Cooking in Chateaux Country

Our cooking school is located on the river Creuse in the heart of The Indre et Loire region, set in a small French hamlet on the edge of the local forest. The region is home to the finest goat’s cheese producers and winemaking has been deeply rooted here for centuries. This area is simply known as France’s ‘Bread Basket’.

The classes are limited to a small grooup, which allow us to give personal attention to all guests.

Our two chefs are award-winning chefs with many years of international experience. After meeting at The Royal Swazi Sun Resort and Spa in Swaziland, they married and have enjoyed a colourful culinary career. They have cooked for several heads of state which have included Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and The Duke of Edinburgh, Prince William, Richard Attenbourgh, Mick Jagger, Madonna, Cher, Sylvester Stallone, U2, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. They have won recognition by major food guides and have won medals at international level. Our chef was Captain of The British Craft Guild Team for 2000/2001 when they achieved a record medal total.

The philosophy of this husband and wife team is ‘Balade Gormande sans Frontière’, Cooking without boundaries, or as our chef would like to say, lets take a walk on the wild side, and he would, as he was born and raised on the plains of Zululand. They take traditional French cooking and introduce exotic flavours and traditions from around the world to create an exciting ‘culinary adventure’.

You will leave our cooking school with a newfound confidence and enthusiasm, impatient to return to your own kitchen to experiment with your skills.

Choose between:

+ A French Culinary Adventure

+ French Dessert & Pastry

Your home for the week is a choice of either staying on-site at the cooking school or a boutique hotel in the nearby spa town with excellent service and attention to detail. All transport between hotel and cooking school is provided by us at no extra cost.

At the cooking school 

Accommodation at our cooking school is in one of our exquisite 4 bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms, private terrace and sweeping views over the country side.   The rooms are a new addition and have been built to the most modern standards of comfort whilst retaining French country charm.   We truly believe it is the best accommodation available in a radius of 50km!

The cooking school is just steps away across the garden and you can relax here on your own private balcony with a glass of Loire Valley wines at the end of the day.

Les Loges du Parc ****

Les Loges du Parc is a charming hotel situated in the centre of the pretty spa town of La Roche Posay. The hotel with its imposing ‘Belle Epoque’ façade, surrounded by its rose garden and pivoineraie, thermal pool and a large terrace with linden trees creates a unique and exceptional place in the village.

Completely renovated in a chic country spirit, it offers tasteful large hotel rooms and suites where each room has its own identity; wood, amaranth, coriander, green countryside.

The exterior has kept its Art Nouveau charm with its architectural frieze. The hotel offers a relaxing pool and bathing area where guests can soak up the French Sunshine. Inside there is an atmosphere of peace and authenticity with the solid wood floors and fireplace in the lobby. It is comfortable with character and charm.

Les Loges du Parc is part of the prestigious Châteaux & Hôtels Collection (Alain Ducasse Group).

French culinary adventure:

17 – 23 March
21 – 27 April
5 – 11 May
15 – 25 May – fully booked
26 May – 1 June
23 – 29 June
7 – 13 July
21 – 27 July
1 – 7 Sept
15 – 21 Sept – fully booked
22 – 27 Sept – fully booked
27 Oct – 2 Nov

Pastry culinary adventure:

14 – 20 April
10 – 16  Nov

Women’s only culinary adventure:

24 – 31 August

Fire and Spice Culinary Adventure:

9 – 15 June

additional weeks for private groups on request

• • • Accommodation for six nights
    • Entrance into Château Chenonceau
    • Meals: daily breakfast, and meals as per itinerary, including three glasses of selected wine with meals.
    • Transport for all activities in the itinerary.
    • Personalised apron and recipe folder.
    • Free Wi-Fi

BY AIR

Charles de Gaulle and Orly Airports are all within an hour and a half by train to Chatellerault, Tours and Poitiers Stations. From here we can arrange transfer for you to our cooking school (small transfer fee applies)

Ryanair fly from London Stanstead to airports at Poitiers and Tours. Ryanair also offers flights from Dublin, Barcelona, Marrakesh, Nice, Porto and Manchester to Tours and Poitiers.

BY TRAIN

Eurostar then the highly reliable TGV. There are two ways to get here.

The TGV runs three trains a day directly from Terminal 2 at Charles de Gaulle Airport to ‘le Calabash’ which is a 1 ½ journey.

Eurostar from the UK and change platforms at Lille for the TGV to Tours (note station name ‘Saint-Pierre des corps’) or Poitiers. We are approximately an hour from either city or Eurostar to Paris, Gare du Nord, and then a bit of sightseeing perhaps before catching the TGV from Paris Montparnasse to Chatellerault, a short 20min drive from the cooking school.

Please go to raileurope.co.uk for bookings.

All transport between cooking school and nearby hotels are provided at no extra cost thus no car is needed throughout the week.