Course Structure
Enjoy an exceptional activity and leisure 5-day break at a stylish luxury villa with tennis court and large pool. Professional and qualified tutors. Choose from books and drama, painting, ceramics, creative writing, fitness and beauty, digital photography, golf and gourmet. Luscious wines, gourmet food. Conviviality and time for relaxation and tranquillity blend beautifully with learning sessions where you can tackle something new or hone those creative skills you already have – all levels of experience are catered-for. Airport transfers and transport on outings included.

Art & Mixed Media Courses: Artists or would-be artists will discover challenging and innovative ways to express themselves by traversing creative boundaries and exploring more experimental methods during our daily workshops. We welcome mixed groups of beginners, those who want to re-awaken their artistic instincts or the advanced artist who may not require tuition, but who would like to develop their skills in one of the most magnificent and beautiful areas of France.
Sketch, Paint & Stitch Course: Experience the creative power of pencil, paint and pattern. Our inspiring Creative Arts tutor Susan Keverne is offering the chance to join a unique holiday in France for creative embroiderers whose artwork involves using a variety of mixed media, textiles and stitch. Using textile and fibre-based imagery to enhance paint on a canvas is an exciting and very contemporary craft medium, pushing the limits of stitch and fabric in order to exploit a variety of textures and effects in 21st Century art. This course will provide inspiration, fire your imagination and open your mind to the dazzling possibities of embroidery and creative artistic expression.
Digital Film Making: Learn how to get the best from your digital video camcorder. Whether you want to learn the aesthetics of filming techniques, how to edit the material on your home computer, add special effects and musical soundtracks or understand animation, this fun course takes the mystery out of the technology.
Books & Drama: You won't find another holiday course like this anywhere else. Not only do we provide you with a themed reading-list of five or six novels in advance, we include a modern play as well. In a spirit of enjoyable and very informal enquiry, we'll engage with the literature and also discuss the relationship between the written word and the spoken (or even unspoken) performance of a writer's work. An introduction to acting methods and interpretations using games, readings, and even the option of a short performance for would-be thesps, makes - we promise you - for a truly amazing experience.
Creative Writing: Our exciting Creative Writing Experience, led by author and professional tutor Sarah Hymas, promises the exploration of new techniques. The daily workshops will expand the imagination, using writing games and exercises that rely on play, memory and a sense of adventure. Reading as well as writing, talking, thinking and offering feedback - our focus will be to limber up, stretch ourselves and write with renewed vigour and joy.
Golf & Gourmet: Join one of the French House Party Experience's luxury golfing breaks and we'll accompany your favourite sport with some serious wine-tasting PLUS a good helping of gourmet French cuisine.

Our themed breaks are customised for ready-made groups, corporate incentive breaks and couples. Single travellers are also welcomed. We are less than two hours from the UK - just fly and go - and then leave everything else to us, including any airport transfers!

Pricing in £'s Sterling
Individuals on a 5 day tutored package	£750
A group of up to 6 people on a 5 day tutored package	£750
A group of up to 7 - 9 people on a 5 day tutored package	£550
A group of 10 or more people on a 5 day tutored package	£460
Wine & Food Course	Enquire
There is no single supplement. * There is a triple occupancy reduction of £100 per person.

Accommodation
The French House Party Experience operates from it's own beautiful, spacious house with gardens, a large swimming pool and a tennis court. We have a supply of bicycles - and the road is flat right down to the Canal du Midi towpath! There's table-tennis, a pool table and even our own boule-drome.

With an optimum of ten guests per weekend, there's a houseparty atmosphere which promises the formation of new friendships or cementing of old ones. Smart, roomy bedrooms are double or triple-sized. All bedrooms have en-suite shower-rooms and, in the case of the Olive room, an additional bath. All towels and linen are provided and each room has a hairdryer and CD player.

Location
The loveliness of the Languedoc landscape of France is undisputed. Set between the Pyrenees in the South and the Black Mountains to the north with the Mediterranean eastwards and the Spanish border less than 2 hours' distant, it is a geographical region of many personalities - as the variety of its wines testifies. houses vinca and prades

A first glimpse of the fabulous medieval Cité of Carcasonne - a World Heritage site and France's second most-popular city for visitors - always draws gasps of admiration. And the area is especially rich in other sites of Cathar history.

The area has a rich artistic heritage: many artists lived of worked here, including Toulouse-Lautrec, Matisse and Dali.

How to Get to Us
We only 20 minutes from Carcassonne Airport and an hour from the beaches of the Mediterranean. The nearest large town is Castelnaudary, the birthplace of "Cassoulet" (a sort of bean casserole). This busy old town has bars, restaurants, plenty of shops, a weekly market and regular festivals. Even closer is the small town of Bram, site of a Cathar stronghold until 1210 when it fell to Papal Crusaders during the massacre of the Cathars. Toulouse is 45 minutes away to the west and Albi, birthplace of the artist Toulouse-Lautrec, about 90 minutes' drive north.