The Camino de Santiago Crossroads Retreat

A purposeful pause to rediscover yourself and reconstruct your life

in the sun-blessed southwest of France

You’ve spent decades mastering the art of the pivot — in boardrooms, in markets, in crisis moments when everyone’s looking to you for answers. But this situation? It’s a different beast entirely.

Maybe it’s burnout finally catching up, escalating relationship difficulties, an unexpectedly complicated career change, a finally unavoidable retirement, a mind-numbing relocation, the piercing loneliness of an empty nest, a life-arresting health scare, the soul-wrenching loss of someone precious, the cross-country relocation, or the promotion that somehow feels like a trap. These moments don’t come with a playbook, and for once, “powering through” isn’t the answer.

This Camino de Santiago hiking retreat is your permission slip to press pause, recalibrate your inner compass, and return to your life with more purpose, presence, and clarity.

This Carefully-Kept-Secret Retreat is for you if:

• You’ve climbed the mountain, planted the flag, and now you’re standing at the top thinking, “Lovely view… but now what?”
• Life recently threw you a curveball (or several at the same time), maybe your role that suddenly felt too small or too big, or you’ve come to the unsettling realisation that your LinkedIn bio no longer fits who you actually are.
• Your idea of self-care has evolved beyond green juice and bath bombs. You need something with more… substance.
• Everyone calls you “the strong one,” and you’re exhausted from holding up the sky. There’s a whisper inside saying “something’s shifting” — but you can’t quite hear it over the noise of your calendar notifications.
• You’d rather have a root canal than sit through another rah-rah team-building exercise. You’d prefer to wander through ancient woods than network over canapés.
• You’re allergic to quick fixes and motivational platitudes. You want deep work, not a new morning routine.
• You’re standing in that liminal space between chapters — no longer who you were, not yet who you’re becoming. It’s uncomfortable and also kind of thrilling.
• You need clarity that cuts through the fog, resilience that actually lasts, and the inner compass to make your next move feel right — not just look right.
• You want a place where you can drop the performance, skip the elevator pitch, and simply be yourself while you figure out what comes next. No judgment, no jargon, just honest space to breathe.

Why Do You Need This Specific Retreat?

Working 60+ hour weeks? Drowning in deadlines and back-to-back meetings? Feeling like you’re running on empty with no end in sight? If your stress levels are through the roof and you’re questioning whether this relentless pace is sustainable, it’s time to step away before burnout becomes your breaking point.

Enter Dr. Margaretha Montagu: The woman who turned burnout recovery into an art form.

After two decades as a medical doctor and nearly as many hosting retreats, I’ve mastered the art of helping driven professionals remember they’re allowed to breathe once in a while. My credentials read like alphabet soup (MBChB, MRCGP, MedHypDip, NLP Master Pract Cert, Prof Life Coach Cert, EAGALA Cert), but what really matters is this: I get it.

I’ve worked with enough executives and entrepreneurs to suspect you’re probably reading this at 11 PM on a Sunday, convinced you don’t have time for a retreat but desperately needing one anyway. I’ve seen the impossible deadlines, the back-to-back meetings that make you forget to eat lunch, and the weight of responsibility that sits on your shoulders like an overpacked backpack.

Here’s what I know for sure: You don’t have to choose between success and sanity. You don’t have to burn out to prove you’re valuable. And you definitely don’t have to accept “constantly overwhelmed” as your permanent state of being.

Whether you’re climbing corporate mountains, running your own empire, standing at crossroads, managing teams, or juggling projects that multiply like rabbits, I’ll show you how to thrive under pressure while keeping your humanity intact.

No matter how overwhelmed, stressed, confused, insecure, threatened, lost or downright terrified you feel right now, I can help you to feel calm, clear, and confident in your ability to handle whatever comes next without sacrificing your physical or mental health.

What Graduates Are Saying (And Why They Keep Coming Back)

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You get to walk in the footsteps of 900 years’ worth of wanderers (though thankfully with better shoes than they had), all while based in a cosy French farmhouse that’s seen more history than your high school textbook. It’s like time-travelling, but with fairly modern plumbing and excellent food!

More testimonials (40+)

Here’s how your hiking adventure unfolds:

Day 1: Rock up anytime after 4 PM for dinner at 7 PM. Pro tip: Don’t fill up on bread beforehand – you’ll want room for a three-course dinner!

Day 2: Ease into your pilgrim stride with a gentle 11km stroll from Eauze to Manciet. It’s a bit like a walk in the park, if that park stretched for 11km and was steeped in centuries of history. Time: 2.5-4 hours (depending on how many photos you stop to take – and trust me, you’ll want to take plenty).

Day 3: Vineyard Walk – Explore the immediate surroundings of the farm: walk for miles, from one lush vineyard to another, from one farm to another, stop for a wine tasting and/or a picnic – or walk for 10 minutes, come back to the farmhouse, take another walk later…today you can walk as much or as little as you want – or spend the day reading under you favourite 200-year-old oak tree (choose from Merlin, Morgana, Melchior or Methusalé). Late-afternoon/early-evening, we gather together for a storytelling circle.

Day 4: The “Earn Your Pilgrim Stripes” day! Choose between the full 28km hero’s journey or the more reasonable 16-18km route from Nogaro to Aire-sur-Adour. Then hop on the bus back because we’re enlightened pilgrims, not masochists. Evening includes dinner at a local spot where you’ll experience rural French “nightlife” (spoiler: involves more eating than dancing). Budget 15-30 euros for a meal that’ll ruin you for chain restaurants forever.

