Excursions

On Thursday afternoon 3 July three excursions are proposed.

PROPOSAL 1: 50 €/person including diner and transportation

3 :30 pm  « Grotte de Clamouse » (caves) – Guided tour 1h15. Discovered in 1945 by the Montpellier « Speleology Club », Découverte en 1945, par le spéléo club de Montpellier, the touristic Clamouse caves are the first in Europe to be entirely aquipped with LED lights. Discover an exceptional diversity of concretions; a dazzling show of the underworld.

5 :00 pm  Guided tour of St Guilhem-le-Désert with a guide interpreter from the Tourist Office (1h30). St Guilhem-le-Désert, classified “Plus beaux villages de France” (« most beautiful villages of France »), spiritual step on the road to Santiago de Compostel, offers one of the most moving testimonies of the genius of medieval architects. The “Abbey de Gellone”, registered as global heritage by UNESCO, stands up as a masterpiece of Roman art, with grace and sobriety. Discover this village with its lanes tretching along a haven of greenery, truly peaceful. The final home for a soldier who became a saint, the famous Guilhem, “Duc d’aquitaine” (Duke) and “Comte de Toulouse” (Count).

6 :45 pm Free time in the village

8 :00 pm Dinner at the restaurant « l’Oustal Fonzes » in St Guilhem-le-Désert, traditional cooking in a remarkable setting with a panoramic view on the gorges of the Herault.

PROPOSAL 2 : 50 €/person including diner and transportation

3 :00 Canoeing down the Herault river. (4h, 12 km). Upstream of St-Guilhem-le-Désert, at the start of the Cévennes and the Larzac, the Herault river flows through this inland region loaded of history into the wild valley. It is a succession of calm water and easy rapids, no dams on the way.

7 :30 pm Free time in the village.

8 :30 pm Dinner at the restaurant « l’Oustal Fonzes » in St Guilhem-le-Désert, traditional cooking in a remarkable setting with a panoramic view on the gorges of the Herault.

PROPOSAL 3 : 50 €/person including diner and transportation

3 :00 pm Visit and wine-tasting at Domaine Daumas Gassac. Described by Gault & Millau as “a Lafite in the Languedoc”, “the only Grand Cru of the Midi” by Hugh Johnson and “Exceptional” by Robert Parker, Mas de Daumas Gassac have been the benchmark for Languedoc wines for over 30 years. The advice given in 1972 to the owner Aimé Guibert by geologist Henri Enjalbert and Bordeaux oenologist Emile Peynaud, was that both the soils and the climate here were perfect to reproduce the outstanding quality of the wines of the Médoc and in particular to the cultivation of the Cabernet Sauvignon grape, hitherto a virtual stranger this far East. History has proved them to be correct!Chemical fertilisers and synthetic matter have no place at Daumas Gassac ! Organically farmed and hand harvested. All estate grown with low yield, offering many layers of rare and complex aromas as well as a stunning ability to age.

5 :30 pm Guided tour of St Guilhem-le-Désert with a guide interpreter from the Tourist Office (1h30). St Guilhem-le-Désert, classified “Plus beaux villages de France” (« most beautiful villages of France »), spiritual step on the road to Santiago de Compostel, offers one of the most moving testimonies of the genius of medieval architects. The “Abbey de Gellone”, registered as global heritage by UNESCO, stands up as a masterpiece of Roman art, with grace and sobriety. Discover this village with its lanes tretching along a haven of greenery, truly peaceful. The final home for a soldier who became a saint, the famous Guilhem, “Duc d’aquitaine” (Duke) and “Comte de Toulouse” (Count).

7:30 pm Free time in the village.

8 :30 pm Dinner at the restaurant « l’Oustal Fonzes » in St Guilhem-le-Désert, traditional cooking in a remarkable setting with a panoramic view on the gorges of the Herault