Course Structure
Cookery, arts or leisure vacations in high-class private property near Carcassonne with great French cuisine and wines. Recommended in “100 World’s Best Vacations” book. Eight-bedroomed accommodation has pool, tennis and boules. Tutored courses include painting, books, creative writing, singing, movie-making and Gastro Academy with top French chefs.

Art & Mixed Media Courses: Artists or would-be artists will discover challenging and innovative ways to express themselves by traversing creative boundaries and exploring more experimental methods during our daily workshops. We welcome mixed groups of beginners, those who want to re-awaken their artistic instincts or the advanced artist who may not require tuition, but who would like to develop their skills in one of the most magnificent and beautiful areas of France.
Sketch, Paint & Stitch Course: Experience the creative power of pencil, paint and pattern. Our inspiring Creative Arts tutor Susan Keverne is offering the chance to join a unique holiday in France for creative embroiderers whose artwork involves using a variety of mixed media, textiles and stitch. Using textile and fibre-based imagery to enhance paint on a canvas is an exciting and very contemporary craft medium, pushing the limits of stitch and fabric in order to exploit a variety of textures and effects in 21st Century art. This course will provide inspiration, fire your imagination and open your mind to the dazzling possibities of embroidery and creative artistic expression.
Digital Film Making: Learn how to get the best from your digital video camcorder. Whether you want to learn the aesthetics of filming techniques, how to edit the material on your home computer, add special effects and musical soundtracks or understand animation, this fun course takes the mystery out of the technology.
Books & Drama: You won't find another holiday course like this anywhere else. Not only do we provide you with a themed reading-list of five or six novels in advance, we include a modern play as well. In a spirit of enjoyable and very informal enquiry, we'll engage with the literature and also discuss the relationship between the written word and the spoken (or even unspoken) performance of a writer's work. An introduction to acting methods and interpretations using games, readings, and even the option of a short performance for would-be thesps, makes - we promise you - for a truly amazing experience.
Creative Writing: Our exciting Creative Writing Experience, led by author and professional tutor Sarah Hymas, promises the exploration of new techniques. The daily workshops will expand the imagination, using writing games and exercises that rely on play, memory and a sense of adventure. Reading as well as writing, talking, thinking and offering feedback - our focus will be to limber up, stretch ourselves and write with renewed vigour and joy.
Golf & Gourmet: Join one of the French House Party Experience's luxury golfing breaks and we'll accompany your favourite sport with some serious wine-tasting PLUS a good helping of gourmet French cuisine.

Our themed breaks are customised for ready-made groups, corporate incentive breaks and couples. Single travellers are also welcomed. We are less than two hours from the UK - just fly and go - and then leave everything else to us, including any airport transfers!

Pricing in £'s Sterling
Individuals on a 5 day tutored package	£750
A group of up to 6 people on a 5 day tutored package	£750
A group of up to 7 - 9 people on a 5 day tutored package	£595
A group of 10 or more people on a 5 day tutored package	£495
There is no single supplement.

Accommodation
The French House Party was thrilled to be named Top Retreat in ‘The 100 Best Worldwide Vacations to Enrich Your Life’, a National Geographic book by American travel writer Pam Grout.

Just 15 minutes from Carcassonne in the Languedoc Roussillon region of South-West France, we provide exclusive, villa-based arts, cookery, corporate and leisure group breaks for people who are searching for a European holiday with a different approach; people who place a premium on superior quality of accommodation and personal service.

The spacious 8-bedroomed country house with beautiful views of the Pyrenees is close to the Canal du Midi – ideal for an invigorating cycle-ride or stroll. It has a large private swimming pool, a tennis court and a boules pitch.

Smart, roomy bedrooms are double or triple-sized. All the ensuite bedrooms are individually-designed and air-conditioned. Towels and linen are provided and each room has a hairdryer, CD player and coffee-making facilities.

As well as our swimming pool, all-weather tennis court and boules-drome, we have a games room with pool-table and 1950s juke box. Guests may borrow our bicycles. Chauffeured wine-tasting outings to nearby vineyards in the Corbieres, Minervois and Malepere may be arranged.

Help and advice can be given if guests require additional visits, for example, to the "Holy Grail" hillside town of Rennes le Chateau (inspiration for Dan Brown's "De Vinci Code" book) or to the many hilltop stronghold castle sites of Cathar resistance in the 13th Century.

These are all-inclusive vacations. All lodging, meals with wines, course materials and transport in France – including the bonus of chauffeured transfers from Toulouse or Carcassonne airport – are contained in the price. Some sightseeing trips - for example, to the medieval World Heritage walled city of Carcassonne - are also included. Flights are not included.

What is included:

• Chauffeured transfers to / from Toulouse or Carcassonne airports
• Transport costs to scheduled outings
• In-house tasting of selected local wines with our resident wine expert
• All lodging and meals. Wine is served with all lunches and dinners, including those taken at the fine restaurants we include on our Gourmet Explorer and Cook au Vin courses
• Coffee, tea and soft drinks freely available
• Use of all our leisure facilities, including provision of tennis racquets and bicycles
• All course materials
• Complimentary gift of Gastro Academy apron.

All costs are subject to confirmation at the time of booking.

Location
The loveliness of the Languedoc landscape of France is undisputed. Set between the Pyrenees in the South and the Black Mountains to the north with the Mediterranean eastwards and the Spanish border less than 2 hours' distant, it is a geographical region of many personalities - as the variety of its wines testifies. houses vinca and prades

A first glimpse of the fabulous medieval Cité of Carcasonne - a World Heritage site and France's second most-popular city for visitors - always draws gasps of admiration. And the area is especially rich in other sites of Cathar history.

The area has a rich artistic heritage: many artists lived of worked here, including Toulouse-Lautrec, Matisse and Dali.

How to Get to Us
We only 20 minutes from Carcassonne Airport and an hour from the beaches of the Mediterranean. The nearest large town is Castelnaudary, the birthplace of "Cassoulet" (a sort of bean casserole). This busy old town has bars, restaurants, plenty of shops, a weekly market and regular festivals. Even closer is the small town of Bram, site of a Cathar stronghold until 1210 when it fell to Papal Crusaders during the massacre of the Cathars. Toulouse is 45 minutes away to the west and Albi, birthplace of the artist Toulouse-Lautrec, about 90 minutes' drive north.