Cooking In The Cuisine
(5 nights)
Date: 6 - 11 September 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 fall inspired cooking classes to guide you along a journey to discover the art of French cuisine. 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 (including original dishes cooked at Gudanes in the 1700s!) to modern, refined French cuisine. Together we shall visit bustling local markets, where vibrant stalls overflow with fresh, seasonal produce, which will form the foundation of our cooking. 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: €3,950 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 6th September
We look forward to welcoming and meeting you in the morning in a central location in Toulouse (at the coach car parking space on Rue Jean Jaures). 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, the first day is a gentle one beginning with a late luncheon followed by a historical tour of the interiors. Later, château style aperitifs shall be held in the Renaissance kitchen. A formal enchanted garden welcome dinner is then hosted in the Salle à Manger.
Sunday 7th September
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 and the dishes you are making.
Your stay is in the middle of a delightful fig, pear, leek, root vegetable and squash season, which shall guide the classes offered. After lunch, cooking classes shall continue followed by some time for repose before aperitifs begin.
In the early evening, aperitifs shall be accompanied by a special demonstration by our stained glass restorers. The evening shall then continue with a dinner served en plein air and accompanied by the music and merriment of a local jazz band…
Monday 8th September
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 and luncheon at Château de Sibra.
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 9th September
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 invite you to enjoy a sound bowls meditation experience followed by a picturesque promenade through the little villages surrounding the Château.
Later, during aperitifs we are delighted to share a short talk on the history of table setting and fine dining through French history. We finish the evening with an informal dinner in the Chateau kitchen serving and eating what we prepared together earlier today. Afterwards let’s relax with a French film soirée in the drawing room accompanied by hot chocolate!
Wednesday 10th September
For breakfast this morning, together we shall bake and prepare a selection of traditional French favourites.
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 shall be followed by dinner in the Salon de Musique - an elegant banquet fit for queens and kings! Then a night of disco dancing!
Thursday 11th September
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 the coach car parking space on Rue Jean Jaurès.
