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15th March 2010
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Food & Drink Holidays, France

Welcome to our pages about French gastronomic breaks.

Gemma tasting
Gemma Driver

This section's my personal passion, so you'll find it packed with reviews, tips and holiday ideas for all sorts of wine and culinary holidays in France. Holidays based on tasting or cooking have a natural home in France, which has a strong culinary history, and still has markets overflowing with wonderful fresh, seasonal, regional produce. And of course there's the wine! The French are very proud of their wine-producing skills, which they are happy to share with visitors to their vineyards.

So whether you are looking for a holiday, or just browsing these pages, bon appetit!

Gemma Driver
Editor, FrenchEntrée Holidays

Information Store

Access everyday information to help your French food-shopping experiences flow more smoothly.

Seafood Vocabulary
CrabIf you are bewildered by the range of seafood, the names, and the questions you are asked at the seafood counter, this should help!
French Meat Cuts
pigIt is not just a case of simple translation when buying meat in France, because the French cuts differ from those in the UK. Here are some explanations and vocabulary...
Mysterious Veg
chardHow to use the mysterious vegetables that you see in French markets.
Flour in France
BreadWhich flour to use for what; about the grades.

Foie Gras Explained


Spiced foie Being unused to this product in the UK, the various forms of foie gras can be confusing at first...
Market Tasters in France
tastersHow to deal with traders offering tasters at the markets of France.

Market Manners in France
market stall"How to deal with market stall pressure.
British Vs French Supermarket Stock


supermarketDifferences between French and British supermarket stock; how it is treated differently, and where it comes from.
Supermarket Vs Market
vegThe differences between supermarket stock and that of the markets and individual shops. What do you get for your money?
Ordering Steak
steakHow to request the ‘doneness’ of a steak in French.

Sauce Names
waiter Ever wondered what the difference is between ‘Béarnaise’ and ‘Périgordine’ sauces?

Food & Drink Holidays - Latest Articles

Food, Wine & Cooking Holidays in France

Everything you need to know!

© Gemma Driver
© Geir Olav Lyngfjell - FOTOLIA
© Gemma Driver

Win a Vineyard Membership

3D Wine competition3D Wines are offering FrenchEntrée readers the chance to win a year’s vineyard membership in all three Grand Cru regions – Champagne, Bordeaux and Burgundy. They will also draw three runners up who will win a year’s membership in a vineyard of their choice... more...

Cooking Holidays with The French House Party

French House PartyFor the French, the appreciation of good food and wine is almost as important as breathing. So it is perhaps no surprise that the award-winning French chefs are just as enthusiastic as we are about the French House Party Gastro Academy programme for 2010 – the first culinary vacation school of its kind and calibre in the Languedoc region of South West France... more...

Put some Fizz in your Weekend Break

Wine tasting holiday Champagne sales may have gone a little flat in the recession but a visit to this region of France is still a sparkling treat. George Hunter raises a glass... more...

Les Ruches French Cooking Holidays

Les Ruches French Cookery HolidaysLes Ruches French Cooking Holidays are run by Mark and Nina Down. Their holidays are based around a charmingly restored 18th century farmhouse, nestled in a small picturesque village overlooked by a stunning chateau in the relatively undiscovered Vienne region of France... more...

Gourmet Food Holiday in the South of France

French cuisine & fine food at the Château d'Agel

Wine For those of us looking for a guarantee of excellent cuisine in an idyllic location, day after day and night after night, Peter and Sally Shaw have hit upon the perfect solution: gourmet cuisine weeks hosted at the Chateau d'Agel.
Gourmet Holidays in the Languedoc

Cooking Break in Brittany

Reader's review

Christian"Cooking instruction from a former Cordon Bleu chef, charming B&B accommodation, and guided day trips to the Brittany shore to collect your own fresh seafood for dinner!"
Julia O'Shaughnessy reviews her holiday... full story...

Wine holiday in the Rhone Valley

Rhone Rennaisance … it’s the right time to tour.

Vaucluse HouseThe Rhone valley has long been a high volume producer of reliable, robust reds providing good value in the supermarket. In terms of fine wines however it lagged behind the critical acclaim of Bordeaux and Burgundy - until now... more...

Cookery Courses In France

French cooking holidays in the Dordogne.

Jim Fisher Masterchef finalist, Jim Fisher, took his cutting-edge skills and enviable cheffing experience (such as cheffing for Rick Stein) to the rural Dordogne, where, with the help of his wife, Lucy, he has established a thriving cookery holiday business. I joined Jim, Lucy, and their guests for a week, so that I could find out exactly how the holidays work... cooking holiday in France...

Domaine La Foncaudière Attracts Rave Reviews

Learn to cook haute cuisine in total luxury.

Cooking The estate of Domaine La Foncaudière, near Bergerac in the Dordogne, has been receiving the most amazing reviews from guests and professional reviewers alike. And that's just for the hospitality. But the bespoke chef at the Domaine, Vlado Skovrlj also runs cooking courses... more...

Discover Burgundy Wines

...on a wine tasting tour.

Barrel Imagine the earthy smells of wine cellars, the aromas of the wines, the lingering taste of fruit and the green and gold of the countryside. This is what Lynne and David Hammond from Burgundy Discovery promise to make a reality for their guests. more...

Learn How to Cook Black Truffles and Foie Gras!

We've sniffed out a diamond of a cooking holiday in the capital of the Périgord truffle.

Lobster
Pierre Corre
Pierre Corre is the world-renowned chef at the Auberge de la Truffe in Sorges, and he specialises in the rich flavours of Périgord cuisine. Whilst Pierre creates dishes in the kitchen, Jacqueline Leymarie efficiently runs the hotel. Everything about the place - the people, decor and dishes - are simply very French!
Sorges became the capital of the Périgord black early 1900s, when local farmers pioneered the cultivation of the ‘black diamond’... more...

A Vegetarian Cottage in France

Real life story.

Vegetarian cottageFrenchEntrée's Vegetarian Topic Host, Trevor Bridge, explains how he came to be running vegetarian breaks in France. "Our aim was to provide accommodation that we would want to stay in if we were on holiday. We wanted to create an overall environment where vegetarians and vegans would feel comfortable."

more...

Languedoc Food Adventures

Review of Hot Sun Cool Shadow

Hot Sun Cool Shadow

Hot Sun Cool Shadow, by Angela Murrills, vividly chronicals the food, people, history and atmospheres encountered by her and her husband during years of trips and finally settling in the Languedoc. It is ideal if you are planning a trip to this vast and varied region, and also if you live in France and need your passion for the lifestyle rekindled; this book will inspire you straight back to the markets and your kitchen. more...
Le Gastrozone

Help for Vegetarians

Being a vegetarian in France can be hard...

vegetables
Vegetarianism is a relatively new concept for the French, and one which is frequently misunderstood, especially outside the big cities. France does not have the history of intensive farming that the UK has suffered, and, being far more rural and sparsley populated, its citizens are used to honest, kind, farm-produced or wild meat. This means that the French people have had less reason to reject meat, and therefore less reason to contemplate the whole issue of eating creatures, including wild fish or game. If you have chosen to abstain from meat and fish, French restaurant menus and eating at French friend's homes can become embarassing and a chore. For help, take a look at Vegetarian France.

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