(No availability) 4 Day Seasonal Cooking Holiday in Lot-et-Garonne, Southwest France
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Seasonal Cuisine Cooking Holiday France
Immerse yourself in rural France for a true insight into real French food culture. Le Gargantua's cooking holiday classes are based on seasonal local products. You go out in the morning to source ingredients from local producers, farms, and markets, and spend the afternoon in the kitchen cooking a delicious three-course meal. The instructor is there to guide you all the way and to give you all tips and tricks.
Meet the instructors
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Highlights
- 2 cooking lessons
- Learn seasonal French dishes
- Visit local markets and producers
- Enjoy an insight into French food-culture
- Catch a glimpse of southwest France
- Daily lunch, breakfast, and dinner
- 3 nights accommodation
Accommodation
Despite the derelict state of this 1850 stone farmhouse, when Le Gargantua Cooking & Patisserie Holidays in France was first seen in 2004 by its actual owners, it was love at first sight. It was renovated for 3 years, keeping all the original features and eventually opening in 2007. Bedrooms are situated on the first floor. Four spacious and comfortable double bedrooms of an average size of 22 square meters (227 square feet), all with private en-suite facilities: Pantagruel room (twin beds), Gargamelle room (double bed), Grangousier room (double bed), Melusine room (four-poster double bed). Furnishings and decorations are of traditional French country style. The house and bedrooms have bags of character, with exposed stone walls and sloping ceilings.
Program
Seasonal cuisine
Spring
This is the time of year when nature wakes up, flowers start blooming, new vegetables appear, and everything gets colorful again, including your plates. The Spring cooking course celebrates just that! Among many other ingredients, you cook with the organic asparagus grown by a neighbor, prepare succulent desserts with the local "gariguette" strawberries (from April), and make the best of the beautiful farm-bred poultry that spent the winter eating and getting nice and plump. Classic Spring dishes include Navarin of lamb, Blanquette de veau, veloute of asparagus, strawberry tart, poule au pot.
Summer
Summers in Lot-et-Garonne are quite hot, be prepared! You will make the best of the abundant fruit and vegetables that you will pick from one of the local markets or your own garden. During your cooking classes you could prepare the basque fish soup (the "cousin" of the bouillabaisse), make terrines, fresh pasta, soufflés with local goat cheese, tarts with the garden peaches, cherry clafoutis. You could also smoke salmon or trout. As you will rather grill meat and fish in summer than stew them(!!), it is the perfect occasion to practice all classic French sauces like mayonnaise, aïoli, béarnaise, beurre blanc, etc. The weather is also perfect to prepare beautiful sweet iced parfaits, chilled mousses, bavarois.
Autumn
The scenery is changing, yellows, oranges, and browns appear all around, and nature is getting ready for winter. This is the return of the pot-roasts, the season of game and fat duck. The whole region catches the "blue disease" (this is what they call the hunt for wood pigeons). When possible, you will enjoy your evenings outside, gathered around the outdoor chimney. The cookery courses include pâtés, rillettes, coq au vin, rabbit in prunes, quails, tarte Tatin, ... you also make the best of the local apples, hazelnuts, grapes, and figs.
Winter
At this time of year, you need to come back to a cozy home, enjoy the warmth of the comfort food, and give in to your appetite for rich soups, stews, and other belly-warmers! It is also time to make good use of the local kiwis, pumpkins and squashes, apples, and root vegetables. The winter cooking course will teach you to make the local garlic soup (tourin), the unmissable Cassoulet, the hearty Garbure, boeuf bourguignon, croustade (apples, prunes and armagnac in pastry).
3 nights residential course
This shorter cookery holiday course includes 2 days of cooking and is designed to give you a little break. Learn a few French dishes, enjoy the company of fellow cooks, and catch a glimpse of southwest France.
Check in on Sunday or Tuesday.
Day 1
Arrival from 4 p.m. You just settle in and make yourself at home. You meet before dinner for a welcome drink with canapés, followed by a three-course dinner.
Days 2 and 3
You leave after breakfast to go to a market or visit a producer, to get the ingredients. You will also make a few detours on the way to show the pretty villages of the area. You come back for lunch. At 1 p.m., you meet in the kitchen, where everyone gets involved in a real team effort to prepare dinner.
You will cook for about 3 hours, so you then get some time to relax or to drive to town. You meet at 7 p.m. for aperitif and head back to the kitchen for the last-minute prep. You are invited to pop into the kitchen to plate up each course, but you can do as little or as much as you like: your holiday, so... your time, your rhythm!
Day 4
Departure is in the morning on day 4. The room is yours until 11.00 a.m. if you have your own vehicle, but drop off at Tonneins station is for the 8.00 a.m. train.
Included excursions
- Tour beautiful villages around the area
- Visit a market or producer to buy ingredients
Instructors
Marlene Deparis
French-born, Marlene, welcomes you in the heart of the Gascony countryside, for a fully hands-on cooking course in English. Marlene was born and raised in Calais, where she was a wine buyer. She has always been a food lover, whether it involved making it or eating it. Cooking is her passion and she loves to share it!
Location
Le Gargantua cooking school house is located just a 1-hour drive southeast of Bordeaux, and 1.5 hours northwest of Toulouse, in Lot-et-Garonne, Aquitaine, in the better known Gascony.
Lot-et-Garonne is known as the Garden of France". The landscape is quite unspoiled, nature and wildlife are preserved, and agriculture is thriving. The surrounding colors are the ones of wheat and sunflower fields, vineyards, and the deep green of the pine forest of the Landes de Gascogne. It enjoys a very pleasant climate, mostly dry and sunny.
