BIENVENUE!
Hello and welcome to my cooking classes, in English, in the heart of one of the most beautiful medieval villages in southwest France.
If you are looking for culinary inspiration and an authentic taste of food in France, a cooking class or a cheese tasting session at my home in Fourcès is the place for you.
You will find the Atelier (atelier means workshop, in French) in the northern Gers, a part of the Occitanie region sometimes called Little Tuscany. Here, the land undulates gently and is dotted with picturesque villages, vineyards and sunflower fields. To live and cook in this part of the world is to become immediately connected to the place and the seasons.
The cooking classes are run in my home kitchen⏤a vast space with thick walls of local stone and exposed wooden beams on the ceiling. The building was converted from the former stables of a 16th century chateau; the chateau which is just across the road, in fact.
The kitchen is always my favourite room, in any house. It is the place where food is prepared, of course. It is also where people congregate, where conversations are had⏤where life happens. The kitchen of this house is where the project began; it inspired me from the minute I laid eyes on it and it is simply the perfect space for gathering and cooking together.
Join me for an afternoon of cooking french food with the best ingredients the Gers has to offer, followed by a leisurely lunch in the garden, around a big communal table under the shade of the ancient lime trees.
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"I had a cooking class with Laura and it was a fabulous session. She covered a number of French recipes I was eager to learn including how to cook duck to perfection. We made the most amazing pear tart too. After all the cooking, we had a lovely lunch. It's a cooking experience I heartily recommend"
WORKSHOP SCHEDULE
Choose from one of 4 formulas:
Cooking & Déjeuner
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French Market Tours
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Cheese Tastings
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Brocante Sundays
Cooking & Déjeuner
Come and cook in my French kitchen! These cooking classes are devised around several themes and you will be able to indicate your interests on the Enquiry Form.
Times are 10:00 a.m. – 4 p.m.
What you get:
Hands-on cooking – Aperitif – A three-course lunch in the garden – Thoughtfully sourced cheese course – Local wines
These sessions can be booked most days of the week* and I suggest a Le Poisson is best on Thursdays & Fridays but this is not an absolute requirement.
Cost is €180 per person.
Companion places for non-cooking friends are €50 and you add this at the time of booking. For more information see the FAQs page or enquire at time of booking.
To reserve your place, first fill in the Enquiry Form (button below). You then have the option to go to the next page where you select the date and payment is processed. But if you are just making an enquiry, the first form is all you need to do.
Other options are always available on request. Please email if you would like to discuss.
*except the 2nd Sunday of every month which is reserved for Brocante Sunday Workshops (more info below)
Cook Le Gers
Duck, prunes, Armagnac & everything Gascon. Regional French food from the past, brought firmly up to date.
French Home Cooking
Cook French Bistro classics like maman. Or papa. French traditional food like braises, gratins, tarts sweet & savoury.
New Seasonal French
New things from old standards at their seasonal peak. Lots of market-fresh vegetables. Think Ottolenghi in France.
Le Poisson
Meunière, marinières, whole roast and fillets. Get to grips with French recipes for seafood. Striped t-shirts optional.
French Market Tours
Cooking starts with shopping and what better way to learn about French food than by shopping at a French market?
This tour-workshop starts early at a nearby market where we shop together, chat with producers and select the freshest local ingredients before returning to Fourcès for cooking & eating.
Meet at the market at 8:30
Nérac is Saturday
Eauze is Thursday
Lectoure is Friday.
Interested? Let me know by filling in the Enquiry Form (button below) and I will get back to you. Go straight to the photos below if you know which market you want and click the appropriate button.
Wednesdays and Sundays are also available at smaller nearby markets. If this appeals, click on the Enquire button below and let me know.
Cost for a one-day workshop (min 2 people):
Thursday, Friday or Saturday: €210
Wednesday or Sunday: €170
Companion places for non-cooking friends are €50 and you add this at the time of booking. For more information see the FAQs page or enquire at time of booking. Recipes sent after the class.
Please note you will need your own transport for this session.
Private Market Tours are available; please enquire for prices.
Two-day market workshops are also available. These involve shopping and prepping (and nibbling) on Day One and lots more cooking followed by feasting on Day Two. If you are in the area for an extended stay, this is an excellent way to immerse yourself in the local gastronomic culture. Please enquire 
for availability and prices.
French Market - Nérac
One of the nicest, liveliest markets, in the old town centre near the river Baïse every Saturday morning.
French Market - Eauze
The capital of Bas Armagnac in the heart of the Gers region, a vibrant and bustling Thursday morning market.
French Market - Lectoure
A beautiful bastide village is the setting for this traditonal Friday morning food market.
Cheese Tasting
If you want to simply dip your toes in French culinary waters, what better place to start than cheese?
Southwest France has an outstanding variety of cheeses: mountain cheeses from the Pyrénées made from sheeps milk or cows milk, or both. There is also a range of goats’ cheeses and different types of blue cheeses plus many other seasonal specialities from all over France. So many to try, why not let me do the gathering and you can sit back, relax and do the tasting?
Times: Mornings from 12:00 – 3 p.m. or Afternoons from 4:00 – 7 p.m.
Cost €130 (minimum 3 people)
Private tasting sessions are available; please enquire for prices.
What you get:
A tutored tasting session featuring an assortment of French cheeses.
Morning sessions are followed by a light lunch around the big table in the garden, including dessert and wines.
Afternoon sessions are followed by an apéro dînatoire (lots of grazing plates) around the big table in the garden, including dessert and wines.
Interested? Let me know by filling in the Enquiry Form (button below). You then have the option to go to the next page where you select the date and payment is processed. But if you are just making an enquiry, the first form is all you need to do.
Other options are always available on request. Please email if you would like to discuss.
Brocante Sundays
A less intensive cooking class held exclusively the second Sunday of each month from May-November, to coincide with the monthly Fourcès Brocante market. The brocante is a wonderful, lively flea market held in the main village place which is about 10 seconds from the Atelier. This one is a must for antique-loving cooks!
Some of the meal is prepared in advance, and some is cooked on the day, to leave more time for browsing the market stalls in the village.
For 3 or more cooks, option to book as a Cheese Tasting + lunch. Please enquire for availability and prices.
11:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Cost €140
Hands-on cooking of one dish – Aperitif –
Lunch in the garden –
Thoughtfully sourced cheese course –
Local wines
Companion places are €50 and you add this at the time of booking. For more information see the FAQs page or enquire at time of booking.
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