IT’S a fair bet that many readers will have listened to the exquisite “Songs of the Auvergne” without knowing where the Auvergne is.

Now local musician Jo Cresswell is offering a chance to get to know the forest walks, markets, patisseries and the Romanesque churches of France’s Auvergne/Massif Central region in an unusual walking tour that combines culture and yoga.

To people in the arts community Cresswell is best-known as the former deputy director of the National Folk Festival when it was putting down permanent roots in Canberra.

While a pupil at Deakin High and Philip College, she had been to dances at Yarralumla Woolshed and, a dedicated folkie by age 17, followed the “National” around the country until it came to rest here in 1993.

Cresswell is a whiz with a concertina and speaks fluent French, useful attributes for someone who has been taking culture lovers to France for eight years now.

Before that, she’d travelled the world, living in France and befriending the locals, including a shepherd who accompanies her on the walking trip and who has been known to whip out a musical instrument mid-journey.

For the first time, she has engaged her friend, local yoga instructor Karen Westlake and former publicist for Jigsaw Theatre, to create classes suitable for all participants.

The age range of applicants so far is from 49 to 65 and the aim is not to stress participants out – on the contrary, she predicts it will be “12 days of walks, yoga, wine and laughter… it’s about being a peasant.”

Walking in Auvergne, September 5-17, details at francewalks.com, inquiries to jo@jocresswell.com or 0420 769449.