SHORT BREAKS COOKING : FRANCE	COOKING VACATIONS

COOKERY SCHOOL WORKSHOP HOLIDAYS IN FRANCE
. . . the French Gastro Academy

At the stylish, two hundred year old Carcassonne farmhouse, set in the stunning environment of South West France, the French House Party offers the best of personal attention to people whose expectations are high.

The French House Party offers the ultimate hands-on gastronomic vacation: a unique opportunity for cookery lessons from top-class, award-winning chefs in classic French cuisine. Corporate groups will find that they have the ideal exclusive venue for team training, management breaks or personal development events, and the professional organisational team of the French House Party tailor-make your break to ensure the smooth-running of everything from buses to banquets.

"With a view of the Pyrenees upon opening the shuttered window of your 300-year-old farmhouse, you'll spend five sumptuous days drinking red wine, eating food from local farmers' markets . . ." The French House Party is recommended in Pam Grout's book 'The 100 Best Worldwide Vacations to Enrich Your Life' published by National Geographic

All this, and a landscape to die for. How tempting is that?

This beautiful part of the Languedoc, centred on the medieval castle stronghold city of Carcassonne, and lodged between the Pyrenees in the south and the Black Mountains in the north, has a rich artistic, literary, culinary and historic heritage.

The Languedoc is a geographical region of many personalities: plains and rugged mountains, lakes and breathtaking gorges, elegant cities, numberless sprawling vineyards, hot-scented sunflowers in field after field.

The Canal du Midi is very close to the house and we enjoy fantastic views of the Pyrenees, which can still be white-capped, even into May. This region is steeped in the bloody history of the Cathar genocide by the Pope's Crusaders in the 13th Century and there are numerous preserved hilltop castles within easy reach, the jewel in the crown being the astonishing Cite of Carcassonne,

We have splendid local wines (Minervois and Corbieres are said to be de rigueur for the Noughties). Wine-sampling, both at home and during escorted vineyard visits, is - naturally - a French House Party highlight. Our superb chefs provide gourmet meals - and dinner at a superior restaurant is also included in our package breaks.

Less than an hour away is the little hilltop village of Rennes le Chateau. Supposedly the place to which Jesus Christ was smuggled after escaping death, subsequent mysteries fuelled the theories and research which led to books such as Holy Blood, Holy Grail, Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code and Kate Mosse's Sepulchre.

The French House Party's spanking new kitchen meant the launch of the first-rate Gastro Academy in 2010 - the only residential holiday cookery school of its kind and calibre in South West France.

The French House Party is thrilled to welcome award-winning French chefs, Franck Putelat, Robert Abraham and Jean-Marc Boyer onto the team. When not leading the hands-on classes, the chefs run their own renowned gourmet restaurants in Carcassonne and nearby towns.

Outside France, they may not be household names, but they have a celebrity status with French people - television appearances, countless newspaper articles, Michelin stars and top-class recommendations in the most influential restaurant guides mean that they and their signature dishes are synonymous with cooking innovation and flair.

Seize this unique opportunity to learn from master-chefs who will guide you through practical creativity in the kitchen. Using fresh and seasonal ingredients, they will demonstrate and teach the cookery techniques for mastering classic French cuisine - with an added contemporary twist of adventure.

Choose from:

• Cuisine in Brief: three day weekend themed courses - 3 Days/2 Nights (Friday to Sunday)

• Gourmet Explorer: six day courses - 6 Days/5 Nights (Sunday to Friday)

• The unique Cook au Vin: three cooking days with the French House Party chef, plus three days' study with a Master of Wine at the partner wine school to achieve a WSET qualification in wine knowledge
  - 7 Days/6 Nights (Sunday to Saturday)

CUISINE IN BRIEF 3 Days/2 Nights (Friday to Sunday)

