T'ai Chi Holiday and/or Karate Holiday
Carcassonne,
South of France
Cost: €730 per person.
Includes: Training, 5 nights accommodation at La
Maison Fleur de Felice, all meals including wine with dinner. Flights
and travel insurance are not included.
Dates: 2009 now available - please see below
Ever felt threatened or scared? Learn how to deal with
it!
Learn T'ai Chi, some self defence
techniques and all the basic karate moves.
20 hours of tuition during your stay - 2 hours every
morning and afternoon, Monday to Friday. Every session will start with
a gentle warm up and stretching exercises. In the morning we will learn
and practise punches and kicks, followed by no-contact combat and some
self defence techniques. In the afternoon, we will practise T'ai Chi.
At the end of each session we'll warm down and finish with some more
gentle stretches.
We will gear the sessions according to your personal
abilities, so don't worry about being pushed too hard, or finding them
too easy. If you would prefer to focus purely on karate, or purely on
T'ai Chi, this can be arranged. Experienced martial artists and
complete beginners are equally welcome!
All equipment is provided. You will be given your own
karate suit on arrival. We have a range of punch bags, pads, reactors,
boxing gloves and foot protectors to make learning fun and as safe as
possible.
Freda Gardiner
Freda Gardiner, your instructor has over 20 years of
experience in martial arts: Karate, Kick Boxing, T'ai chi, and has
worked as a Karate instructor for many years and ran her own dojo in
England before moving to France. Freda gained her Black Belt 1st dan in
Karate (wado ryu style) in 2002, and is City & Guilds qualified in
adult education.
This is more than a holiday! It is an opportunity to get
fit and learn how to protect yourself, and still have plenty of time to
enjoy our beautiful region and all it has to offer.
The Accommodation - La Maison Fleur de Felice
La Maison Fleur de Felice is set in an area of
outstanding natural beauty.
The accommodation at La Maison Fleur de Felice is
beautiful and every attention to detail has been taken, to ensure our
guests have a wonderful relaxing time. Accommodation for up to six
sharing, is spread over 3 rooms each with its own character. The house
at Fleur de Felice is tastefully decorated and furnished in a simple
French sophisticated style, the finish and detail gives each room a
luxury feel.
All rooms have mountain and river Orbiel views. Fine
crisp bed linen, soft towels, television, DVD and stereo players with
relaxing music are standard for every guest.
The Food
Our aim is for you to feel happy and healthy, so food is
very important to us at La Maison Fleur de Felice and of course, as
well as healthy...delicious! All meals are home cooked and in keeping
with our healthy philosophy. Wine is available with dinner.
Activities and Excursions
This region is famed for the Medieval City of
Carcassonne and the Canal du Midi - UNESCO World Heritage sites, 
various Cathar Castles and
chateaux ruins like the 4 Cathar Castles of Lastours, wonderful wines
of the Minervois, Corbiere, Malpere, Cabardes, and Fitou and delicious
food such as Cassoulet.
During your free time you can choose to visit Lac
Montagne for swimming in a natural lake, walk our many trails, bike or
explore the forests of the Montagne Noire, or the many beautiful Cathar
castles and cultural areas of interest.
Take a restful stroll along the Canal du Midi, visit the
Cascade de Cupservies - the longest drop waterfall in Europe, The
Gouffre de Cabrespine - a gorge inside the Mountain deeper than the
Eiffel Tower, along with the wonderful caves of Limousis; or visit the
site which brings millions of tourists to Carcassonne every year...the
magnificent Medieval City of Carcassonne! Don't forget to visit the
newer 12th century Bastide city of Carcassonne, with its bars and
restarants and Saturday morning market filed with fresh local produce.
Transportation and Transfers
Airports
There are now an amazing 3 destination flights to choose
from, with Ryanair bargain fares to Carcassonne, 
Bezier, Perpignan and routes from London Stanted,
Birmingham (East Midlands), Liverpool, Cork, Shannon, Dublin and
Charleroi in brussels. Other airlines fly int nearby Toulouse
International airport, whereby you could either take a train to
Carcassonne or hire a car. Airport Transfers Transfers are available
from Carcassonne Airport at a cost of 50 Euros return. A taxi from
Carcassonne airport is likely to cost a minimum of 45 Euros each way.
Car Hire
You may wish to hire a car especially if you want to
explore further afield. All the airports have car hire facilities or
try www.europecar.co.uk or www.alamo.co.uk.
Arrivals
Please arrive after 3pm on the first day. Departure on
the last day is by 11am
Included in our T'ai Chi and Karate Holiday
