SPRING  COLOURS  IN  PAYS  BASQUE,  NAVARRE  AND  ARAGON
Tuesday, May 17 to Saturday, May 28, 2005
$2295  plus  airfare

This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take part in this very special trip.

The ATSCC is putting together a trip to the Basque Country (Le Pays Basque in French or País Vasco in Spanish!).  On Tuesday, May 17, we leave Atlanta, arriving in Toulouse on Wednesday, May 18.  We will be met at the airport by our hosts, who will take us to their homes and get us settled.
  Dinner with your host family on Wednesday evening.

We will have many activities over the next few days including special performances; tours of our sister city, meeting the celebrities who will be involved with the presentation of the Phoenix statue; day trips to nearby villages, such as the medieval walled city of Carcassonne or Albi, the charming city of the Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec museum.  All meals will be provided, either at the home of the hosts or in restaurants or dinners with the groups.

On Thursday the 19th the Toulousains are planning a special visit for us to Airbus Industries.  One group will visit it at 11:30 and the other at 13:00.
  Afterwards we will have a walking tour of Toulouse and in the evening a concert at the Hôtel Dieu.

On Friday the 20th we will visit the new Médiathèque and have a lecture about the Canceropole.  Then  we will have the ceremony for the presentation of the Phoenix statue at 5:00 which will take place in the Jardins Caffarelli., with a reception afterwards about 7:00 at the Capitole (City Hall), depending on the schedule of the Mayor of Toulouse. 

[For those who want to shop, please notice that there is some free time on Thursday and Friday.  You can work this out with your host family,
but after they have made arrangements for us we should not skip them!]

  Saturday the 21st we have a free day for an excursion to Albi.
At 6:00 in the Théâtre du Capitole there will be a classical concert by the Medea Luigi Cherubini String Quartet, Number 3
 performing Franz Schubert's Quintet for 2 Cellos D.956.
Dinner at Toulouse Restaurant
 
On Sunday morning around 9:00 or 9:30 we will meet our guide and begin our trip to the Pays Basque.

 

ITINERARY IN BRIEF

Day 1  Sunday, May 22:  On the way to St.-Jean-de-Luz
            Meeting in Toulouse, 9:00 a.m.  You will be welcomed by your English-speaking guide and the bus driver.  Departure to Pau (195 km/120 miles).
            Stop in Pau
            Following the Adour River, stop in Orthez Bridge and in Salies de Béarn.
            View of the Isturitz caves and Oxocelhaya
            Arrival in Bayonne around 4 p.m.  In the afternoon, guided tour of this very interesting and beautiful city.
            St. Jean de Luz:  Arrival in the evening and check-in at hotel.  Accommodation for 2 nights.  Dinner.
            Plenty of time to see the beautiful sandy beach, the marina, the Socoa Fort, and walk along the seaside.

Day 2  Monday, May 23:  Le Pays Basque
            One-day excursion with Lunch (including Ainhoa)
            Dinner on your own.

Day 3  Tuesday, May 24:  La Côte Basque
            San Sebastian
            Guetaria
            San Ignacio de Loyola
            Lequeitio
            Guernica
            Accommodation in Durango

Day 4  Wednesday, May 25:  Pays Basque - Chemin de Compostelle
            Visit to Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao at 10 a.m. (opening time)
            Through the Alava region
            Vitoria
            Estella
            Pamplona
            Dinner and Accommodation:
                Monasterio de Leyre (very few singles available)
                OR
                Parador Sos del Rey Católico

Day 5  Thursday, May 26:  Tour in Aragon
            Visit to monastery San Salvador de Leyre
            Jaca
            Ayerbe
            Loarre
            Huesca
            Arrival in Alquézar.  Dinner  at the "meson."

Day 6  Friday, May 27:  Return to Toulouse
            "Les Pyrénées Aragonèses":  N230 road, Vielha tunnel, Pasa del Portillon, Bagnères de Luchon.
            Arrival in Toulouse in the late afternoon.  Overnight accommodations near airport.
           
Day 7  Saturday,  May 28:  Departure
            Transfer from hotel to airport

HOTELS CONFIRMED

Sunday May 22 (2 nights):  St. Jean de Luz

            Hôtel CENTRAL
            3 Boulevard Commandant Passicot
            64500 ST- JEAN-DE-LUZ
            Tel:  011 33 5 59 26 31 99
            Fax:  011 33 5 59 51 05 61
            www.hotel-central-stjeandeluz.com

Tuesday May 24:  Bilbao/Durango
            Gran Hôtel Durango
            Gasteiz Bidea nº2
            48200 DURANGO
            Tel:  011 34 94 621 75 94
            Fax:  011 34 94 621 75 80
            www.granhoteldurango.com

Wednesday, May 25:  Sos del Rey
            Parador Sos del Rey Católico
            50680  ZARAGOZA
            Tel:  011 34 948 88 80 11
            Fax:  011 34 948 88 81 00
            www.paradores-spain.com
    or
            Hotel Hospedería de Leyre
            31410  Yesa Navarra
            tel:  011 34  948 88 41 00
            fax:  011 34 948 88 41 37
            www.monasteriodeleyre.com

Thursday, May 26:  Alquézar
            Villa de Alquézar
            Pedro Arnal Cavero 12
            22145 HUESCA
            Tel/Fax:  011 34 974 31 84 16
            www.villadealquezar.com

      If you think you might be interested in this trip or know anyone who would be interested and would like to be on our mailing list for further information,  please call Betty Davis at 404 252-2260 or e-mail her at bettydavis@mindspring.com

      For further information and pictures of the area to be visited click on the links toward the bottom of the main webpage.

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