Guided walks in the Ariège Pyrenees
			Mountain hikes for all levels of ability from half-days to several days. Themed walks to treks as well as outings adapted for children and people with physical limitations (disability, illness...). Tel: (33) 05 61 67 54 20 or 06 74 28 46 26 (mobile)

I have been exploring the mountains since childhood, both with my family (hiking, fishing, foraging for mushrooms and other wild delicacies) and in groups (summer camp, mountaineering and rockclimbing clubs). After I got my nursing degree, I began to specialise in the care of children with social and medical difficulties and then disabled children and adults. It was then that I discovered the beneficial effects of hiking and the natural environment on persons in difficulty. The personal exchanges and trust created between people while hiking in a natural setting allow another therapeutic approach to illness and disability. I went on to obtain a diploma as Accompagnateur en Montagne in order to broaden my field of expertise. For 5 years I worked part-time as a visiting nurse and devoted the rest of the time to my activities as a mountain guide. I chose the canton of Massat as my cachement area in order to be close to the mountains but also so that I could get to know the inhabitants better. Thanks to my patients I've been able to deepen my knowledge of the local history, the traditions, and the way of life of the pastoral communities. In return, these people, many of them elderly, were happy to recount their pasts as mountain people to an interested listener. These days I am the gardian during the summer months of the refuge "Estagnous" on the Mont Valier natural reserve in the High Couserans. The rest of the year I offer themed walks, mountain biking trips, snowshoe walks in winter as well as walks and mountain biking trips in Morocco and Mali. Rates : Half-day - 16 euros/pers. Full day - 22 euros/pers. 2-day themed walks : 90 euros/pers.

Below is a sample of the themed walks I offer during the year. But if you have other projects or itineraries in mind, contact me. See the French page for details on other special walks I offer, including snowshoe treks during the winter. I am also qualified to lead mountain biking groups. I speak a little English, and if you speak a little French I'm sure we'll manage to communicate.

"De Pic et d'Oc" The Pic des Trois Seigneurs ("peak of the 3 lords") is an institution for the Ariegeois, for some even a pilgrimage. It leaves no one indifferent. Because of its legend? Because of the extraordinary view it offers, of the plain as well as of the Pyreneen chain? In any case, each of the valleys that groove the mountain presents a singular, original aspect of the mountain environment. Here straddling Gascony and Languedoc, there the Foix-Tarascon valley and the Couserans, the massif of the 3 Seigneurs is rich in its particular geologic, climatic and historical aspects... But also typically Pyreneen in its landscape, its culture or its economy. Duration: 1 day Difficulty: easy, for all abilities The mountain around Aleu - summer or winter walk Besides its beautiful environment and unspoiled countryside, the High Couserans is known for its traditions and pastoral way of life that has endured despite the decline of mountain agriculture. Together we'll explore the wild valleys and isolated hamlets that bear witness to an important agro-pastorale past. We'll meet shepherds, farmers and artisans who still cling to this land, perpetuating original techniques and a unique way of life. Duration : 2 days, 1 night Difficulty : Easy, for all abilities Dates : December to April, depending on snow conditions Lodging : gîte d'étape La Bernadole Nombre de participants : 5 to 12 persons Price per person :70 Euros. This price includes accommodation in gîte d'étape with breakfast and evening meal. From lake to lake in the national reserve of Orlu This itinerary makes an elegant walk through the High Ariege. Numerous lakes embellish this fairly long course, which is done in 2 days with a stay in the refuge at the étang d'En Bas. The flora is very diverse (lilies, rhodendendrons, digitalis...), the richness of the fauna incredible: you'll easily see trout, marmots, isards, several species of raptors including the griffon vulture that nests in the area. Bears also seem to appreciate these strongly pastoral mountains, regularly making an appearance there as well as a inflicting damage on the flocks. The stone culture -- summer or winter walk On the foothills of the massif of the 3 Seigneurs, this walk leads us from the village Le Carol to the Gouttets hamlet via the paths (or "crossings") that used to link the hay meadows, the barns, the terraced slopes and the "estives" (high summer pastures) and finally the orris (dry stone huts) grouped into hamlets. These structures and this landscape are testimony to an agro-sylvo-pastoral civilisation today in decline.