Days start with yoga in the château's dedicated yoga room, with a second class later in the day. Elaine teaches a mix across the week — different styles, plus meditation and breathwork — and classes are open to all levels. Class times can shift depending on what the group is doing that day, and every session is optional. If you'd rather sleep in or walk into the village, that's fine.

Meals are taken at the château, three a day, mostly vegetarian, with dietary needs and preferences catered for if you tell Elaine in advance. Lunch is not included on the three excursion days — you eat in town on those. Alcohol is permitted, with the expectation of respectful consumption.

Three day trips are included, with transport arranged. Sarlat-la-Canéda is a preserved medieval and Renaissance town of honey-coloured limestone, open-air markets and serious gastronomy. Rocamadour is a UNESCO-listed village built into a limestone cliff above the Alzou canyon, known for its pilgrimage sanctuaries and the Black Madonna. At Gouffre de Padirac you descend 103 metres and take a boat along a subterranean river beneath 60-metre stalactites. Cahors on market day is the fourth stop — a medieval town on the Lot river with a busy market. The trips are self-guided, so you explore at your own pace.

What separates this from a hotel-based yoga week is the house itself. It's a genuine French château with ten individually designed rooms — carved French beds in some, countryside views from many, and a top-floor tower room with a canopied circular bed and small windows looking out over the valleys. The grounds run to 50 acres of woodland, and there's a pool, a six-hole golf course, bikes, ping-pong, darts and a pool table on site.

Elaine is upfront about who this suits. It's for people who go with the flow, have a sense of humour and are up for a bit of adventure. It is not for anyone who expects hotel or resort service and needs things done for them. Rooms are spread across shared and single occupancy, from twin rooms with a shared bathroom up to the master ensuite, and the group eats and practises together most of the day.

Getting there is your own arrangement. Toulouse is the nearest airport, with Bergerac possible from within Europe. Elaine organises the airport transfer and the cost is split between participants, on top of the retreat price. There are also direct trains from Paris to Cahors, roughly five to six hours, then a taxi.

What's included

- 7 nights accommodation at the château - 3 meals daily, mostly vegetarian (except lunch on day-trip days) - 2 yoga classes daily, all levels, including meditation and breathwork - 3 day trips with transportation (self-guided, with free time to explore) - Use of the pool, bikes, six-hole golf course, games room and the entire property

What's not included

- Airfares - Airport transfers (arranged by Elaine, cost split between participants) - Lunch on the three day-trip days - Massages and treatments - Alcohol - Extra day trips - Travel insurance