Day 1 (Friday):
	Arrival	You will be collected at either Toulouse or Carcassonne Airport by Friday your chauffeur and a light lunch provided. Over coffee we'll talk about the weekend's plan, followed by a private wine-tasting visit to a local vineyard.
	16.00	Find out where your knives are! This short and simple hands-on culinary session will help to familiarise you with our kitchen. It will be under the guidance of the French House Party's resident cook, whose role is that of sous-chef during all our Gastro Academy courses. You will be making a selection of inventive canapes to accompany the evening's aperitif - or perhaps this evening's entree.
	18.30	Meet the Chef! Our award-winning Chef, Robert Abraham will join us for fizz and canapes, to chat about the weekend's programme and discuss the menus. You'll also get from him a list of ingredients for the next two days' recipes, to be bought when he takes you to the market in the morning.
	20.00	Four-course dinner with a selection of wines.
Day 2 (Saturday):
	08.00	Early breakfast and then off to Revel market - one of the oldest in Saturday France to buy ingredients, accompanied by Robert, who will advise on how to select the best fresh and organic seasonal products.
	11.30	Arrive home and immediately get to work for the first cooking session with our Chef, creating a delicious lunch with the ingredients you've purchased.
	13.00	Lunch at home, enjoying the fruits of your labours.
	15.00	After a short break, you will return to the kitchen: Robert begins his second demo and you'll do some more hands-on cooking to prepare the evening's dinner. This session will last about three hours - culminating with Robert's demonstration of 'dressage' - the display and presentation of each dish.
	19.00	After a short break, to enable you to change for dinner, you will return to the kitchen to carry out your own 'dressage' of the evening meal.
	/20.00	Dinner with a selection of wines.
Day 3 (Sunday):
	8.30	An early breakfast then to the kitchen for your final cooking session, Sunday preparing lunch under tutelage of Robert.
	12.00	Lunch - as you have prepared it.
	13.00	Our chauffeur will take you to the airport for your return home . . . but on the way, if the flight schedules allow it, we will stop off at Carcassonne's medieval Cite - the time you will be able to spend here before you are picked up again will depend on your flight-times. La Cite is a spectacular finale to the weekend - an experience to remain with you long after your aircraft's seat-belt sign blinks off.

GOURMET EXPLORER 6 Days/5 Nights (Sunday to Friday)

Day 1 (Sunday):
	Arrival	You will be collected at either Toulouse or Carcassonne Airport by your chauffeur and a light lunch provided. Over coffee we'll talk about the week's plan, followed by some hands-on preparation in the kitchen, making a selection of inventive canapes for the evening's aperitif event.
	15.00	It always helps to know where your knives are! So this cooking session will help to familiarise you with our kitchen, and will be under the guidance of the French House Party's resident cook, whose role is that of sous-chef during all our Gastro Academy courses.
	18.30	Meet the Chefs! Our award-winning Chefs will join us for fizz and canapes, to chat about the week's programme and discuss the menus.
	20.00	Four-course dinner with a selection of wines.
Day 2 (Monday):
	08.00	Early breakfast and then, accompanied by one of your French Chefs as advisor, you'll be taken by car to one of our traditional local markets to buy fresh ingredients for the day's menus.
	11.00	Arrive home and immediately get to work for the first cooking session with one of our Chefs, creating something scrummy for lunch.
	12.45	Lunch at home, enjoying the fruits of your labours.
	14.00	To the kitchen again: the Chef begins his demo and you'll do some more hands-on cooking. This session will last about three hours - and you will be making the evening's main course and dessert.
	19.45	Aperitifs on terrace.
	20.15	Dinner - main course and pud as prepared by group. Wine included.
Day 3 (Tuesday):
	08.30	Breakfast then to the kitchen with your Chef for his third (and your fourth) cooking session. You'll spend the morning preparing lunch under the tutelage of your Chef.
	13.00	Lunch.
	14.00	Vehicle leaves for outing: this option will vary according to your particular course, but will include one of the following: A visit to a cheese-making farm. A visit to an olive oil factory to sample some varieties. Private wine-tasting to a vineyard.
		Finally, we will stop at Carcassonne's La Cite on the way back. - aiming to arrive there by 18.30 which will give you a chance to look around the medieval walled city, before dinner at a superb Carcassonne restaurant, wine included.
	23.00	Transport leaves to take you home.
Day 4 (Wednesday):
	09.00	Breakfast - slightly later to accommodate your late night yesterday.
		Your morning is free to walk, cycle, swim, play tennis - or just chill out. Alternatively, if you wish to be taken to nearby Bram Market or to visit Castelnaudary - birthplace of the hearty dish Cassoulet - we would be pleased to take you.
	13.00	Lunch
	15.00	Your second celebrated Chef arrives to teach his first (and your fifth) cooking session - preparation of dinner for that evening. As with Monday, it will last an estimated 3 hours.
	19.30	Aperitifs.
	20.00	Dinner at home, with wine.
Day 5 (Thursday):
	08.30	Breakfast then to the kitchen for cooking session 6. You will spend the morning with Chef 2, preparing lunch.
	13.00	Lunch.
	Afternoon	Guests may choose to spend the early part of the afternoon relaxing, or there is the option of a visit to another local vineyard.
	17.30	Wine-tasting at home.
	20.00	You will be eating out at another good local restaurant on this, your final evening.
Day 6 (Friday):
	09.00	Breakfast.
		Our chauffeur takes you back to the airport.

