Active Gourmet Holidays...Cooking Vacations...Culinary Getaways...Cooking Classes!

Active Gourmet Holidays

The Perfumes, Colours and Flavours of the Luberon

Available March to November – Saturday to Saturday

Learn to cook in the Luberon from a wonderful chef who will also be your guide and host for the week. You will have the time of your life as you stay in a beautifully restored and furnished home, take hands-on cooking classes and see all the important sites in this very picturesque part of Provence.  
 
Your host will teach you the secrets of Provençal cuisine and his wife, a doctor, only adds to your experience with her welcoming nature and wonderful personality.  During your week, you will see all there is to see in Provence including the Pope's Palace in Avignon, the Lavender and Corkscrew Museum and the Truffle and Wine House in Menerbes. Enjoy wine and cheese tastings, visits to the most beautiful villages of the Luberon as well as enjoying gourmet food and the breathtaking beauty of this region.

DAY ONE – SATURDAY
Meet with your host in Cavaillon. Guests are welcomed and shown their rooms. Lunch is offered and the itinerary and program are discussed. Guests are able to arrive at any time of the day. The usual means of arrival are via Marseille Provence Airport or by train to Avignon TGV station where you will rent a car to drive to Cavaillon. (For an additional fee, transfers can be provided to and from Avignon TGV station as well as transportation during the week. See fees below).
 
There is free time in the afternoon to rest, go for a walk in the forest, discover the small chapel of St. Jacques or take a swim in the swimming pool. Aperitif and dinner are served at 8pm.

DAY TWO – SUNDAY
Breakfast
 
10am: Depart for the farmer's market of COUSTELLET where the local produce (vegetables and fruits) for your cooking is purchased. Antique dealers are also here, revealing some hidden secrets of yesteryear.
 
Visit of the LAVENDER MUSEUM where you can buy perfumes, soap and essence of Lavender. Afterwards there will be drinks in a local café (typical Provençal drink : PASTIS or wine)
 
Followed by free time during the afternoon.
 
Some suggestions: visit to the antique Market of L'ISLE SUR LA SORGUE in the "Venice of Provence" which has one of the largest concentrations of antique dealers in France.
 
5pm: Hands-on cooking class where you prepare your own Provençal dinner
 
8pm: Aperitif and dinner.

DAY THREE – MONDAY
Breakfast
 
10am: Leave for the village of MENERBES, an ancient fortified town which was once a Protestant centre in the Vaucluse. It was this village where the author Peter Mayle chose to settle and write his best selling book "A Year in Provence". Here too can be found the Corkscrew Museum, which displays history, sociology, technology and the arts from the 17th century to today. The corkscrew museum has more than 1000 pieces on exhibition ...starting with the first corkscrew forged by hand in steel, to the decorative "objet d'art" in solid gold. Let yourself be guided through the centuries and across country in the discovery of this unique collection.
 
We will also visit the ancient village OPPEDE LE VIEUX the dominating ruined castle belonged to Jean Maynier, Baron of Oppedes, whose bloody crusade against the Luberon Vaudois in 1545 destroyed 11 villages. Then a visit of the olive Mill "Moulin Mathieu" and visit of the winery DOMAINE DE LA CITADELLE and wine tasting of red, white and rosé wines...these fresh and smooth flavours reveal a typical Luberon soil character
 
12.30pm: Lunch at home: Cheese and olive oil tasting and free time in the afternoon. Some suggestions: Visit of CAVAILLON: the Synagogue (1772) or the Roman Cathedral ...or some shopping
 
5pm: Hands-on cooking class
 
8pm: Aperitif and dinner

DAY FOUR – TUESDAY
Breakfast

10am: We will visit the Village of the "BORIES. These dry stone shelters, built by the local peasants and shepherds, constitute a real ethnological museum in the open air on the plateau of Gordes. They dated from 3500BC and were regularly rebuilt, using ancient methods.
 
We will visit the village of GORDES, the local village market and its castle which was rebuilt in the mid 16th century. The building was bought and restored by the Op Art painter Victor Vasarely. Dominating the valley of the Coulon, this village was built on a spur of mountain range.
 
Free time in the afternoon. Some suggestions:
 
Discover the beautiful village of BONNIEUX where you can visit the Musée de la Boulangerie which gives a history of bread making, the CEDAR FOREST...a lovely place to walk or LACOSTE: little remains of the Marquis de Sade's château.
 
5pm: Hands-on cooking class with aperitif and dinner at 8pm.

DAY FIVE – WEDNESDAY
Breakfast
 
10am: Visit to AVIGNON
 
Visit of the market of Les Halles to buy the best fish
 
Visit a UNESCO World Heritage Site; The Palace of the Popes "the most beautiful and strongest house in the world." The Palace of the Popes is the symbol of the Church's influence over the western world during the 14th century. In July, Avignon is the greatest theatre festival in the world and you can visit the Bridge Saint Benezet. The legendary bridge was built during the 12th century... The famous song Sur le Pont d'Avignon, which goes back to the 15th century, is known the world over.


 
Free time: Lunch and early afternoon in Avignon for shopping.
 
5pm: Hands-on cooking class
 
8pm: Aperitif and dinner

DAY SIX – THURSDAY
Breakfast
 
10am: VISIT ROUSSILLON: a picturesque hilltop village perched on a bed of red and yellow ochre, which has been used to color the facades of its local buildings for many hundreds of years. Also worth a visit is the Provençal Colorado on the southern side of the Doua Valley, where there are some spectacular walks through some old ochre quarries. No other village looks so warm and rich, so harmonious and inviting.
 
We will visit the ABBEYE OF SENANQUE, a superb Roman building, located in the heart of the small valley of the Senancole; a place for meditation thanks to the silence and the surrounding beauty.


 
Free time for the afternoon.
 
Some suggestions: FONTAINE DE VAUCLUSE and the waterfalls; it's the source of the Sorgue river of the natural wonders of Provence. In the closed valley above the town, water erupts from an unfathomable depth to develop into a fully fledged river.
 
 
5pm: Hands-on cooking class with aperitif and dinner at 8pm. 

DAY SEVEN – FRIDAY
Breakfast

9:30am: Visit in St Remy « la maison de l’huile d’Olive « where you will taste all types of olive oils
 
Visit of the famous chocolatier Durand
 
A visit to LES BAUX DE PROVENCE. This is a classified beautiful spot and historical monument with views across to the Camargue. Here there is much to discover of the old village: the old castle, dungeons, towers etc. The Lords of Baux built their fine citadelle here in the 10th century. Another place full of magic is the Cathedral of Images located in the antique quarry of Les Baux-de-Provence
 
12:30: Free time for lunch and free time in the afternoon. Some suggestions:
 
Visit the Roman archaeological site of Glanum, where extensive excavations reveal a district of Roman Houses, all constructed with inner courtyards and lined with columns
Or shopping in Saint Remy

5pm: Hands-on cooking class with aperitif and dinner and a diploma ceremony at 8pm.

DAY EIGHT – SATURDAY
Breakfast and preparations for your departure during the morning, with the hope that we will see you again soon!

Note: Epitourean, LLC provides a referral service for operators of culinary classes, vacations, cruises, schools and demonstrations. We cannot be held responsible for variations in descriptions, courses offered, changes to dates and/or prices provided by the operators.

print recipe

Recipe