L'atelier The atelier
The Invitation
A Retreat With a Purpose
Five nights for the kitchen: French cooking at the château, and long dinners together, with the brocantes and the restoration around it. Most of all it is the full Gudanes experience: a retreat, with the pool, good food and wine, and the château shared with a small group. Nothing on the itinerary is compulsory, and most afternoons are your own. Every meal and every drink, alcoholic or not, is included, with the excursions and the transfers from Toulouse.
In Short
Cooking in the Cuisine, at a Glance
- Length
- 5 nights / 6 days
- Price
- €3,800 per person, sharing a room; all meals, wine, the activities and the transfers included
- Experience needed
- None. Most people who come have never done it before
- Where you sleep
- In the château itself — bedrooms, not a nearby hotel
- Meals
- Every one, cooked in the château kitchen, with drinks throughout
- Evenings
- Dinner together, and a film night with the projector if you would like one
- Laundry
- Laundry and ironing facilities for guests
- Transfers
- From Toulouse on the first day, and back on the last
- To hold a place
- A deposit. The balance is taken closer to the date
- Not included
- Flights, and anything you buy at the brocantes
En images In pictures
Cooking in the Cuisine, in Pictures
From the garden to the table 
A tomato tart, from above 
Two galettes on the board 
Tomatoes and peaches on blue-and-white china 
Green beans with nasturtiums 
A tart and tomatoes 
Spring vegetables, plated 
The green dresser, vegetables on the table 
On old ironstone platters 
The chef, before dinner 
From the kitchen 
White asparagus on the grill, in the grounds 
A croquembouche in the garden 
Fruit tarts, carried out to the garden 
Tarts lined up on the sideboard 
Crème brûlée 
Strawberries, a tart and edible flowers 
Dessert 
Market produce 
Bread in the morning 
Cheese and salad on the table 
Fish with herbs on a floral plate 
The kitchen garden 
Raspberries, the village and the mountains below
Dates
Choose Your Stay
Le déroulé des journées The shape of the days
The Experience, Day by Day
Five Nights at Gudanes
It is a retreat, so every activity on it is optional: join what you like, and leave what you do not. The rest of the time is free time, and it is yours.
Le temps libre Free time
Free time is yours to spend as you choose: relaxing with a glass of local wine on the terraces, a swim in the pool, a game of tennis, or nothing at all.
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Premier jour
Day 1: L’arrivée Arrival
We meet in Toulouse and travel up into the Pyrénées together. Then the gates, the drive, and the château at the end of it: your room, a first walk through the grounds, and the first evening at the table.
- Après-midi The journey up from Toulouse
- Soir The first dinner together
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Deuxième jour
Day 2: La cuisine The cooking class
A cooking class in the château kitchen: French cooking, unhurried. The afternoon is free time, and in the evening, a barbecue in the grounds, weather permitting.
- Matin The cooking class
- Après-midi Free time
- Soir A barbecue in the grounds
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Troisième jour
Day 3: Le château The château
The morning begins with yoga for anyone who would like it, then a tour of the château and its restoration: the rooms brought back, the rooms still waiting, and the story of how the château is returning. The afternoon is free time.
- Matin Yoga (optional), then the tour of the château
- Après-midi Free time
- Soir Dinner by candle and lamplight
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Quatrième jour
Day 4: À la brocante Into the antique fairs
Out to the brocantes and antique fairs of the valley, where the bargaining is half the pleasure: the stalls, the haggling, and the piece you did not know you were looking for. Back to the château with your finds, and the rest of the day free.
- Matin The brocantes
- Après-midi Free time
- Soir Dinner, and the day’s finds
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Cinquième jour
Day 5: La cuisine, et l’adieu The kitchen, and farewell
A last cooking class in the morning; in the afternoon, free time, or an optional walk into the hills. In the evening, a formal dinner in the Salon de Musique, by candlelight.
- Matin The cooking class
- Après-midi Free time, or a walk into the hills (optional)
- Soir Dinner in the Salon de Musique
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Sixième jour
Day 6: Le départ Departure
Breakfast, a last look at the château, and back to Toulouse together.
- Matin Breakfast, and the journey back
A typical shape, and every activity on it optional. The order of the days is set for each workshop and sent to you before you arrive; outdoor plans follow the season and the weather.
Pour qui ? Who for?
Who Comes
Is It for You?
If you love old houses, good food and the French way of taking time over things, yes. Nobody needs to know how; the experience is made for curiosity, not expertise.
Couples, friends travelling together and those who come alone are all equally at home. The group is small, the days are unhurried, and no other guests share the château.
Included
What Is Included
The full experience, at one price: a night's stay is a room and breakfast, a workshop is everything below.
- Every meal, cooked in the château kitchen, with drinks throughout, alcoholic and non-alcoholic, mostly local
- Your room in the château, with three bathrooms on the ground floor shared between the group
- The activities: cooking classes, bargaining at the brocantes, morning yoga, kayaking or hiking, and a barbecue in the grounds, all optional
- The excursions, and everything on the itinerary, materials included
- A formal dinner in the Salon de Musique, by candlelight
- A tour of the château and its restoration
- The transfers from central Toulouse, there and back
- Free time with the pool, the tennis court, the gardens, table tennis, the lounge and the terraces
Prices are per person, sharing a room.
Guest Quarters
Les Chambres
The three bathrooms on the ground floor are shared between the workshop guests; each room has lamps and power points. Prices are per person, sharing a room; coming alone, write to us.
Reserving
How It Works
A 10% deposit reserves your place; the balance is due thirty days before the stay, or in full if you are booking within thirty days of it.
Your place is confirmed as you register, and held from that moment. You will receive a reference code and a link to manage your registration and payment.
The walls of the room you work in are protected — conserved, never replaced. The bed you sleep in, the linen on it and the bathroom on the ground floor are not. The imperfection is deliberate. It is also what the restoration mornings are spent on.
Hold your place
Your place is confirmed as you register, and held from that moment.
Monument Historique · Classé A Class I Historic Monument, restored under French heritage law since 2013