May 10
DAY 1: Guests arrive in Toulouse and check in to their hotels. Hotel Albert 1er or Cours des Consuls. Orientation meeting and introductory talk with Michael Sibly.
May 11
DAY 2: Day in Toulouse: walking tour in the morning (to include St Sernin basilica, church of the Dominicans, Le Capitole, banks of the Garonne, other churches and old streets etc); afternoon free (shopping etc).
May 12
DAY 3: Excursion north westwards to Albi (cathedral, bishop's palace, Toulouse-Lautrec museum, old streets and other churches, lovely position on the Tarn).
May 13
DAY 4: Depart Toulouse after breakfast, and transfer to Carcassonne, via Foix (castle and old town) and Montségur (fortified mountain top site: climbing up is optional!). Check in to Hotel de la Cite or Le Donjon les Ramparts
May 14
DAY 5: Day in Carcassonne: walking tour (walls, cathedral etc) in the morning. The afternoon is free for people to explore on their own or just enjoy some down time.
May 15
DAY 6: Excursion to Minerve in the morning (fortified medieval castrum on spectacular site), and then on eastwards to Béziers (cathedral and site of July 1209 massacre)
May 16
DAY 7: Excursion to to Rennes-le-Château (mystical site), Quéribus and Peyrepertuse for their spectacular Cathar castles.
May 17
DAY 8: Excursion to Fanjeaux and Mirepoix, returning early afternoon to Carcassonne via Limoux.
May 18
DAY 9: Return to Toulouse, via Fanjeaux (hilltop castrum and site of St Dominic's early preaching) [if we don't visit on day 8], and last minute shopping in Toulouse. Overnight Toulouse. Hotel Albert 1er or Cours de Consul
May 19
DAY 10: Fly out.
Michael Sibly was until recently Deputy Registrar of the University of Oxford and a Professorial Fellow of St Anne’s College. He is co-author of two books on the Cathars: The Chronicle of William of Puylaurens: The Albigensian Crusade and it's Aftermath and the English translation of Peter of les-Vaux-de-Cernay's The History of the Albigensian Crusade, and has taught and led lecture tours in France and Spain for Oxford University's Department of Continuing Education since the 1980s.