Vancouver-based Hidden Trails is an equestrian excursion company that offers horseback tours all over the world. Of the company's 22 French tours, the Castles of the Loire tour is one of the most historic. It begins in Blois and traverses vineyards and forested countryside, curves alongside the Cher River and winds past numerous cathedrals, estates and castles. Since the Renaissance period made its mark on the Loire Valley, the hundreds of castles there were built for pleasure and beauty more than for protection. Run twice a year, in late spring and early fall, the Castles of Lorie is a seven-day, eight-night tour that requires a minimum of six riders to depart, but takes only a maximum of 12 in an effort to maintain group intimacy. The large estates along the way provide riders with top-notch accommodations; the tour company provides them with Anglo Arab or Arab Cross horses. Although the company rates the difficulty of the excursion as above moderate, it also welcomes new riders.
Castles of the Loire
Hidden Trails
659A Moberly Road
Vancouver, BC V5Z 4B3
Canada
011-1-604-323-1141
www.hiddentrails.com
Based out of Vienne, France, Ride in France is an equestrian holiday company that offers an extensive array of horseback riding vacations. The eight-day Corsica Mountains and Sea tour is one of its most popular tours, offered 13 times between April and October. The company describes the tour as a way to explore the heights of Corsica before descending down onto the beaches of the Island of Beauty; the journey takes riders through a wide variety of "landscapes, mix of smells from chestnut trees, amazing vegetation ... strange rocks, and ... impressive paths, where [riders] have to trust [their horses]." The vacation is geared toward nature lovers who don't mind tent-sleeping and lunching from saddlebags, but not all of it is rough going. A support vehicle carries luggage to each day's destination, and hot dinners are served every evening. The tour begins in Corte, where Ride in France also has a horseback riding school. The horses the company provides for this tour are especially well-trained and sure-footed over the rockiest parts if the trail.
Corsica: Mountains and Sea
Ride in France
2 Place Charles de Gaulle
38200 Vienne
France
011-33-437-02-2000
www.rideinfrance.com
For riders who want to experience France through a shorter excursion, Camargue National Park in Provence offers day tours. Seated along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, Camargue is a wide-open space of marshes and farmland crisscrossed by long roads and trails. In 1927, the area was designated as a nature refuge for plants and animals. Today, cyclists and horseback riders can take in sights of muskrats, white horses, black bulls, eagles and hawks. One interesting regional quality is the fact that natural and cultivated landscapes coexist there. Open fields stand alongside rice paddies, wheat fields, vineyards and orchards. Along the Grand Rhône and Petit Rhône Rivers, salt marshes spread across Camargue's southern region. The marshes have been harvested since Greek and Roman times. Because Camargue is large, there are numerous starring points for horseback riding tours. The tours make use of the local white Camargue horses and leave several times per day, depending on the flow of tourists. Several different stables provide daily horseback riding through the preserve, including Brenda Centre de Tourisme Equestre, which is owned and operated by British-born Brenda Gatti.
Brenda Centre de Tourisme Equestre
Mas Saint Georges
Astouin
Les Saintes Maries de la Mer 13460
France
011-33-490-97-5208
www.brendatourismeequestre.com
