6 day itinerary

Chef throws a few new tricks in. There’s plenty more to be learned! Subtler and slicker, there is also a great deal more time to enjoy the chateau. And your foie gras and macaroons will make your 3-nighter chums green with envy. Bloody amateurs. Call us to discuss on +33 6 05 51 95 44.

Day 1: Saturday

Arrive in the afternoon, settle in, and enjoy the splendour of your surroundings in the company of your hosts. Walk the grounds, book a massage, plunge into the pool or take advantage of one of several reception rooms to kick back and relax. Smugly remember you are doing this thing properly.

7.30pm Pre-dinner drinks with chef followed by a first class four course meal at the château.

If there is a local fête on, as there quite often is, we will even take you out to that, if you like.

Day 2: Sunday

8.30am-9.30am Leisurely French breakfast of fresh croissants, pastries, jam, preserves, coffee, tea and freshly-squeezed juice.

9.30am-10.30am Tour of the gardens with the Chef de Parc, taking in the jardin de potager vegetable garden, vineyard, orchards, flowers, duck lake and woodland. Simon will be happy to answer any questions you may have as to how best to grow your own.

10.30am-12.30pm Introduction to the kitchen. Chef will show you the ropes before taking you through:

Key skills for Top Puds.

A seasonal selection of:

Pastries

Gelatins

Chocolate

Fruit

Baking

Stocks.

The Heart and Soul of all Fine Food:

Veal/beef

Chicken

Fish

Vegetable

School was never meant to be such fun.

12.30pm-1.00pm Relax or join chef in preparing lunch

1.00pm-2.00pm Light lunch en famille. A glass or two of whatever takes your fancy.

2.00pm-4.30pm Moreish Mains

Meat or	Fish or	Crustacean
Boning	Filleting	Killing
Trimming	Trimming	Cleaning
Scoring	Pin-boning	Removing the meat

4.30pm-7.30pm Time to do as you please. Enjoy the grounds, the piano, the bar, take a hot air balloon ride…. the sky is, quite literally the limit!

7.30pm Aperitifs, followed by a two course dinner you made yourself, cheeses, coffee and digestifs

Day 3: Monday

8.30am-9.30am Continental breakfast - the usual high standard.

9.30am-11.30am Off with chef’s shopping list to the famous Samatan market to forage for ingredients, subtler and more varied than for the short course, and get into the vibe of a lively market town. The same berets and the same squawking geese as the short course abound. But the berets look and smell better. And you should hear the squawks the geese make when they know you are a five-nighter.

12.00pm-1.00pm Prepare lunch with chef, using some of the ingredients we have bought at market.

1.00pm-2.00pm Reap the rewards and tuck right in. If you're thirsty, we've just the thing.

2.00pm-4.30pm Two Super Seasonal Starters. A bit posher than the short course.

Development of vinaigrette
Dressings
Sauces
Curing

Prepare your own Foie Gras. Did I hear you right? Yes you did. Just like a real Gersois.

4.30pm-7.30pm Enjoy yourself. Discover something new. Have you seen the place?

7.30pm Aperitifs. Three Course Meal
And you made it yourself, you even cleverer thing than the clever things on the short course.

Probably no fêtes on a Monday, except chez Combis.

Day 4: Tuesday

9.00am-10.00am Little lie-in. Lazy breakfast.

10.00am-12.30pm Amuse Bouches Cakes and Pastries

Varieux de saison Tuiles Sweet

Biscuits Savoury

12.30pm-1.00pm Relax, or join chef preparing lunch

1.00pm-2.00pm Yummy light lunch

2.00pm-4.00pm Show off Your Masterpieces
Presentation skills; sugar work; caramel-based sauces; spun sugar

4.00pm-7.30pm Get up to high jinks, go exploring, or hang about the house and grounds, while sneakily nibbling on the cakes you made this morning.

7.30pm Aperitifs. Two courses prepared earlier by you and your new friends, and finished off by chef. Finest cheeses etc, as ever.

Day 5: Wednesday

9.00am-10.00am Little lie-in and lazy breakfast again. Well, you are on holiday.

10.00am-12.30pm Meat and Fish Finesse
Taking you to the next level. You could work it the wonderful way we showed you already. Or you could work it this even more wonderful way.

12.30pm-1.00pm Relax, or join chef preparing lunch.

1.00pm-2.00pm Light lunch and a cheeky tipple

2.00pm-4.30pm Fantastic Finishes Masterclass

Mignardises/ Petit Fours
Master the Macaroon

4.30pm-7.30pm Remember how wonderful it is where you are! Take full advantage!

7.30pm Aperitifs. Amuse bouches, followed by Fabulous Four Course Meal

You made it yourself, and you get to feel smug, because the dishes you prepared are even better than the ones at the end of the four day course.

Day 6: Thursday

9.00am-10.30am Lazy breakfast.

10.30am-12.30pm Squeeze out every last drop of chateau living

12.30pm Menu du Jour
At one of our selected local restaurants. Perhaps a farewell cup.

A reluctant goodbye for now. Come back for a French Colonial course if you miss us too terribly. Don’t worry, they will be coming!

We will be happy to help you with your arrangements for onward travel. But sorry to see you leave.