Fun, hands-on cooking holidays to learn about the cuisine of Southern France. Join us and share our passion for food!

Cooking at Les Mégalithes, in the Luberon region of Provence, France

Sylvie Lallemand, a French chef, operates cooking classes at her home, Les Mégalithes, in the Luberon area of Provence.

Les Mégalithes is located in the countryside about an hour east of Avignon near the village of Gordes. It is a pretty house of Provençal stone set amid whispering pines and on a hill overlooking sun-drenched vineyards, orchards and lavender fields. The house has a swimming pool and a covered patio for out-door cooking and dining. Students stay at the house for a week and cook each afternoon.

Getting to Les Mégalithes: There is train service from Paris and Nice to Avignon from which one can rent a car and drive the forty-five minutes east to Les Mégalithes (Direction Gordes)

When You Are Not Cooking: There is endless entertainment at the markets which rotate each day from town to town. Sunday morning is the market at the nearby town of Isle-sur-la-Sorgue and this is one of the largest markets in the region. Food producers from all of the Luberon area bring their produce to market and offer it for sale with great attention to appearance. There are mouth-watering displays of herbs, cheeses, wine, sausages, fruit, vegetables and honey as well as home-made jams.

There is also much sightseeing in the hill-top villages nearby. An old Cistercian monastery at the Abbey of Senanque and a ruined castle in a village which was once the home of the Marquis de Sade. There are Roman ruins at Glanum and a Van Gogh museum at St Rémy. Rousillon, Gordes, Menerbes, Bonnieux and Menerbes are all medieval hill-top villages which are filled with history as well as shopping and sightseeing. Many vineyards which produce Cote du Luberon wines are within easy drive of Les Megalithes and offer wine-tasting. One of the bestplaces for tasting is a local wine co-operative.

Sylvie has published a book "THE TASTE AND COLOURS OF PROVENCE" containing some of her recipes, sketches and watercolours along with a revue of restaurants in Provence.