What to expect:
This is our Daily Itinerary, which I will update as needed with any changes. I will also post any small changes on the group WhatsApp chat.
Arrive at Toulouse-Blagnac International airport by 11am, to be met by the Festival Tour Host. Bus transport is provided for the two-hour drive to Villefranche-de-Rouergue. We will make a stop on the way in beautiful Cordes-sur-Ciel, a hilltop medieval fortified town where you can stretch your legs, get a snack, and maybe buy a beautiful woad-dyed scarf. Woad was one of the local products that drove the economic boom of the Bastides towns in the 13th C.
Once we arrive in Villefranche-de-Rouergue (shortened to VdR by the locals!) and check in to Les Fleurines, we will have a couple of hours to rest. At 7:00 we will walk down to the theater where the French Board of the Festival, l’association Les Arts en Bastide Royale, will host a welcome reception in the lobby for our newly-arrived guests as part of The Magic Flute’s Opening Night festivities. You will be presented your VIP Festival Patron Passports at this event. Your passes will allow you to attend any public event at the Festival, as many times as you like. We can help you make a reservation for any performance you might like to see again or at a different time than we plan to as a group.
We will be seeing The Magic Flute together next weekend, but if you want to see it twice, you are certainly welcome to watch Opening Night as well if you are not too tired from your travels.
Beinvenus en France!
Friday, 19July 2024:
The courtyard of our hotel, with the Chapelle des Pénitents Noirs, one of our music venues, in the background.
A street scene in VdR
Breakfast is available daily in the hotel dining room for €13 or in your room for €15. There are also nearby cafés where you can buy a morning coffee and a croissant.
10am we offer an optional visit to Loréli Hammam et Salon de thé to unwind and relax. This can be added to your Tour Package when booking.
In the evening, we have been invited to a private event at Jardin de la Mothe, one of only two gardens in the Aveyron to be designated a Jardin Remarquable by the French government. Lyric Arts France, the Young Artist Program in residence at Opéra Bastide, will provide a concert. The bus will depart from in front of the hotel at 6pm.
Saturday, 20 July 2024:
Jardin de la Mothe
Today is a free day. If you would like to schedule a day trip, I’d be happy to help you plan that, and can offer myriad suggestions for all sorts of excursions. Be aware that most shops and many restaurants are closed today. The larger supermarkets are often open until noon.
6:30 Gourmet Night Market in Place Saint-Jean. This weekly event in VdR is a community dinner - the town sets up tables in the open square and vendors of local specialties set up around the perimeter. You choose which food you wish to eat and bring it back to share a table with friends or strangers. Expect to spend around €20 for an excellent meal and wine.
The town provides entertainment every week.
There is a performance of Magic Flute at 8pm. We are seeing it next Sunday, but your Festival Passes allow you to attend as many performances as you like. Just let me know if you’d like me to reserve you a seat.
Sunday, 21 July 2024:
Night market
At 9:45, the bus will depart from in front of the hotel for a day in Conques, a medieval town made prosperous because it was (and remains) a major stopping place on a main branch of the Pilgrimage Route to Santiago de Compostella. Included in your Tour Package is entry to the Abbay Sainte-Foy and the Treasury. The bus will depart Conques at 3pm and arrive back in VdR at 4:14.
At 6pm, the French Board of the Festival, Les Arts en Bastide Royale, will host a short, informal reception in the hotel courtyard to welcome any newly-arrived guests who may have arrived over the weekend.
Monday, 22 July 2024:
Conques
The bus will depart at 10am for a morning trip to nearby beautiful Abbaye Loc Dieu. This is included in your Tour Package, but if you only arrived yesterday, or you prefer to have a quiet morning, it’s optional.
After our tour, we will share a French picnic lunch with Festival Founder and Director Jonathan Eaton in the unsurpassed beauty of the Abbey’s grounds. Lunch is included in your Tour Package and we recommend you eat a light lunch - dinner will be a feast!
We will arrive back in VdR at 2pm
4pm board the bus for transport to Belcastel. Here we will have a private English-language tour the beautifully restored Chateau de Belcastel. After the Chateau closes to the public, we will be treated to a private concert of opera arias while we sip aperitifs and nibble appetizers in the courtyard, followed by a 5 course gourmet dinner and a presentation by the Chateau Historian . Entry to the Chateau and your meal, plus wine pairings and aperitif and digestif, are included in your Tour Package. We will depart Belcastel at 11:30 for the drive home to the hotel.
