Overview
France a la Carte is an agency based in Toulouse, in southwest France, specializing in short theme breaks for individuals and small groups. These take the form of escorted tours for groups of four to six guests traveling in a minivan with their own English-speaking driver-guide or self-drive trips visiting carefully selected sights that only insiders know.
Themes covered include golf, spa, thalasso therapy, and horseback riding, but above all, France a la Carte is known for culinary vacations and wine-tasting breaks.
France a la Carte’s Team is on the Ground
Unlike other agencies, France a la Carte’s team lives and works in the region where their vacations are centered. Based in Toulouse, an ancient city dating back to the Visigoths, France a la Carte creates and maintains vacations in a 300-mile radius. This means that their team has personally visited and inspected every accommodation and service that is offered to customers. Equally important, this proximity means that France a la Carte can intervene immediately in the unlikely event of a problem or mishap arising during your stay.
French Cuisine and Great Wines – At the Heart of All Vacations
A trip to France – whatever the theme – almost always means delicious meals accompanied by fine wines. France a la Carte tries to go beyond the everyday reality by providing insights into the where, why, and wherefore of the French cuisine guests encounter and the magic behind those wines. Whether you are on a simple golfing holiday or relaxing in the thermal waters of a Pyrenean spa, France a la Carte makes sure that you taste the best in French cuisine.
Culinary Vacations – How They Work
France a la Carte’s cooking classes are held in chateaux and bijou hotels throughout the south of France. The chef cuisinier welcomes participants into his or her kitchen for a period of two or three hours each day, usually the morning. Each day has a theme – fish, pastries, foie gras for example – and after a short demonstration by the chef, guests are asked to roll up their sleeves and get to work. This is hands-on cooking at its best, with the chef and his sous-chefs advising and encouraging. Lunch is taken together and is normally comprised of the morning’s work!
Afternoons are spent discovering the ‘back office’ of French cuisine: the farms, orchards, olive groves and vineyards that provide the raw materials for the artists in the kitchen.
France a la Carte’s courses are open to individuals or couples or small groups of four to six. Classes are always limited to eight participants in all. They usually include a rental car from a regional airport or TGV station (high-speed train) as the venues are deep in the French countryside. France a la Carte can, if desired, arrange transfers for those who do not wish to drive.
There Can Be No Good Food Without Wine
French wine-makers have finally reacted to the flood of New World wines reaching Europe. At first scornful, then dubious they are now reassessing their methods and traditions in an effort to increase quality and retrieve that ‘typical French’ taste.
France a la Carte can help wine-lovers meet wine-makers and taste their nectar in both well-known (Bordeaux) and lesser-known vineyards (ever heard of the 'Vins de Pays des Coteaux de Fenouillèdes'?). Of course, these wine-tasting trips are not devoid of culinary interest either, with good food being served at every meal.
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