Cooking In The Cuisine

(5 nights)

Date: 14 - 19 June 2025

Vue d'Ensemble: This stay at Château de Gudanes presents an immersive culinary experience, where each day we shall gather in the château’s cuisine for cooking classes to guide you along a journey to discover the art of French cuisine, blending 18th-century recipes with contemporary techniques. Through a combination of hands-on instruction and demonstrations with our chef de cuisine and pastry chef you shall learn the preparation of timeless sweet and savoury French fare - from traditional rustic dishes dating as far back as the 18th Century to modern, refined French cuisine. Together we shall visit bustling local markets, where vibrant stalls overflow with fresh, seasonal produce. These ingredients - rich butter, fragrant herbs, and exceptional cheeses - will form the foundation of our cooking, allowing you to connect deeply with the traditional flavors that have long defined French gastronomy. As you cook, you will uncover the rich history behind these recipes, tracing the cultural legacy and culinary evolution that have shaped France’s gastronomic traditions over the centuries. Whether you are a novice or a seasoned home chef, this experience is designed to cater to all skill levels, offering an enriching opportunity to deepen your understanding and appreciation of French culinary heritage.

Inclusions: all dining (daily breakfast, lunch, dinner and drinks), all accommodation (5 nights at Château de Gudanes), accommodation amenities (wifi, pool, tennis court and self service laundry) activities as per the itinerary and more. For further inclusions please see the section below.

Please kindly note that the cost of the experience excludes your flights to and from France/ Toulouse, personal spending money and travel insurance.

Itinerary: view below

Price: €5,500 per person

Note: Please kindly note that the precise cooking classes for this stay will depend upon the seasonal bounty at the markets during these dates. However, we warmly invite guests to share their preferences for classes so that we may also tailor the final itinerary to your requests.

ITINERARY

Saturday 14th June

We look forward to welcoming and meeting you in the morning in a central location in Toulouse. Your stay shall begin with a tour of this rose coloured ancient city, visiting the famous Victor Hugo Market. Later we will gather at the Château Bus to travel together to Château de Gudanes, where you shall spend the duration of your stay. Upon your arrival at Gudanes, the Château Team will be eagerly awaiting with local sparkling and sweet French treats!

The entourage of the four legged kind - including Bruce Baptiste Gudanes the French Bull Dog chien de guarde and Claude Monet Cat Gudanes - shall also be waiting to greet you.

Having settled in, Saturday is a gentle day beginning your stay with luncheon followed by a historical tour of the interiors. Later, château style aperitifs shall be held in the Salon de Musique accompanied by a local string quartet. A formal enchanted garden welcome dinner is then hosted in the Salle à Manger.

Sunday 15th June

Following a traditional French breakfast, our chef de cuisine invites you to join them for a morning walk to our local village market, together gathering ingredients for cooking.

After the markets, we warmly invite you into the château cuisine for a series of sweet and savoury cooking classes, inspired by the original 18th Century Chateau cookbook of Gudanes and French dishes to prepare and add to your own repertoire when you return home. International and local chefs will present, guide and teach techniques while adding a little bit of panache as they share the history of classic French Cuisine.

Your stay is in the middle of a delightful berry, peach, melon, tomato and courgette season, which shall guide the classes offered. After lunch, cooking classes shall continue in the afternoon followed by some time for repose before aperitifs begin.

In the early evening, aperitifs shall be served in the Renaissance kitchen accompanied by a cooking demonstration by our chef de cuisine and a lecture by a local historian to share the history of the Cathars, who roamed this region until the 12th Century. The evening shall then continue with a French BBQ and smoking class on the front terrace during which dinner shall be prepared. This class is all about smoking and sizzling on a traditional metal arawak reintroducing this old world way of cooking. A late dinner shall be served en plein air accompanied by the music and merriment of a local jazz band…

Monday 16th June

Breakfast shall be served at Gudanes followed by a visit to the medieval town of Mirepoix to enjoy the most bustling market in the Ariège. Here you will find handmade local treasures, delectable produce and an abundance of antique and brocante boutiques. Afterward, we shall take a short drive from Mirepoix for a tour, private cooking class and luncheon at Château de Sibra.

Following lunch we shall journey back to Gudanes with a stop along the way for a visit to the L’eglise Rupestre de Vals, an extraordinary church built into giant rock formation.

This evening during aperitifs we invite you into the drawing room for a tasting of a selection of local, biodynamic wines followed by an elegant formal dinner…

Tuesday 17th June

Following breakfast at Gudanes, we warmly invite you into the château cuisine for further sweet and savoury cooking classes. After the morning classes we shall share a picnic luncheon.

In the afternoon we shall take a short drive to visit the artisan knifemaker Savignac. Established in 1754, this atelier uses local wood to craft their very particular cutlery. At the end of the visit, it is possible even to buy a knife with a handle made from woolly mammoth tusks which can be still found in the melted glaciers of the Pyrenees. During this afternoon, there is also the option to travel back to the Middle Ages to visit the Château de Foix, the ancient capital of the Ariège.

Upon our return to Gudanes, during aperitifs we are delighted to share a short talk on the history of table setting and fine dining through French history. We end with an informal dinner in the Chateau kitchen serving and eating what we prepared together earlier today.  Afterwards let’s relax with a French open air movie soirée! Or if you are feeling adventurous, tonight is the night where you can explore a labyrinth of local caves carved into stone with a guide and torchlight…

Wednesday 18th June

For breakfast this morning, together we shall bake and prepare a selection of traditional French favourites. The remainder of the morning shall then be dedicated to rest and relaxation. Perhaps you shall enjoy a promenade around the château grounds or sit comfortably in the drawing room for some light reading…

A casual late luncheon shall be served in the Salon de Porcelaine and in the afternoon we invite a local chocolatier to join us in the château’s pastry kitchen for a demonstration and discovery of the art of French chocolate making.

Aperitifs this evening shall be accompanied by a visit from a local sparkling wine producer from Limoux to present a tasting. The wine region of Limoux is where the vineyards of the Occitane are famous for being the first in France to produce sparkling wine, known as Blanquette de Limoux, in 1531.

Dinner shall be held in the Salon de Musique - an elegant banquet fit for queens and kings! Then a night of disco dancing!

Thursday 19th June

We bid you farewell nos amis… Depart from Gudanes to Toulouse at 11:00 AM. Our journey shall take approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes. We kindly ask that you organise your ongoing travels around this departure time. We are able to drop you at the Toulouse airport, train station or Place Wilson.