A Women Only Spa Retreat in the South of France

Day Trips

We offer a wide range of escorted and optional day trips for our guests.

Escorted Trips

Each week, we offer two escorted day trips. On Sundays, we visit either the traditional French market in St Antonin or we visit the cliff top village of Bruniquel. On Wednesdays or Thursdays, we visit one of the following cities: Albi, Cordes, Toulouse or Montauban.

Albi

Think of Albi as a sort of Pink City. Its Toulousian brick gives the city a charming glow. On top of the charm of its old pedestrian areas, it also has exceptional monuments and works of art among which, the Musée Toulouse-Lautrec housed in the sumptuous Palais de la Berbie is its most spectacular. The 1,000 or more works that are kept there make it the largest public collection in the world with 215 paintings and every one of Lautrec´s famous posters.

The "St-Cécile" cathedral was built in 1282 and is now considered to be a masterpiece of Southern Gothic style architecture.

Montauban

The largest town in the Tarn-et-Garonne, Montauban has inherited a remarkable architectural heritage from its rich and tumultuous past. The omnipresent bricks have given rise to the title 'pinkest of pink cities' The grid-pattern layout of its streets, characteristic of all fortified towns, dates back to the original town founded in 1144 and remains the historical center's urban framework to this very day.

With its odd mixture of old and new architecture, you can look around a very old cathedral and then shop in modern boutiques such as Galleries Lafayette. You can break for a cáfe au lait in the old town square and then step into a perfumery and purchase the latest perfumes and cosmetics.

St. Antonin & Bruniquel

Bruniquel rises in tiers and has steep, narrow alleyways. In olden days it was a halting place for passing traders and pilgrims on their way to Santiago de Compostella.

Many of its 14th, 15th and 16th century stone or wood houses are corbelled or half-timbered and embellished with turrets, bracket-shaped doors, gemelled or mullioned windows and sculpted figures. They bear witness to Bruniquel's wealthy past, which visitors can discover as they stroll along streets with such evocative names as: rue Bombecul (Thrust-out-bottom street), rue Trotte Garces (Trotting Bitches street), place des marmites (Casserole square).

St-Antonin-Noble-Val is one of the oldest bastides in the region. Master tanners and furriers made the town's fortune during the 13th century and its tradition of craft industries is still firmly established. St-Antonin-Noble-Val is a river town with a very large outdoor Sunday market.

Toulouse

Toulouse is France's fourth largest town and the capital of the Midi-Pyrénées, or "pink city" as it is also called and boasts an incredible architectural wealth which bears witness to its long history. Taking the 'petit train' will give you a snap shot of the city's monuments.

Toulouse is famous for its violets. Look out for a variety of confectionary items with a violet theme!

Optional Trips

The trips listed below can be arranged by the Arc House and are available for an additional supplement.

Bordeaux

Bordeaux is a vibrant cosmopolitan city. It is France's fifth largest city and is the second oldest trading port in the country. Bordeaux took advantage of its atlantic position to diversify and extend its wine market. Today, the Bordeaux region produces over 44 million cases of wine per year. Along the water front of this wealthy wine metropolis is a long sweep of elegant 18th century facades. The longest shopping street in the country, St Catherine's, is over one mile long. Bordeaux is the world's largest fine wine region and the Chateaux here include vineyards. You may get the opportunity to visit one of these if you can tear yourself away from the shops!

Gaillac

You can visit the town of Gaillac for tasting of several local red and white wines. Gaillac wines are believed to be as good as any grown in Bordeaux. You can also reserve a bit of time for shopping in the Gaillac town center which is quaint and inviting.

Caussade Market

This Monday market is different in atmosphere to the St Antonin market. This is where the French congregate and shop! You will enjoy the atmosphere and the cafes. Caussade is famous for hat making, keep that in mind as you browse.

St Cirq Lapopie

Counting among the most beautiful French villages, and listed on the additional inventory of Historical Monuments, St-Cirq-Lapopie is a major site in the «vallée du Lot». Mostly built between the 13th and 16th century, its houses cascade along a cliff that dominates the river 260 ft lower. Along the steep streets are the old stalls of leather workers, pot makers and above all the wood turners who made the village's reputation. Having been a source of inspiration for many artists, St-Cirq was also a firm favorite with the surrealist movement and André Breton in particular.

Rocamadour

From the heights of the Hospitalet where pilgrims once came to rest, Rocamadour is a sight that amazes by its architecture, apparently defying the laws of equilibrium. Brown roofs, ramparts, fortified gates, churches and shrines, all apparently piled one on top of another seem to be the result of some miracle, hanging as they are to the cliff face which drops all the way down into the Alzou canyon. Born during the 12th century with the development of pilgrimages dedicated to the relics of Saint Amadour and the Black Madonna, this holy city is now the 2nd most visited site in France.

Carcassone

Carcassone is a beautifully preserved medieval walled city. You will step back in time and really appreciate the historical importance of the region to your visit.

Lourdes

Boasting close to 6 million visitors every year (of which 400,000 are young people), Lourdes is now the most popular destination in the Midi-Pyrénées. Yet, in the 1850s, on the eve of the apparitions that later occurred there, Lourdes was a modest village in the Hautes-Pyrénées with 4,135 inhabitants. But on the 11th of February 1858, Bernadette Soubirous met a "lady" on the banks of the river Gave; an event which was to change the course of the village's history and confer a new title to the site: that of Marian city.