Day 5: Village Walk – Visit the closest enchanting medieval village where half-timbered walls whisper stories from 1400 years of unbroken history. Here, where Roman settlers first planted vines in sun-drenched soil, generations of winemakers have crafted their liquid poetry for centuries—and that ancient tradition continues today. You can meander through narrow stone passages, discovering hidden treasures at your own perfect pace, or simply surrender to the profound tranquillity back at the farm, where time seems to slow and your soul can finally exhale. Before you set off on this walk, we spend some quality time with my Friesian and Falabella horses: walking, breathing and meditating with them.

Day 6: Manciet to Nogaro – We start this day with a visit to Eauze’s weekly market, followed by lunch at a local bistro ( budget 15-30 euros) and then a breezy 10km that leads you to a town that’s been doing its thing since the 11th century. The Romanesque church is so photogenic it practically demands its own Instagram account. Another 2.5-4 hours of wandering this wonderland.

Day 7: Farewell Champagne Brunch, where you’ll savour the delicious local flavours one last time while sharing stories, laughter, and newfound connections with your retreat family. As you toast to your transformation over perfectly brewed coffee/tea, you’ll carry the warmth of these precious final moments—and the rested and refreshed new version of yourself—back into the world. The retreat ends at 12h00.

None of the activities is mandatory. If you prefer to skip an activity and just relax and read, you are more than welcome. The program is not set in stone and may be altered according to circumstances, e.g. inclement weather.

Why This Retreat is One-of-a-Kind

This isn’t just a walk—it’s your chance to remember who you are underneath all those responsibilities and deadlines.

What makes this special? You get the legendary Camino experience without the usual hassles. No fretting about accommodations, meals, or whether your backpack weighs more than a small car. All the logistics are handled so you can focus on what matters: reconnecting with something bigger than your inbox.

Spend days walking ancient paths and evenings unwinding in a 200-year-old authentic Landaise farmhouse has seen more history than your average museum and accumulated more charm than should be legally allowed. Nestled among Armagnac and Côtes de Gascogne vineyards, it’s the kind of place that doesn’t just let you reconnect with nature—it practically insists on it. And while you’re at it, you’ll rediscover something even more important: your authentic self.

The rolling countryside doesn’t just look like a painting—it actually makes you feel like you’re living inside one. Fair warning: you may find yourself using words like “bucolic” and “pastoral” in casual conversation after this.

This retreat is not just a getaway—offers a Camino de Santiago experience that’ll leave you planning your return before you’ve even left..

Retreat Dates for 2025 and 2026

• November 15 – 21, 2025
• December 6 – 12, 2025
• March 14 – 20, 2026
• April 4 – 10, 2026
• May 2 – 8, 2026
• June 6 – 12, 2026
• July 4 – 10, 2026
• September 5 – 11, 2026
• October 3 – 9, 2026

If you cannot make these dates, please email me at welcome2gascony@gmail.com. The retreat starts at 16h on Saturdays and ends at 12h on Fridays.

How do you get here?

Maison Meraki is a 2-hour drive south-east of Bordeaux, and 2 hours south-west of Toulouse, between two small towns: Eauze and Nogaro.

The easiest and most effortless way to get here is to rent a car at Bordeaux, Toulouse, Biarritz, Pau or Lourdes airport. It is highway nearly all the way here, a breathtakingly beautiful drive with the Pyrenées mountains as background and the road signs are clear, even if you don’t speak a single word of French.

If you prefer to use public transport, the best option is to fly to Toulouse, take the train to Auch, and visit the impressive cathedral with its exceptional hand-carved choir. When you have had a scrumptious lunch at one of the sidewalk bistros on the square in front of the cathedral, you take the bus to Nogaro, where you’ll be picked up and transferred to the retreat.

Direct transfers by taxi are available from the airports or from the train stations, but need to be booked well in advance.

Investment

By the end of this retreat, you’ll feel intensely alive, profoundly rested, serenely content, positively radiant, and irrepressibly energetic. The new you grabs every moment and squeezes every ounce of meaning from it.

Investment in Your Future Self: €1,999 for single occupancy, €3,899 for double occupancy.

Your stressed-out self will thank you. Your future self will thank you. And honestly, everyone around you will probably thank you too.

Payment plans available. Full payment due 30 days before retreat start.

Please read the Terms and Conditions before booking.

Think of asking your employer to pay for this transformational stress management retreat; you can motivate your application by mentioning that, according to Forbes, approximately 70% of people experienced burnout in the last year. Work-related consequences include job dissatisfaction, decreased productivity, poor performance, professional mistakes, absenteeism, quiet quitting and resignations, resulting in a high turnover rate. Although conditions at work may also need improvement, a retreat focused on stress management, led by a medical doctor, can contribute significantly to preventing burnout in employees.

Are you ready for an unforgettable retreat that will leave you feeling vibrantly alive, full of joie de vivre, deliciously indulged and profoundly relaxed from the top of your head to the tips of your toes? I host a limited number of these retreats per year and only 3-4 guests per retreat. Contact me at welcome2gascony@gmail.com to inquire about availability and to pay a 450€ deposit to secure your spot.

Imagine how different your life will be in a year’s time if you decide to change your life by investing in this unique retreat.