This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to have hands-on experience with seasoned professionals showing you every step of the process, from hunting with a truffle hound (rare truffle hunting pig) and gathering, to cooking and meal preparation in the company of your hosts, James and Diana Tamlyn. In addition to the vast knowledge you will gain, you will also enjoy time spent visiting historic churches, chateaux, busy marketplaces, impressive wineries, as well as feasting on traditional French cuisine.
Your Itinerary:
Day 1: Bonjour! You arrive at Toulouse airport in the afternoon to be met by James. You’ll be driven to Le Vert, a charming Quercy stone Manor House situated in the middle of the rolling Quercy countryside. All rooms have bathrooms en suite. It is a most lovely and relaxing place to stay under the careful eye of Bernard and Eva Philippe. Bernard will cook dinner as you sit in front of a roaring fire drinking aperitifs and enjoying the weekend off.
Day 2: You are greeted in the morning by a table laden with croissants, pains chocolates, jams, fresh fruit juice, fruits and strong black coffee. Then you set off in the cars to start a good walk to breath in the fresh French air and to build up your appetite for an excellent lunch at the Auberge de la Tour. After lunch a little walk to the village of Montcuq for a drink before returning to Le Vert passing by a pretty fourteenth century frescoed church to learn about the seven deadly sins. You finish the day with an excellent truffle dinner cooked by Bernard Philippe. Bernard is probably one of the best chefs of the region and he will also be cooking crepes suzette. This is a rare treat as Bernard never has the time to cook at the table but you are there off season so you gain this privilege! Walk 7 miles.
Day 3: ‘Cook the truffle’. More croissants and breakfast delights before a drive to Lario, the home of James and Diana. Here you can all cook in the kitchen and see how one can work with the truffle. ‘Poule en demi-deuil’ is a wonderful treat with a good fresh farmyard chicken and vegetables fresh from the Sunday Montcuq market. You will make tiny cabbages stuffed with bread crumbs, truffle and bacon. Here you will also use the frozen truffle which is the best way to preserve the fungus. This gives you the opportunity to see and handle the difference between the fresh and the preserved. You will also make your own truffled foie gras which you can then take home with you! After lunch the group will walk through the beautiful Quercy landscape before returning to Lario. From here you drive to the vineyard of Clos Triguedina. This is an important Cahors vineyard and the Baldès family have been making wine here since 1830 which includes today a Black Wine where the grapes are ‘cooked’ in prune drying ovens and a beautiful sweet white made from Chenin Blanc grapes. You return in the vehicles to Le Vert for more delicious French cuisine from Bernard. Once again a warm crackling fire. Once again delicious wine. And once again a well-earned cozy bed. Walk: 5 miles.
Day 4: ‘Buy the truffle’ and ‘Hunt the truffle’. A coffee before you drive for a wonderful truffle brunch at ‘Le Gindreau’ where the chef Alexis Pelissou will tempt everyone with a number of truffled dishes. ‘Le Gindreau’ is a restaurant with an enormous reputation and Alexis Pellisou is obsessed with truffles owning several hectares of truffle oaks. He cooks seven courses all rich with truffle. This is a real treat and Pellisou, a chef with a truffle passion hard to beat. You will then drive to the village of Lalbenque for the rural but world famous truffle market. It is indeed a gloriously rustic and remarkably unique and simple affair. You will never get a better collection of pure bred rustic types! And here is a chance to buy some real fresh truffle to take back home. A decent truffle should cost around 70 Euros. That would come out at about 1000 Euros a kilo! After the market you leave Lalbenque by car for a truffle hunt with a dear old lady and her friendly pig. It is a rare event to find a truffle pig these days as most truffle hunters use dogs. If there is time after this you may try for a cup of tea at the bar-cum-bakery of Concots before returning to Cahors. You’ll spend the night at Le Grand Hotel Terminus, a large ivy clad nineteenth century bourgeois house with an excellent restaurant of international repute where you will enjoy your farewell dinner.
Day 5: Au revoir! After breakfast there is time to shop in Cahors and enjoy the hustle and bustle of market day. This takes place in front of the majestic Gothic cathedral on an ox-bow of the river Lot. You will leave Cahors in time to lunch at the Moulin in Moissac after looking at the fabulous Romanesque abbey that Sir Kenneth Clark eulogised in his great BBC series ‘Civilisation’. A quick visit in the abbey before lunch, then after lunch you’ll drive to Toulouse Blagnac.
Note: The itinerary is subject to change according to local conditions. All mileages are approximate.
Meeting Point: Toulouse airport. Transfers included at preset
time.
Notes:
Airfare is not included in the tour price.
$2,300 per person, shared; $395 single supplement.
Price Includes:
- 4 nights comfortable and quaint accommodations
- 5 days of Truffle Hop and Walking activities in the French countryside
- All meals
- Guided hikes
- Transportation
- Truffle workshops and taxes included.
Also see tour packages in:
Europe
France
Food & Wine
Hunting
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