COOK AU VIN 7 Days/6 Nights (Sunday to Saturday)

For this unique holiday course, you will stay at the French House Party villa and have four sessions of cookery classes.

For another three full days you will be chauffeured to and from our partner wine school, to study the world of wine and spirits, on the third day taking a WSET Level 2 examination - an internationally-recognized formal qualification in wine knowledge.

The Wine and Spirit Education Trust is the world's leading wine education organization. Based in London, it provides training for industry professionals and enthusiastic amateurs who wish to enhance their wine knowledge. The WSET exams are considered the benchmark for wine education throughout the world. In the past year, 24,000 students have taken a WSET course in 47 different countries. The course is taught in English by a Master of Wine but is also available in French on request.

WSET Course Content:

• WSET Level 2 Systematic Approach to Wine Tasting.
• Viticulture and Vinification.
• Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.
• Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Sauvignon Blanc.
• Syrah, Grenache and Riesling.
• Italy, Spain and Portugal.
• Fortified wines, spirits and liqueurs.
• Up to 50 wines tasted.
• Multiple choice exam - 50 questions.

Day 1 (Sunday):
	Arrival	You will be collected at either Toulouse or Carcassonne Airport by your chauffeur and a light lunch provided. Over coffee we'll talk about the week's plan, followed by some hands-on preparation in the kitchen, making a selection of inventive canapes for the evening's aperitif event.
	15.00	It always helps to know where your knives are! So this first, simple cooking session, as well as being your introduction to your Master-chef, will help you to familiarise yourself with the kitchen under the guidance of the French House Party's resident cook, whose role is that of sous-chef during all our Gastro Academy courses. You will be preparing a selection of canapes for the evening.
	18.00	Our award-winning Chef will join us for Kir Royale and your canapes, to chat about the programme of cooking later in the week and to discuss the menus.
	20.00	Our resident cooks will serve this evening's four-course dinner with a selection of wines.
Day 2 (Monday):
	08.00	Early breakfast and then, accompanied by your French Chef as advisor, you'll be taken by car to one of our traditional local markets to buy fresh ingredients for the day's menus.
	11.00	Arrive home and immediately get to work for the first cooking session with the Chef, creating something scrummy for lunch.
	13.00	Lunch at home, enjoying the fruits of your labours.
	15.00	To the kitchen again: the Chef begins his demo and you'll do some more hands-on cooking - you will be making the evening's main course and dessert. This session will last about three hours - culminating with Robert's demonstration of 'dressage' - the display and presentation of each dish.
	16.00	Chef demonstrates 'dressage' of the dishes being prepared. Aiding you in this observation-exercise will be the evening's aperitifs.
	19.00	After a short break, to enable you to change for dinner, you will return to the kitchen to carry out your own 'dressage' of the evening meal.
	20.00	Dinner - main course and pud as prepared by group. Wine included.
Day 3/4/5 (Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday):
	08.00	Early breakfast then transport to the Wine School for the WSET course.
	09.30 - 17.00	You will be studying for your WSET certificate. Lunch is taken here each day.
	17.30	You will be collected from the Wine School and brought home.
	19.00	Aperitifs.
	23.00	Dinner. On one of these evenings dinner will taken at a restaurant.
Day 6 (Friday):
	08.30	Early breakfast then to the kitchen. Morning is spent with Chef, preparing lunch.
	12.30	Lunch as prepared by the group.
	14.00	Vehicle leaves for outing: this option will vary according to your particular course, but will include one of the following: A visit to a cheese-making farm. A visit to an olive oil factory to sample some varieties. Our return route will take in Carcassonne's La Cite - and you will have the chance to look around the medieval walled city, before dinner at a superb Carcassonne restaurant, wine included.
	23.00	Transport leaves to take you home.
Day 7 (Saturday):
		Breakfast and Departures.

