Art, Craft & Painting Holiday Courses in France

Shabby chic, country chic or château chic: discover French Decorating Style paint techniques in five star style with professional artist Nicola Blakemore at Château Ventenac in collaboration with Scumble Goosie. Absolutely fabulous!

“..a place of relaxed comfort and sunny rooms... The first-floor bedrooms and bathrooms are huge, with superb views and beds made for deep sleep. There's heaps of space inside and out: for winter, two sitting rooms, one with a big open fire; for summer, an outdoor pool. ...” Alastair Sawday

You couldn’t get a better setting for this 5 day course, with views across the vineyards of Corbières to the Pyrénées and the Canal du Midi right on your doorstep. Get away from it all and indulge yourself with gourmet food and fine wine and learn a new skill too.

Your tutor Nicola Blakemore lives and works in France and over three days she will take you from the basics of paint techniques. Beginning with some history and sources for design inspiration and then getting hands on with your own design. You’ll discover distressing and antique crackle, how to make a stencil look hand-painted and decorative gilding, in fact everything you need to complete your own project to take home with you.

In between teaching sessions you get a private wine tasting session and a day off in Pézenas to hunt in the brocantes for items to transform with your new-found skills, have a leisurely lunch or explore.

The château has been restored and equipped to the highest standard, retaining historic features, but with all modern conveniences such as Wi-Fi and satellite TV. You’ll be cosseted and inspired in equal measure and with three gourmet meals and wine each day, you’re guaranteed to go home happy.
All is included except your flight and lunch on the day in Pézenas. You get: airport transfer, a Scumble Goosie tray, sample boards, use of specialist equipment and materials.

Dates: 23- 27 April 2012
Price £795 (Single room supp £100), £395 for non-participating partners


Château Ventenac also offers courses in CREATIVE WRITING, poetry writing, vegetarian cookery and more besides. If you follow the link below and again to Château Ventenac's site you'll find details of their CREATIVE WRITING courses or you can stay on www.facilitutors.com annd check out all the other CREATIVE WRITING courses.

This is just one of hundreds of courses in France available on www.facilitutors.com. You'll find all sorts of art and craft courses, language schools, creative writing, outdoorsy and wellbeing courses, cookery and wine appreciation. Locations vary from fabulous châteaux to quaint farmhouses only the quality of the tutors remains consistent. You'll find everything from pig keeping to yoga and flying to stained glass craft. I've added some photos to give you an idea of some of the courses on offer.

If you're looking for a particular type of course and you don't find it on my website, I will search for it free of charge and without obligation

Nicola Blakemore is an English Artist living and working in the South of France. She offers a range of short art courses and tuition at a variety of locations in the Languedoc region and further afield.

Nicola is just one of hundreds of tutors whose courses you'll find on www.facilitutors.com.

Dates: 23- 27 April 2012
Price £795 (Single room supp £100), £395 for non-participating partners

Nicola's course runs at Château Ventenac described by Alastair Sawday as "“..a place of relaxed comfort and sunny rooms... The first-floor bedrooms and bathrooms are huge, with superb views and beds made for deep sleep. There's heaps of space inside and out: for winter, two sitting rooms, one with a big open fire; for summer, an outdoor pool. ...”

There are many more gorgeous venues and courses to choose from on www.facilitutors.com

Château Ventenac sits beside the Canal du Midi in the South of France and offers fabulous views across the vineyards towards the Pyrenees. It provides a haven of peace and tranquillity and is the perfect backdrop for our courses, workshops and retreats.

On www.facilitutors.com you'll find courses in the most beautiful parts of France both North and South.

Getting to Ventenac is easy, with a choice of airports offering budget flights, as well as high-speed TGV trains to Narbonne. We're also well served by autoroutes.

By air The closest airports are Carcassonne & Beziers (45 minutes) and Perpignan (Just under an hour) both of which are served by Ryanair, while bmibaby and FlyBE fly to Perpignan. Ryanair also flies to Girona (2 hours south, over the Spanish border), Montpellier (90 minutes east) and Nîmes (just under 2 hours east). British Airways flies to Toulouse (1 hour 45 minutes west) and Montpellier, and Easyjet serves Toulouse.

By rail High speed trains go direct to Narbonne (20 minutes away) from Paris and Lille, which connect with Eurostar services from London Waterloo. Narbonne also has a Motorail terminal with services directly from Calais.

By road We are about 15 minutes from two different autoroutes, offering you a choice of itinerary from northern France and southern Spain.