A Delightful French Culinary Holiday in Provence

I could try to tell you how it all began and have on countless occasions, but nothing like getting the feel of things at the time it all took place. Below is a blog I wrote in 2016 about that very first Week in Uzès, which later became Let’s Eat Uzès – our French culinary holiday. The impressions were real. The exhilaration and pride in building something that would not only shape the future weeks in southern France but also shape how I run all my Let’s Eat The World tours. Enjoy, dear reader, and leave me some comments if you like.

A French Culinary Holiday in the Making

After a busy first session, I finally got a moment to share the experience of our week-long French culinary program in Provence with followers of our Paris school, Cook’n with Class. Read along to join us on our adventure in le Pays d’Uzès; a week full of food, wine, music, and horses!

We had been planning our Week in Uzès French culinary holiday package for months. I would nag Eric on an almost daily basis for plans, ideas, and schedules. I needed to see it all written down so that I could envision the week ahead. After all, I had to create the page and sell the idea to people, so I needed to understand what was meant to be accomplished. I knew it would be great, but I needed to be able to express that to the rest of the world.

Eric went about making his menu wish list. To say it was ambitious would be putting it mildly – these folks were in for an intense treat. But we needed to try it out, and we were so excited when our first student reserved for our March dates. I won’t lie to you, I didn’t want to do it. I had calculated and told Eric that without 4 people, we would be out of pocket, but he insisted (like he often does) that we had to start somewhere.

How to fill a French Culinary Holiday – or not

I did everything I could to fill up that class – ads, posts, videos, and almost begging. I wanted it to be perfect and full. In the end, we did manage to have a full house, with two students and two invited journalists, plus one other guest. We reserved the entire guesthouse (Les Olivettes), because I wanted them all to have the full experience. I am not one for cutting corners, and generosity will always remain our motto – so no, we’ll probably never live in a palace, but we’ll always be surrounded by lovely people.

I tried to think of all the minor details that would become elements of stress and strife during the busy week. Who would watch our son on the evenings we would be with clients? How was everyone planning on arriving at the house? I had already thought about the departure and the last day even before anyone arrived! I must have set about 15 alarms in my phone’s calendar to ensure that nothing was missed – then I made us go over it again. When you are working together as a couple, lines can be blurred, and the important stuff can be forgotten. It is not always a walk in the park, but I am quite fond of our duo – I think we complement each other’s strong points at any rate.

We planned the daily schedule, which Eric put together on a neat Excel sheet. I double-checked it for timing and asked the questions I thought students might ask. I booked the musicians for our closing event – a fabulous gypsy (and no it is not dirogatory to say that here) trio from Nîmes. We were going to thank our students and a few invited guests with a lovely, delicious (of course), musical feast.

When we debated over whether or not to skip the horse-drawn carriage ride to the Pont du Gard for our picnic offered by Emmanuel Pédeneau, Eric suggested that we sleep on it – no decision should be made in haste, and he was absolutely right. I wanted us to go through all the steps – all the things that we really wanted to include, so we could get necessary feedback and plan for future classes. We replaced the cheese & wine class with our Chef’s Table – Food & Wine Pairing class because I needed photos of that, and we needed to see how Eric and our sommelier Frédéric would work together.

We tried to book La Table d’Uzès for a Wednesday night and learned that the hotel was closed till Thursday (as were many others) – could we still do it? Of course! Only needed to rework the schedule a bit to accommodate the changes. We would later learn that it was going to perhaps be our first and last session dining on the Michelin-starred cuisine of chef Oscar Garcia.

Planning such a full program with tours, cooking classes, tastings, dinners, and so on, can be complicated, particularly when you are doing it for the first time and you are dependent on other people’s services. But honestly, the planning process went very well – there were a few disputes, but we worked it out. We had met some lovely people, and they were more than willing to be part of this wonderful experience.

As the days approached, I checked my phone’s weather app incessantly, hoping that Spring would show its face and bless us with a wonderful sunshine-filled week. It was looking not too bad, but for one day, which was not too difficult to deal with.

Our students baked, chopped, cooked, enjoyed wine, cheese, visited a farm, danced, dined, and certainly left their mark on us.

A French Culinary Holiday to Repeat?

The result of this French Culinary extravaganza? Pure delight and exhaustion. Oh, we’ll have to rework a few things, change out some equipment, and decide if next year it will have to be more expensive – but no worries, it will remain well worth it. I am confident that the remaining sessions we have planned for this year (next up May 21-28) will be well-received and hopefully well-attended.

The chefs and I attempting to recreate Balbina’s illustration.

A special thank you to Balbina, who, under pressure from me, contributed some lovely illustrations for our Facebook profile pics and pages. Also, thank you to our new intern, Paulina, who executed my requests for menus, instructions, and photos to ends way beyond my initial expectations. I am looking forward to the next time around, and hopefully, this time my son won’t deprive me of 8 hours of sleep over two days.

See you in Uzès. Your chance to inquire about one of our holiday packages below, and a delicious recipe to try at home, perfect for the season.

Why not try this recipe that we featured in our Chef’s Table- Food and Wine Pairing class during our delightful Week in Uzès.

Asparagus with Grapefruit and Herb Salad

Interested in finding out more about our Week in Uzès?  Just use the form on this page.

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