A la carte CUISINE

GARD
French cuisine courses

Collias is 20 minutes from Avignon and Nîmes airports, 60 minutes from Aix-Marseille airport and 20 minutes from Avignon TGV station.

BOOKING ENQUIRIES

cooking courses in France

Quercy - hands-on courses with top chef in his chateau

Aveyron - a culinary outpost in the Aveyron Gorge

Gard - near the 'Pont du Gard'

Avignon - olive groves and another bridge

Provence - in a 500 hectare wine estate

Bandol - La Cadière d'Azur among the Bandol vines

Ariège - in the Cathar country, Pyrenean foothills

COOKING COURSES in the Gard

4 day culinary course in Collias, Gard

Transformed from three XVIIth century stone buildings in the village of Collias, the hostellerie 'Le Castellas' is a haven of tranquillity in a region rich in archeological, cultural and gastronomic sights. Between the mediaeval jewel of Uzès and the Roman masterpiece 'Le Pont du Gard' Collias is equally near Avignon (like the Pont du Gard, a UNESCO heritage site), Nîmes and the Mediterranean sea at Saintes Maries-de-la-Mer.

Cooking Courses
Jérôme Nutile, the Chef Cuisinier, runs his 'gourmet workshops' every morning. Participants are apprentices to the chef, watching and learning from every gesture and trick employed by the master. He shows how to create a tasty cuisine based on fresh produce. Students can take an active or passive role, as they like, either participating fully or just watching and listening. Jérôme was awarded his second Michelin star in 2008.

The programme

Mornings are devoted to the cuisine workshops with chef Jérôme Nutile. Lunch is then taken in company of the chef. Afternoons are devoted to sight-seeing in the immediate vicinity: the village of Collias, the Pont de Gard and the Duchy of Uzès are both only 5 kilometres away.

The PONT du GARD

A UNESCO World Heritage site, the Pont du Gard dates back to the Roman occupation of the region. Used as an aquaduct and bridge its conception and solidity are a reminder of the force of the Roman Empire. There's a fairly good visitor centre at the site but most guests are just happy enough wondering at the 2000 year old structure in its stunning surroundings of deep river and steep-sided gorge.

UZÈS

The Duchy of Uzès is just a few miles north of the hotel and it's well worth spending an afternoon exploring the narrow streets and shady squares. Smaller and even more picturesque than Avignon Uzès allows the visitor to imagine what life was like in the 16th century.

AVIGNON

Apart from the famous bridge there is much to see in the 'Papal City' starting with the Papal Palace in its lop-sided cobbled square, all white stone reflecting the strong Midi sun. One can so easily imagine the carriages rolling noisily over the cobbles as the pope and his entourage returned from some mission in the region.

Part of Avignon's charm is that it's not only an intact historic centre but also a vibrant living town where citizens go about their daily occupations much as they did in the Middle Ages.

If you are lucky enough to be in town during the Theatre Festival (most of the month of July) it doesn't really matter if you can't understand French or don't feel like sitting in a theatre for the evening as the whole town comes alive with street theatre. The laneways and squares are thick with jugglers, clowns and compact troupes of theatrical hopefuls each surpassing the other in artistic and outrageous entertainment.

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