Bon appétit!
Tuesday, 23 July 2024
The courtyard at Chateau Belcastel, where we will have our dinner.
Today your morning is free to make your own plans.
2:30pm-3:50pm Open Masterclass
Meet in the hotel courtyard at 4:45 for the short walk to a 5pm Dress Rehearsal: La Plus Belle Melodie de France at Hotel Verdier de Suze, the gorgeous 18th Century Villefranche mansion of Board Members Louis and Michel. We are invited into this intimate space to hear this beautiful concert and see the process of art in art in the making. We will have a festive glass of bubbly and meet our Festival President, Michel Ramonet. We’ll have the opportunity to ask questions about how opera is made.
Wednesday, 24 July 2024:
Thurday morning is Market Day in Villefranche-de-Rouergue, and it has been since the 13th century. Spend the morning wandering the market - get there early for the best finds. Buy everything you want to bring home! Make sure you stop for farçous, a delicious little street-food patty made from chard.
At 11:30, board the bus for lunch in a traditional café, Le Pastorale, that caters to locals and working people for whom this lunch break is part of their daily routine. These cafes are often open only for lunch. They offer a three- or five-course meal with a pichet de vin for under €20. Everyone in rural Aveyron stops for a two-hour lunch! You will have already observed that the shops all close and work all stops every day from noon-2 so lunch can be properly enjoyed! Lunch is included in your Tour Package.
After lunch, our tour bus will take us to Chateau Bournazel, recently renovated to its renaissance glory, for a private English-language tour. We will be back in VdR around 5:30.
Thursday, 25 July 2024
Villefranche-de-Rouergue on market day
Chateau Bournazel
Morning bus transport, departing from in front of the hotel at 10am, to Sauveterre-de-Rouergue, another beautifully preserved Bastide town. Explore for an hour, and then we will have lunch at noon at Michelin-starred Le Sénéchal. A multi-course luncheon with wine pairings is included in your Tour Package. We will depart Sauveterre at 2pm in order to be on time to the concert.
3:30pm Musical Pilgrimage at three Villefranche churches: Eglise des Augustins, Chapelle des Pénitents Noirs, Collégiale Notre Dame.
Evening: group viewing of the Opening Ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games. We will gather with cast, crew, faculty, board, and friends of the Festival to watch together and have a casual dinner.
Friday, 26 July 2024
Chapelle des Penitents Noirs
9am we will board the bus for transport to Albi, 1hr 15min south of VdR. We will tour Albi Cathedral and then have lunch on the central square in view of the cathedral. In the early afternoon, we’ll tour the Bishop's Palace and garden and the Toulouse - Lautrec Museum.
3pm board the bus to head back to Villefranche-de-Rouergue
In the evening, we will depart at 5:15 by car. At 6pm you have the unique opportunity to participate in the Lescure-Jaoul Marche Gourmande, a 14km walk through winding countryside, uphill and down, with stops for apéritifs, appetizers, and a meal. Bring a headlamp as the last half is after sunset! It’s a rigourous walk, but people travel from hours around to attend - 2000 of them! The Marche ends at around 11pm in the village square of Lescure-Jaoul for coffee and ice-cream and there are fireworks and a dance party at midnight.
Saturday, 27 July 2024:
The Marche Gourmande in 2022
3pm Mozart’s Magic Flute, the jewel in the crown of the Festival!
6:30pm Festival Farewell Party for performers, crew, faculty, Festival Board members, and VIP Festival Patron Passport holders at the Gourmet Night Market, Place Saint-Jean. We will have tables set aside for the Festival participants and have the opportunity to celebrate the music, the friendships, and the community that the Festival fostered.
Sunday, 28 July 2024:
Early morning bus transport - 5:00am! -to Toulouse where Festival Tour participants can catch a flight home or onwards to another destination, or maybe catch the TGV to Paris for the Olympics. Some of you have opted to stay overnight in Toulouse tonight. We will make a reservation for dinner if you wish to share one last meal together.
Bon voyage and we will see you next year!