Advanced Cooking and Painting Holiday

Fully booked

A week-long holiday during which you can cook AND paint. The landscape starts showing early Autumn colours, the saffron season has arrived and the first of the wild mushrooms appear in the surrounding forests. Early evening, once the studio sessions are done for the day, guest chefs join the group in the La Creuzette kitchen to celebrate the abundance of the late summer produce. You get to dine on the results of your culinary efforts and take home the recipes of everything you have learned on the programme.

Cost breakdown

La Creuzette special interest programmes are carefully compiled to ensure that you have the ultimate, hassle-free luxury holiday experience. Our all-inclusive land arrangement means that everything aside from flights, Schengen visas and personal expenses are taken care of as follows:

• €3250 per person sharing
• Collection from Charles de Gaulle airport and road transfer Paris to Boussac
• Luxury full board accommodation at La Creuzette (i.e. all meals with drinks, also at restaurants we visit)
• All excursions and entrance fees as detailed in the itinerary
• Cooking demonstrations and classes with various chefs
• Art materials and instructions
• For guests who prefer NOT to paint, just cook, there will be additional food-related excursions to fill each day and we are happy to be able to introduce you to the La Creuzette version of ‘Flexitarian’ cooking
• Transfer to Montlucon or Chateauroux station and train back to Paris

A deposit of €1000 secures your booking with the balance due on or before your arrival at La Creuzette. A single supplement of €650 applies for single occupation.

Itinerary

Day 1 (Sunday, 17 September)

Collection at Charles De Gaulle from where we drive to La Creuzette, your château holiday residence in Boussac village. En route we stop for a delicious lunch at the famous l'Escalle truck-stop. You arrive at your destination in time for tea, coffee and migniardises (typically French confectionaries). Take some time to settle in to your room, explore the grounds and get to know your hosts. We meet in the ground floor salon at 19h30 for a glass of champagne followed by a four-course welcome dinner prepared by your hosts.

Day 2 (Monday, 18 September)

Breakfast will be served at 09:00. After breakfast the artists will start their first art session at 10:00 in the studio. A full day will be spent in the studio: Morning session 10h00-13h00. Lunch in the garden. Afternoon session 14h00-17h30. The chefs will meet Hardy in the summer kitchen at 10:00 to learn some basic molecular gastronomy techniques and after a morning of great fun dreaming up and producing ‘el buli’ type dishes, we all (artists included) sit down to lunch that we will have created. Early afternoon the chefs visit a nearby saffron farm where we have a hands-on and unique experience in the care of the owner herself. Later, once the artists have finished in the studio for the day, the whole group meets in the summer kitchen for our evening cooking demonstration, followed by dinner.

Day 3 (Tuesday, 19 September)

Another full day of painting in the art studio for the artists. After breakfast, the chefs and Hardy will have a full day cookery session with Michelin chef Thierry Finet. Lunch at La Creuzette. The artists will join the rest of the group in the kitchen after their afternoon studio session for an early evening cooking demonstration by Thierry Finet. Dinner follows.

Day 4 (Wednesday, 20 September)

Art studio from 10:00-13:00 for the artists.
Cooking guests join Hardy on an excursion to a nearby foie gras producer to learn more about how this delicacy is produced and prepared. We return to La Creuzette to prepare lunch and later, the whole group (artists included) does an excursion to Aubusson – the tapestry capital of France. In the evening, we have another cookery session and dinner follows.

Day 5 (Thursday, 21 September)

Market morning in Boussac. After breakfast we take a short walk to the village to take in the fresh morning air and to browse the market stalls. Here you will find everything from fragrant soap from Marseilles to live chickens. The art guests will return to the studio at 10:30 while the cooking guests will forage for inspiration for our lunch menu with Hardy. Using the fresh ingredients selected at the market, lunch will be prepared and enjoyed at a long stone table in front of the La Creuzette summer kitchen. After lunch, the artists will continue in the studio while Hardy and the chefs are joined in the kitchen by patissier Philippe Vacheyroux for a pastry-making session. Later, once the artists have finished in the studio for the day, the whole group meets in the summer kitchen for our evening cookery session, followed by dinner.

Day 6 (Friday, 22 September)

After breakfast the artists will have their last art session from 10:00-13:00. Lunch at la Creuzette. Late afternoon there is a feedback session and an exhibition of all the art produced during the week. The chefs join Hardy on an excursion to Bourges where we will spend the morning at 1 star Michelin restaurant, Le Cercle. We return late afternoon when we all need to start thinking of packing the suitcases. Our Farewell dinner, prepared by a guest chef, follows.

Day 7 (Saturday, 23 September)

After a leisurely breakfast we head for Châteauroux station where you board the train for your return journey to Paris. When you arrive in the capital city the day is yours to do as you please until you leave for the airport.

Please note that this itinerary may be amended to accommodate suppliers, service providers and the weather.

Terms and Conditions apply