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One year ago, Yetunde, Remi and myself started a new chapter of our lives in Uzes.<\/p>\n
It is always a challenge, personally and professionally, to start a new life in a new town.<\/p>\n
You need to get to know your neighbors and certainly hope they will be open to getting to know you. You need to seek out sometimes overzealously; your future colleagues or partners; you need to find friends and to be sure that your children can also find friends.<\/p>\n
Having moved several times in my life, you’d think I would be used to starting over but it’s not so easy to start a new life even when the location is superb. The south of France is known for its warm weather but also for its warm people and for that we are grateful.<\/p>\n
We have had the chance to make a few friends – some even before we officially moved here, and Remi (our son), soon going to school, should find it easy enough to make his first friends – he is quite the social butterfly.<\/p>\n
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What really makes us happy here, is the quality of life and the weather of course, which contributes greatly to the quality of the foods at the market – from vegetable to poultry, cheeses, and meat\u2026wine, I could go on and on.<\/p>\n
We arrived with the firm intention to start a second cooking school in Provence. Ok admittedly Uz\u00e8s is not technically in Provence with is approximately 45 minutes away, but in this part of Languedoc-Rousillon with its proximity to Provence what you know as the Proven\u00e7al way of life is quite prevalent here.<\/p>\n
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Initially we had wanted to be within Uz\u00e8s, but the price and the small spaces available made us change our plans.<\/p>\n
In the end we came to love the idea of being close enough to Uz\u00e8s to drive clients from the market if need be, to a space that would be large and airy to make classes enjoyable. So Arpaillargues is where we settled right next to the quaint Mus\u00e9e 1900<\/a> – only 3 minutes drive from Uz\u00e8s . . . It was Yetunde who found the perfect location to install the stove.<\/p>\n
Then finally, in July, we welcomed our first cooks. It was a lot of fun to cook in this large and homey kitchen. A lot of good food has been made and eaten here so far and I believe there is more to come. With the addition of a Chef\u2019s Table – Food & Wine Pairing Class, where I will be joined by my good friend, the Sommelier, Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Duverger<\/strong><\/a> of Cannes You Taste<\/a> and the week-long culinary vacation program<\/a> where we give you a crash course into French culture through bread baking, market visits, winery visits and lots of tastings and cooking. It’s a great way for us to share what we love about the region with eager participants.<\/p>\n
In 2016 with our Week in Uz\u00e8s<\/a> program, we\u2019ll have a chance to chat with some of them directly and even visit their places of work. You will have taste the best wines in France, great truffles, very fresh goat cheese, you will touch the trees who brought the olives that make the olive oil we are using for cooking\u2026 Everything is fresh, local and most of the time organic. Man, I\u2019m getting excited just thinking about it.<\/p>\n