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Day 1: Toulouse - Suggested visit of the city
Arrival at Toulouse airport. Suggested visit: 2 hours walking tour “Discovering Toulouse”: this tour offers a comprehensive overview of the main sites and monuments. During the tour, you will be able to admire the Capitol city hall and Saint-Sernin basilica, as well as many churches and private mansions, and appreciate wonderful views along the Garonne River. Overnight in Toulouse 3*Hotel. (O)

Day 2: Toulouse - Suggested visit of Carcassonne, Soreze
Visit of the fortified citadel of Carcassonne which dominates the old town. It's a town within a town, a maze of narrow cobbled streets within severe ramparts of thick walls and turreted towers, but bustling with life and color. Traffic-free, you will be able to look around at your leisure. At the center of the Citadel lies the Chateau Comtal, a fearsome castle where the lords of Carcassonne lived and ruled. Through the vineyards of Cabardès, route to Revel, in the lea of the Montagne Noire (40 minutes). Settle into your room in the 3* Abbey-hotel and take a look around the tiny mediaeval village before a champagne welcome and gourmet dinner of regional specialties. Overnight in Abbey of Soreze***.  (B,D,O)

Day 3: Soreze - Suggested visits: Albi & Castres 
Depart through the Gaillac vineyards to Albi, magnificent pink-bricked town on the banks of the Tarn. Admire the fortified cathedral of Ste Cécile before touring the Toulouse-Lautrec museum in the old Bishop's Palace.
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec left Albi in 1883 to live in Montmartre in Paris. Many of the most famous of his works were painted during this period; the portraits and scenes from café-concerts, cabarets, and "maisons closes". After lunch a thirty-minute run through the Tarn countryside brings you to Castres - the Midi's best-kept secret. This unpretentious weaver's town over-looking the river Agout abounds with interesting corners and sights. 
Above all it houses a museum devoted to the works of Goya among which: Self-portrait with glasses, c. 1800, The portrait of Francisco del Mazo, 1815-1820, The Phillipine Junta, 1815 Return to Soreze (25 km). Dinner & Overnight in Abbey. (B,D,O)

Day 4: Soreze - Suggested visit: Revel, Lac de Saint Ferreol
• Guided tour of the Abbey's buildings and estate. 
Visit to Revel, mediaeval bastide founded in 1342 by Philippe VI de Valois at the foot of the Black Mountain.
With its octagonal shape and geometric design Revel is the perfect example of a Bastide and is nearly unique in France. The Saturday morning market which is held in the hall and under the surrounding arcades is one of the finest in southern France. Since the XIXth century joiners, carpenters, sculptors and woodworkers of all sorts have made Revel the capital of hand-made furniture in France. See the exhibition space "Revel Art et Meuble". 
•The lake of Saint-Ferréol: created in the XVIIth century by Pierre Paul Riquet as the key element in his life's work – the Canal du Midi. By an ingenious system of irrigation channels Riquet insured that rainwater running off the Black Mountain would first fill the lake at St Férréol before being diverted into the Canal at its highest point – the watershed between Atlantic and Mediterranean basins. 
Today the lake still serves its original purpose while providing a delightful site for locals and tourists alike to enjoy its water- sports, fishing and 80 hectare park. 
Dinner & Overnight in Abbey. (B,D,O)

Day 5: Soreze, Toulouse
Return to Toulouse after breakfast. (B)

B=Breakfast, L= Lunch, D= Dinner O=Overnight                       fitsac