Ariège

On Saturday, half of our group went to the Ariège département while the other half went to Carcassonne.  This département is located near the Spanish border and Andorra near the foothills of the Pyrénées mountains.  Our morning activity was l'accrobranche - a high ropes course and zipline adventure!  After a short safety demonstration, students got to choose which course to go on : vert, bleu, rouge ou violet.  We enjoyed climbing several obstacles and ziplining all morning, surrounded by the gorgeous scenery of the area.  After a picnic lunch, we spent about an hour exploring the tiny and quaint village of Vicdessos.  A perfect afternoon for a stroll and an ice cream !  

In the afternoon, we visited the Grotte de Niaux, the Cave of Niaux.  This cave is exceptional thanks to the 16000 year old prehistoric cave paintings.  This is one of the few caves in France where you can still see and enter the original cave instead of a reproduction.  We walked approximately 800m into the cave, which has been the object of many archaeological hypotheses.  In the Black Room, we were able to see paintings in red or black of bison, horses and goats.  It was really amazing to see the details of the animals in the paintings and contemplate why these early humans came so far back into this cave.  

After a fun and adventurous day, we returned to Toulouse.  Sunday was an opportunity for students to spend time with their host family, new friends, and/or to continue exploring Toulouse.