Combination Tours> France> Cooking and Biking/Walking in Bordeaux

France: Cooking and Biking/Walking in Bordeaux
(Options: Walking, Biking, Garden Visits, Museum Visits, Antiquing, Spa, Opera)
Bordeaux, France - 6 nights

Savor the wines, foods, and landscapes that define this southwestern corner of France between Bordeaux and St. Emilion. Your week in the "Entre Deux Mers" region is a unique way to get to know French people and to share their culinary passions. It is an opportunity to taste and cook traditional and locally grown foods: produce from their gardens, wine from their vineyards, shellfish from their seacoast or mushrooms from their forests. Your hosts for the week are Carol, an American who has been living in France for more than thirty years, her French husband, Bruno and their English friend Helen. During your stay you will participate in cooking classes at private homes, restaurants and cafés, you will enjoy biking through the nearby vineyards and on the bike trail, you will indulge in delicious tastings and simply immerse yourself in everyday French life.

Bordeaux, France

SAMPLE ITINERARY

Day One (Saturday)

After late Saturday afternoon arrival at the train station or airport you will be met by your hostess. After a stop at a sidewalk café to talk a little about your plans for the week, Carol will take you on a short walking tour of Bordeaux. Then off to the wine region of Entre Deux Mers and your home for the week, a lovely bed and breakfast - a country home at the edge of a small village. In the evening you may go to a nearby restaurant at the foot of a 12th century abbey in La Sauve or to the Garonne for dinner at the river's edge.

Day Two (Sunday)

Breakfast at home followed by a morning of cooking with Bruno, a French doctor and nutritionist who also holds a degree in French cuisine. Bruno is the founder and president of the "Confrerie des Medécins Gastronomes", an organization interested in expanding medical profession's knowledge of good food and good health. You will cook in his home kitchen in a little hamlet built around a water mill. He will take you through step by step for a hands-on preparation of Piperade Basque, Canelés, stuffed duck, or other typical dishes from southwestern France. Lunch, of course, is usually not over until about 3pm. You might want a little nap before biking or driving to the nearby wine mecca of St. Emilion in the late afternoon. You can stop along the way to do some wine tasting.

Day Three (Monday)

Today you will visit the kitchen of a village baker and bring home some hot bread for your picnic lunch by the ocean. Your guide will drive you to the bay of Arcachon to visit the oyster beds, see the daily work of French oyster farmers, and perhaps hike through the bird sanctuary of Le Teich. Then on around the bay, stopping for a seafood picnic to accompany the bread you got earlier that morning. For those wanting to work off some of your meals Le Pyla, Europe's highest sand dune, is nearby and offers a magnificent view out over the bay to the ocean. After a full day of outdoor activity, dinner will be on the way home in a quiet little village restaurant. Another option for today is to spend it driving around south of Bordeaux exploring the wine regions of Pessac Leognan, Graves, and Sauternes and doing some wine tasting. You can stop along the way to visit Montesquieu's castle where he wrote "The Spirit of the Law" and then have lunch in the Sauternes.

Day Four (Tuesday)

You can drive or bike over to Bruno's for another cooking class. As usual lunch will not be over until 3pm. So why not a little biking before exploring some great antique shops and wine stores in Bordeaux? Dinner will be at Bordeaux's most typical French country style restaurant. On the menu: cassoulet, farm chicken cooked on a spit in the fireplace, or, if in season, delicious wild crepe mushrooms - a once a year tradition in the southwest of France with, of course, an accompanying wine.

Day Five (Wednesday)

You will meet your new cook, Stéphane, at the market in Créon. She is a delegate for the Italian Academy of Cooking in addition to being a wonderful French cook. After shopping for ingredients at the outdoor market you will go back to Stéphane's home, a restored barn with a distinctive modern flavor, in Salleboeuf. The typically southwestern French dishes are personalized by Stéphane: delicious fig tarts, salmon patés, stuffed veal or baby squid.

After lunch you have several choices: You may explore the landscape, some of the surrounding wine regions, the famous Medoc chateau and dinner at a country restaurant. Or you might enjoy just relaxing at home, and then biking over to a nearby café which was formerly a train station. You will have lunch with Claude, who runs the café and is, of course, a wine enthusiast. You can take advantage of the biking trail towards Bordeaux and, depending on your stamina, bike 22 miles (35Km) all the way to the Garonne river or stop after 6 miles (10Km) in Sadirac and visit "Oh, Légumes Oubliés" demonstration garden. It is full of heirloom fruits and vegetables no longer cultivated in most gardens. You might even do a little tasting (nettle quiche, chocolate covered "amour en cage", ...). Dinner will probably be in a small restaurant along one of the two rivers that give Entre Deux Mers, "between two seas", its name: la Garonne or la Dordogne.

Day Six (Thursday)

On your last day of cooking Stéphane will ask you if there is any particular dish you would like to learn. If not, she will take the lead and have you discover more of her delicious dishes and easy techniques. In the afternoon you can go back to Bordeaux for some last minute shopping such as getting the unusual molds you may have encountered in your cooking classes. You can also visit some of the city's great museums or just wander through the streets of historic Bordeaux. Another option is to spend the afternoon biking along the trails and small roads of Entre Deux Mers. In the evening there will be a farewell dinner before getting ready for your early departure the next morning.

Day Seven (Friday) - Au Revoir!

**Inquire about additional itineraries. A special holiday can be personalized for you with many possibilities for the week's activities.

BOOKING INFORMATION
2008 FEES PER PERSON	DEPOSIT
US$3600 (minimum of 3 persons) US$4295 (minimum of 2 persons in one room - double or twin beds) US$4650 (minimum of 2 persons in separate rooms) US$6250 (single guest)	After availability is confirmed, a non-refundable deposit of $400 per person and the completed and submitted registration form will secure your reservation. Final payment is due in full 60 days before your arrival date.
2008 DATES	INCLUDED
April 5-11 May 3-9 June 7-13 July 26-August 1 August 2-8 September 6-12 October 4-10 November 1-7 December 6-12 *There is some flexibility in dates - please inquire *Inquire about our special New Year's Eve program

For further inquiries or to register, click here.



CANCELLATION POLICY
Client is entitled to a full refund (less the $50 per person non-refundable booking fee) when written notice of cancellation is received more than 60 days prior to arrival. Cancellations received 45 days to 60 days prior to arrival will be subject to a cancellation charge of 50%. No refund will be made for cancellations received less than 45 days prior to arrival. Once the week has commenced there will be no refunds on unused portions. Travel insurance is highly recommended.



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