After an initial tour in 2010 and three tours since, we hope to soon take another group of people to the Berry region of France, where Chef Roland was raised. Like all regions of France, the Berry has its own distinct set of flavors. There, we’ll set up house for one week at a country gite (country inn). Every day, we will explore the various markets, restaurants, chateaux, and other food experiences in the area. In the evenings, Chef Roland will guide us as we prepare our own French, family-style meals.
This isn’t about visiting the big cities or seeing the Eiffel tower; we want you to experience real French food culture in its everyday environment. (Note: There are brief opportunities to explore Paris.) We want to walk into a grocery store and see how differently food is marketed. Enjoy local village markets, French box stores, personal home cooked meals, quicky markets, food faires and, if possible we'll visit a local elementary school to see how differently their school children engage during meal time. When we return, we want you to have a better understanding of your own food culture for having experienced that of the Berry region of France. We will explore markets, local food production via farms, vineyards, and historical sites. When we go to France, we go to experience authentic French life and what eating in that culture is all about.
Over the last few years, we've have tended to our parents before their passing. Life is life with all of it's seasons and ours was shifted to be there for them. Because of family cares, we had postponed our tours. As we prepared to resume our visits to France, covid presented itself and any travel plans were again postponed. Now that we are seeing an opportunity to go home (for Chef Roland) we have decided that it would just be a time for us to go and decompress, visit family and make new plans going into the future. We'll scout out the possibilities of putting together a new tour package and determine what all would need to be in place to take a new group with us to La Berry to explore food adventures in the French countryside of Central France.
Stay tuned to this webpage for updated information regarding the potential for those tour dates!