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France: Porcelain Painting or Yoga in Southern Burgundy 
Southern Burgundy, France - 6 nights

Marc and Karen Keiser will be your hosts for a creative week of painting on Limoges porcelain or practicing Yoga while you stay at their centuries-old, restored country house with a pool in the tiny village of Chateau, close to the medieval town of Cluny in the South of Burgundy. The area is one of great natural beauty, with rolling hills dotted with old stone farmhouses, churches, hedgerows, and a peace and quiet totally conducive to a creative week devoted to painting or Yoga.

Sylvie LaBrosse, a long-established local artist well known for her beautiful designs painted on Limoges porcelain, will teach you the various techniques involved in porcelain painting enabling you to create your own Limoges to be fired and taken home at the end of the week.

The Yoga students will be instructed by Rob & Clariet Roelants, who offer a combined programme (or a choice between) Yoga, Meditation, rhythmic movement and dance at their studio in Chateau. Rob is also a Reiki master and Clariet an Ayurvedic therapist, masseuse and cook, whose talents you’ll run across during the week. Their lessons are designed to develop the elasticity of the spinal cord, optimalize breathing (from the stomach), improve circulation and detox the nervous system, in order to arrive at a harmonious state of mind and body, energize and relax.

Mornings will be devoted to the various activities, after which you’ll gather together to enjoy a good lunch at the long table at Le Nid. In the afternoons, your hosts will be your guides in introducing you to the beautiful countryside around Le Nid, visiting historic villages such as Cluny and Beaune, local artisan’s workshops, a chateau, renowned vineyards to do wine tastings, a cooking course at a Michelin Bib-Gourmand restaurant, and many fine meals with local wines and cheeses. Karen, a Canadian artist married to Marc, a Dutchman have made their home in Chateau in Southern Burgundy and will be delighted to share their extensive knowledge of this harmonious and surprisingly diverse region of France with their guests.

Day One: Sunday: After arrival in the late afternoon, you will gather with your hosts in the evening to toast the coming week with a Burgundian aperitif, followed by a 4 course dinner in Le Nid, accompanied by cheeses and local wines.

Day Two: Monday: After breakfast the Yoga and Painting students will go to their respective studios. Sylvie La Brosse is an accomplished painter in the long tradition of French porcelain artists and will be your teacher this week. She will demonstrate the various techniques of porcelain painting and assist you in choosing the motifs and colours you’d like to use to make a piece of your choice. The Yoga participants will be taken to the Roelants’ studio in Chateau where you will follow a programme of (Hatha)Yoga, meditation, rhythmic movement and dance, as desired. Your instructors are Rob and Clariet, who are experienced teachers of Yoga, Dance, Meditation, Reiki and Ayurvedic Massage at their studio at Mont Gremoi. After the morning’s activities, lunch will be served at Le Nid, whenever possible outside in the garden. In the afternoon, we’ll make a trip to historic medieval Cluny, 7 minutes away, where we’ll take a guided tour of the remains of the ancient abbey, the greatest church in Christendom before St. Peter’s in Rome was built.

After the tour, those wishing to have a look round Cluny may do so, or they can visit L’Haras, one of Napoleon’s 13 stud farms and which reflects Burgundy’s long, rich equestrian tradition. In the evening, an aperitif and dinner will be served at a good traditional restaurant on the central market square.

Day Three: Tuesday: After breakfast, the painters and Yoga students will gather with their instructors to continue their activities. Lunch will be at Le Nid, and after a short siesta, you will have the option of a walk round Chateau and a visit to a local farm producing a delicious organic goat’s cheese. Later on, you will travel through the vineyards to the small Maconnais village of Viré where you will visit a restaurant crowned with a Michelin “bib”gourmand”. There under the guidance of the chef you’ll prepare a regional starter and/or dessert, which you will later enjoy at dinner with the excellent Viré-Clessé wines, grown in the vineyards surrounding the village.

Day Four: Wednesday: Morning activities as usual will be followed by lunch at Le Nid.

After lunch you’ll travel to the picturesque Brionnais region of Southern Burgundy where you’ll pay a visit to Chateau Dree in Curbigny with its beautiful gardens and exquisite 19th century furnishings. On the way back through the bucolic countryside, you’ll stop to pay a visit to Sylvie’s studio and see her work, and then head for home. In the evening Rob and Clariet will be your hosts for a festive dinner featuring Indian cuisine prepared according to Ayurvedic principles. Clariet will be your guide in explaining the 6 elements of taste inherent in the ayurvedic cuisine: sweet, salty, acidic, piquant, bitter and astringent, in other words, delicious!

Day Five Thursday: Morning activities resume at Le Nid and Mont Gremoi as on Wednesday.

The porcelain painters will be putting the final touches on their pieces to be fired. After lunch in the afternoon we will walk to the top of the prominent landmark the rock of Solutré, prehistoric site near Macon, with a small museum of prehistory (for those not wishing to walk up). From the top you’ll have an outstanding view of the surrounding vineyards of the Pouilly-Fuisé, an internationally renowned white wine. In the village of Solutré, you’ll visit a local producer’s wine cellar and taste the wonderful wines you’ve seen growing all around you. A 4 course meal in an excellent restaurant in the Maconnais vineyards will complete the day .

Day Six: Friday: In the morning after breakfast you’ll be traveling through the Chalonais wine region of Southern Burgundy, stopping to do a wine tasting of the Chalonnais wines on the way to Beaune. You’ll enjoy a three course lunch together at a good restaurant in Beaune and afterwards pay a visit to the wonderful 15th century hospices (hospital). You will have ample opportunity later in the afternoon to stroll around the town, do some shopping, or visit one of the many renowned wine cellars, one of which is at hospices itself. In the evening you will gather with your hosts for a farewell dinner or barbecue with the wine you’ve chosen earlier that morning.

Day Seven: Saturday: Your final breakfast at Le Nid, after which the porcelain painters will collect their fired porcelain to take home. Time to fly the nest!