A La Bonne Cocotte is located in Provence in the bustling town of Nyons, one hour northeast of Avignon.  Nyons is famous for its olives and olive oil.  The school (and our home) is located in the medieval section of town, in the Chateau Feodal, which is the restored remains of a medieval fortress.  The walls of the fortress contain a lushly planted terraced garden with a small pool. At its highest point, there is a watchtower, considered the oldest monument in Nyons.

Students will live and cook with me in the chateau and the adjoining houses, which form a compound surrounding the walled garden.  The rooms are simple and charmingly furnished with local antiques.  In the chateau, there are two double bedrooms, each with a bathroom; a garden house has a double and a single room, each with its own bathroom; and there one room with bathroom in the very small and rustic gatehouse, suitable for one person.

The five-day course is limited to four people.  The menus reflect the seasons and focus on regional specialties.  Classes are fully participatory.

Sunday, plan to arrive in Nyons in the afternoon between 1 and 4 P.M.  You will have time to settle into your rooms before our first cooking class, which begins at 5:30 PM and lasts until 7:30 to 8 PM, when we sit down for dinner.

Monday morning, after a breakfast of croissants and homemade jams from my assistant Sarah Lambert, we visit  Cliousclat and Dieulefit, two villages famous for their Provençal pottery.  We picnic either in Poet Laval or Marsanne, two medieval villages. We drive home through beautiful countryside, arriving around 4 PM.  We start our second cooking class at 5:30 PM.

Tuesday morning, we go to the weekly market at Vaison La Romaine, about 10 miles south of Nyons. The market is huge, featuring about 100 vendors, who sell food as well as antiques , clothing and pottery. We buy vegetables for our Tuesday class as well as our picnic lunch.  After a drink at one of the outdoor cafes, we depart for the Vallee of the Toulourenc, a rushing mountain stream, for our picnic.  The valley is on the north side of the Mont Ventoux, the highest mountain in Provence where the “Tour de France, the famous bicycle, race passes every two or three years. ( Lance Armstrong has yet to win the race to the top of that mountain.)  We come back around 4 PM for our third cooking class.

Wednesday is free until 5:30 PM , when we have our fourth cooking class. You can visit Avignon, the Pont du Gard, a magnificent Roman aqueduct and bridge, Chateauneuf du Pape, or arrange visits to several private gardens with Bruno Leroy, a landscape artist who designed my garden. If you wish you can stay with me and spend a relaxing day in the garden with our splash pool.

Thursday is market day in Nyons. Just a few steps from the chateau is the market, which takes up the whole center of town.  The market supplies us with what we need for our luncheon of bouillabaisse or paella, which we eat in the garden. The rest of morning is spent cooking lunch and doing some preliminary work for our dinner.  The afternoon can be spent in Gigondas for a wine tasting, or visiting a mohair goat farm owned by Danny Aubert who weaves gorgeous mohair blankets and items of clothing. In the evening we finish preparing dinner and spend the evening eating and chatting on the wisteria-covered terrace. I can also help you plan your remaining time in France with hotel and restaurant reservations .

Friday morning after breakfast we say our good byes.