	ROBERT ABRAHAM
		Named the 2009 Midi-Pyrenees Chef of the Year, Robert Abraham has twenty-six years' experience of l'art culinaire. Recently appointed Head Chef at the impressive Chateau des Ducs de Joyeuse hotel in Couiza, just south of Carcassonne, he previously held this position for five years at Le Ciel D'Or restaurant in the Four star Relais Royal Hotel in Mirepoix, where, among other plaudits, his food was awarded the maximum three Michelin Guide fourchettes for fine food quality. He has appeared on TV, run restaurants in Paris and Ceret, and with his own St Malo restaurant - called 'Robert Abraham' - won many highly-prized star ratings from the most influential restaurant guides - from three Michelin fourchettes to toques from the Bottin Gourmand, the Champerard and the Gault Millau, which awarded him the Cle d'Or. Robert's 'signature' is incorporating the use of flowers and unusual spices into traditional dishes. Jonathan Meades of The Times remarked of the St Malo restaurant: 'The cleverest, most technically accomplished chefs are rooting through the trad repertoires of their provinces and are applying to the dishes of those repertoires the techniques they acquired as apprentices to the masters of nouvelle cuisine . . . borne out by the cooking of Abraham . . . thus, he flavours a galette of leeks, mussels and onions with coriander and sweetish curry power, a promise of some sensational cooking, a promise that is brilliantly fulfilled . . .The dinner I ate here was the finest I've eaten in France for years'.
	FRANCK PUTELAT
		The celebrated chef Franck Putelat has worked with such legendary masters as Philippe Legendre and Georges Blanc. Franck won his Michelin star when he controlled the Barbacane restaurant at Carcassonne's Hotel de la Cite - the top hotel within the walls of Europe's largest medieval fortress. In 2003, Franck took part in the Concours mondial de cuisine (world cooking competition), when he was awarded the famous Bocuse d'Argent prize, regarded by chefs as the most prestigious championship award for French cooking in the world. Armed with these high honours, Frank built his own restaurant which opened in 2006: Le Parc Franck Putelat, situated below the battlements of the medieval city walls, sparkles in an oasis of parkland amid vineyards. It is a place which, he says, frees his culinary inspiration to produce adventurous reinterpretations of classic French dishes.
	JEAN-MARC BOYER
		A native of Carcassonne, Jean-Marc Boyer is one of France's dynamic young chefs. While not a household name abroad, he is much feted in his homeland with awards - amongst them a Michelin Star in 2007 - and receives glowing reviews in numerous publications and restaurant guides. He also makes regular appearances on television, most recently featuring in an hour-long programme on the top French Channel TF1. Having trained in Paris, Jean-Marc then spent more than 20 years in the capital city, working with some of the country's greatest chefs at Michelin-starred restaurants, including twelve years at the three star Ambrosie under Bernard Pacaund and finally at the Ritz. Returning to the Languedoc, he now enthusiastically produces fine local cuisine at his restaurant Le Puits de Tresor in the ancient Cathar town of Lastours. Jean-Marc sees himself as an artisan, talking of creating dishes spontaneously and instinctively, using the local and seasonal produce grown and reared in the area. He sums up his philosophy in three words: 'Quality, authenticity and rigour'.

Domaine St Raymond is a beautiful, spacious 200-year old stone house with gardens and terraces, a large swimming pool, a boules pitch and a tennis court. We have a supply of bicycles - and the road is flat right down to the Canal du Midi towpath! There's table tennis and a pool table.

Living Area

The open-plan living space has an Art Deco design, with floor-to-ceiling arched windows, a central, glassed-in staircase and indoor plants and trees which reach almost to the roof. A galleried landing running around the perimeter of the first floor overlooks a raised dais with a featured digital grand piano . Double glass doors at the rear open into the pool and its surrounding areas.

There are eight individually-designed double or twin bedrooms, all ensuite, with air-conditioning units, hairdryers, CD players and tea and coffee-making facilities.

On the ground floor the large sitting area has comfortable sofas and an open fireplace for log fires.There is a pool-table and a classic 1950s juke-box for those who hanker after the Beatles, Elvis and Chuck Berry. .

The Kitchen

Large, bright and airy, the French House Party's enormous new kitchen designed in our signature red and black colours has been tailor-made to accommodate up to 12 work-stations for our Gastro Academy clients taking instruction from Chef. There is [omit “plenty of storage space�] an electric oven and hob and a further Smeg cooking range in dazzling pillar-box red which has a gas hob and and electric oven, a dishwasher, microwave and two refrigeration/deep-freeze units, together with a long, twin-level central island and three separate sink units.

Swimming Pool

We have a large pool with paved and grassed surrounds and a covered barbecue and outdoor dining area which occupies the far end of the gardens.