Tel. +44 (0)1273 600030 (UK)
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One of the main factors in choosing the location is the village in which we stay. It is our aim to seek out small communities where traditional ways of life survive, although they are often on the retreat. Our intention is to bring new income and impetus to the community – without overwhelming it! Our guests enjoy learning about the environment and culture, and the locals benefit both economically, and from the knowledge that their way of life is valued.
St Lary only has about 130 permanent inhabitants (including those in a handful of isolated hamlets and homesteads), but supports an excellent village grocer - who sells fresh bread, local meats and cheeses, as well as other basic supplies. Here we buy all our bread and cured meats for the daily packed-lunches provided. We source many other ingredients from village residents – home-grown honey, cheeses and fruit ‘croustades’ for example.
The Auberge de L’Isard, with its café/bar and restaurant, is at the heart of village life, and we provide valuable business during the otherwise quiet spring and autumn months. The mountain environment our walks explore is still managed in the traditional manner, with flocks of sheep and herds of cows grazing the high alpine pastures, and extensive forests where logging is carefully controlled. Our Handbook gives tips on how to understand this landscape, and move through it without upsetting careful balances, while pointing out the most interesting flora and fauna: the Pyrenean Iris for instance, and the isard, or Pyrenean chamois.
The area contains some small local enterprises offering organised activities such as horse-riding and rock-climbing, which we encourage our travellers to enjoy. We highly recommend a visit to the cheese museum at Castillon, which helps explain the traditional mountain ways of life in the region, as well as to the workshop of the last traditional clog-maker!
During the summer months, there are locally organised events in which we encourage client support and participation. In June you can join the transhumance up to the summer pastures, and in October attend the fair that marks the descent.
All our car hire is carbon offset through a scheme in place with the Carbon Neutral Company. Our brochure production and distribution is also carbon offset through a similar scheme, and we offer all our clients the opportunity to offset the carbon emissions caused by their flights too. We encourage and arrange train travel and sell train tickets, providing details of how this holiday can easily be reached by train, thereby avoiding flying altogether. Our brochure and all other literature and correspondence uses recycled paper, and we operate a rigorous recycling and energy saving policy both at our UK office and all our destinations, as well as encouraging our local suppliers to do the same.
We invite every traveller who books a holiday via us to send in a review. Because we don't run the holidays they're completely independent and unedited... remember to read between the lines though, as two people on the same holiday can have different views!