This is a land of eventful history, featuring Richard the Lion Heart, the musketeers, and Henry IV. Many old stones still stand; silent witnesses of the region's historical heritage. Discover the Gallo-Roman relics, Romanesque churches, the impressive castles, and the old wash-houses. The guesthouse, Le Gargantua Cooking & Patisserie Holidays in France, is located in the tiny village of Anzex, surrounded by glorious sunflower fields, only a couple of minutes' drive away from the pine forest of the Landes de Gascogne.
Distances
- Bordeaux - 1 hour
- Casteljaloux market - 10 minutes
- Toulouse - 1 hour 30 minutes
Food
Food, glorious food
- Continental breakfast every day (bread & croissants, fresh fruit, fresh milk, coffee, English tea, cereals, yogurts, local jams honey)
- Lunch every day
- Three-course dinner every night
Food is a serious matter. People of Lot et Garonne (and the southwest in general) love their food and love it traditional. The local cuisine is probably the most diverse in France, as it was influenced by the nearby cuisines of the Basque country, Perigord, Limousin, Languedoc, Pyrenees Mountains, and Atlantic Coast. The closest to an accurate description of the local food is a hearty, peasant, incredibly tasty, beautiful for its simplicity, satisfying, interesting, and honest, without compromise. Lot et Garonne is known as the land of the geese, the fat ducks, and their foie gras.
But it is also known as the land of game, Cèpes mushrooms, prunes, gariguette strawberries, sweet melons, white asparagus, and Marmande tomatoes. Your daily continental breakfast will consist of bread and croissants, fresh fruit, coffee, English tea, cereals, yogurts, homemade jams, and local honey. Lunches and three-course dinners will include wine. On the wine side, this is the region of Buzet, Ctes du Marmandais, Ctes de Duras, Ctes du Brulhois, Vin de Pays de Gascogne, and Vin de Pays de l'Agenais. The first vines of Buzet are about half a mile away from Le Gargantua cooking school.
Local markets are exceptional for the abundance, variety, and quality of the produce. They are so lively, and the traders care about their food very much. It is such a pleasure to walk around, smell, feel, and even taste the food!
A few markets: Casteljaloux (Tuesdays and Saturdays), Lavardac (Wednesdays), Barbaste (Mondays), Nerac (Saturdays), Tonneins (Saturdays), Marmande (Saturdays), Villeneuve sur Lot (Tuesdays), Monflanquin (Thursdays), Miramont de Guyenne (Mondays), Langon (Wednesdays)
The following meals are included:
- Breakfast
- Lunch
- Dinner
The following drinks are included:
- Coffee
- Tea
- Alcoholic beverages
The following dietary requirement(s) are served and/or catered for:
- Regular (typically includes meat and fish)
- Other dietary requirements on request
Things to do (optional)
Your time off will basically be from 16:00 to 19:00. After your cooking sessions you can relax in your room, in the lounge/diner, in the garden, or maybe read a good book or take a little siesta. If you have a car (which is recommended for the duration of your stay, if you wish to visit the area at the end of your cooking days and time off, or simply to go into town) you can explore the area. You can try some bikes on site that Le Gargantua is happy to let you use across the surrounding countryside.
What's included
- 2 cooking lessons
- Free collection to / from a local train station
- Continental breakfast every day (bread and croissants, fresh fruit, fresh milk, coffee, English tea, cereals, yogurts, local jams honey)
- Lunch every day
- Three-course dinner every night
- Welcome drinks and canapés
- House aperitif before dinners
- Local wines with all lunches and dinners
- Water, tea, coffee, and cold drinks and beers throughout the day
- Coffee and English tea-making facilities in your room
- Excursions: Outings and entrance fees as outlined in the itinerary
- All ingredients, equipment, and apron provided
- Recipe folder to take home
- 3 nights accommodation
- Linen, towels, organic shampoo & shower gel, for the duration of your stay
- Bikes on-site are free for your use to venture out and discover the surrounding countryside
- Super fast wifi available throughout the house
What's not included
- Airfare
- Personal expenses
- Train fare
How to get there
Recommended Airports
Bordeaux–Mérignac Airport
92 km
Transfer not provided
Bergerac Dordogne Périgord Airport
64 km
Transfer not provided
Driving directions from Casteljaloux
Follow the sign to Agen
Do a left onto the D11, towards Damazan / Anzex, for about 5 miles
Turn left onto the D120, towards Anzex / Villefranche (do not turn left into Anzex)
Le Gargantua is on that very road, about 2 kilometers from the junction, on the left-hand side
Arrival by airplane
The closest airports are BordeauxMrignac Airport (BOD) and Bergerac Dordogne Prigord Airport (EGC). Rental cars are available from both these airports.
Arrival by shuttle
There is a shuttle service between BordeauxMrignac Airport (BOD) and Bordeaux train station, called Jet Bus. Departing from terminal B (arrivals level) at the airport, the Jet Bus shuttle connects BordeauxMrignac Airport (BOD) to Bordeaux train station, via the city center every hour, 7 days a week. The ride from start to finish lasts around 45 minutes, depending on traffic.
Arrival by train
You can catch a Eurostar from London to Paris, or a fast train from most cities in Europe to Paris. You then need to get to Paris Montparnasse station, to catch a train to Bordeaux or Agen. Lot-et-Garonne local train station is Tonneins. There are TGV (fast trains) or slower regional trains coming to Tonneins from Bordeaux or Agen. There is approximately 1 train every hour.
Cancellation Policy
- A reservation requires a deposit of 10% of the total price.
- The deposit is non-refundable, if the booking is cancelled.
- The rest of the payment should be paid 30 days before arrival.
