with his massive and inventive “restorations.”
We spend the night within the walls to explore the city ramparts, sample the Regional cassoulet at Restaurant Auberge de Dame Carcas and enjoy the local wines at Le Bar à Vins.
Carcassonne at Night
Toulouse-Lautrec's Moulin Rouge
Day 4 - Albi
Sunday May 8, 2011 We spend one more day in the Languedoc. After leaving Carcassonne, we stop at Domaine Gayda to tour a promising new-wave winery. Lunch will be in their gourmet restaurant. In the afternoon we drive north to Albi on the banks of the Tarn river.
Toulouse-Lautrec was born in Albi and the city’s Toulouse-Lautrec Museum houses the largest collection of his paintings and posters. The Cathédral Sainte-Cécile dominates the city center. It looks more like a fortress than a church and was built as a symbol of Church power at the conclusion of the Albigensian Crusade against the Cathars.
Albi’s is full of wonderous sites: the medieval buildings are of Languedoc style red brick; the Pont Vieux built in 1040 is the oldest bridge in use in France; the gardens surrounding the Palais de la Berbie are beautiful. Tonight is a free evening to dine and explore on your own.
Cathédral Sainte-Cécile
The Bridges and Formal Gardens of Albi
Day 5 - Cahors and Grotte Pêch Merle
Monday May 9, 2011 The next three days will be spent in the Perigord Noir, the most compelling section of the Dordogne River Valley, known for the painted prehistoric caves, some of the most beautiful villages in France and incomparable cuisine. On the way to our home base in Sarlat-le-Canéda, we will stop in Cahors on the River Lot. Cahors is known for its “black” wine produced since the Middle Ages, the Romanesque Cathédrale Saint-Étienne, and the Valentré Bridge, which took seventy years and a pact with the devil to complete. Twenty minutes away are the 20,000 year old cave paintings at Grotte du Pêch Merle. The spotted horses and sillouettes of hands are the most famous works in this very early prehistoric cave. After settling into our hotel in Sarlat we will have dinner together in a restaurant specializing in this region’s cuisine.
Valentré Bridge in Cahors
Spotted Horses Painting at Pêch Merle
Collonges-la-Rouge
Stone Borie
Day 6 - The Most Beautiful Villages in France
Tuesday May 10, 2011. Truly the most beautiful villages of France can be found in the less travelled Eastern Dordogne. Saint-Sauveur in Rocamadour is a pilgrimage church on the route of Santiago de Compostela to Spain. Loubressac, Autoire, Carennac and Collonges-la-Rouge are a few of the best villages in this region. Each is a lovely medieval hilltop town with a beautiful cathedral and stunning views of the surrounding valley. Most cathedrals are Romanesque. Quaint pigeonaires and bories are scattered about the countryside. We will stop in Autoire for lunch together and Vitrac for dinner – pausing in Domme for a beautiful view of the Dordogne River.
Saint Pierre in Autoire
Rocamadour Pilgrimage Site
Carennac Pigeonaire
The Hall of Bulls - Lascaux Cave
Day 7 - Prehistoric Caves
Wednesday May 11, 2011 The most famous prehistoric cave paintings are the 17,000 year old Hall of Bulls at Lascaux Cave, discovered in 1940. Between 1948 and 1963 more than a million visitors viewed the cave, bringing in mold and humidity. A black fungus attacked the paintings. Laxcaux was closed and the original conditions restored. A short distance away, an exact copy of the original cave walls and paintings was created and named Lascaux II. The painted animals in the Hall of Bulls appear to stampede around you. The accuracy and sophisticated perspective is astonishing for such ancient works.
A stone carving from the Museum of Prehistory
The National Museum of Prehistory in Les Eyzies-de-Tayac houses more than 18,000 Neolithic artifacts found in this region of France. Cro-Magnon man looked like modern man and was a skilled craftsman. The Grotte de Font-de-Gaume a short distance from the museum, is the last cave in Europe with prehistoric polychrome paintings that is still open to the public. Only 180 people are allowed in the cave during a day. The 230 animal paintings were created 15,000 years ago.
Lantern of the Dead in Sarlat
When we return to Sarlat for a free evening, visit the 1147 Lantern of the Dead built to commemorate the end of plague, and the Cathedral of Saint-Cacerdos as you wander through the Medieval city center. Many restaurants in town are inexpensive and delicious.
Day 8 – Canoeing the Dordogne; Saint-Émilion
Thursday May 12, 2011 The best way to see the Dordogne River and adjacent towns is by Canoe. We put in at Vitrac and float to La Roque-Gageac for lunch. Four castles tower over the remaining stretch of river before our take out at Beynac: Chateau de Montfort just east of La Roque-Gageac on the right was destroyed and rebuilt four times between 1214 and the end of the Hundred Years War in 1453; the two British Châteaux of Castelnaud and Fayrac are on the left; the French Château de Beynac is on the right.
Canoeing the Dordogne
Saint-Émilion, one of the principal red wine areas of Bordeaux is a two hour drive from Sarlat. The underground tour tells the story of the hermet Saint Émilion, the monolithic Gothic church dug from a single underground rock and the Trinity Chapel. If you have the energy, climb the bell tower for a stunning view of the town. Dinner will be at one of the finest restaurants in Saint-Émilion, a family-owned regional favorite for more than 150 years.
Canoe Past Castles on the Dordogne
Day 9 - Saint-Émilion: Pomerol Wine Tour, Farewell Dinner
Friday May 13, 2011. Touring the Pomerol AOC near Saint Émilion is a rare treat. Vineyards have remained in the same families for two hundred years. You see the pride that families have for their vineyards and the care they take to produce their wine.
Visiting a Pomerol Winery
Top-end Pomerols sell for thousands of euros a bottle, but delicious wines from more modest houses are quite reasonable. Merlot and Cabernet Franc are the primary grape varieties used for Pomerol, Saint-Émilion, Médoc, Graves and the other appellations on the right bank of the Gironde.
Visiting a Pomerol Winery
Our final dinner is planned for the Hostellerie de Plaisance with the cuisine of world renowned chef, Philippe Etchebest Meilleur Ouvrier de France.
Day 10 - Bon Voyage
Saturday May 14, 2011 After breakfast we will drive to Libourne for the high-speed train to Paris or Bordeaux. We hope your trip will have been a dream come true and that you will want to return to France, again and again and again. Bon Voyage à-Dieu.
Cost $3,599 - Hiram College 2011 Alumni Tour of Ancient & Medieval France
Deposit $1,000 - Payable to Hiram College - Due January 1, 2011
Balance $2,599 - Payable to Hiram College - Due April 1, 2011
Tour includes: Admissions, rentals & transportation to all tour destinations, lodging for 9 nights double occupancy (single supplement available on request), 9 breakfasts 4 lunches 7 dinners and more. Air & train fares are additional.
Tour is limited to 14 travelers.
Contact the Hiram College Office of Alumni Relations & Annual Giving 800-705-5050 for more information or to register for the trip.
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