All breakfasts and six major meals per week are included in the package price. Wednesday is on your own for food and activities except for breakfast. Breakfasts are healthful and provide copious amounts of cereals, fresh fruit, juice, local breads and croissants, jams and confitures, yoghurt, café au lait, and English or herbal tea to energize you for the day’s activities. The major meal of the day is mostly in the evening, but from time to time it is arranged at a special restaurant around mid-afternoon at our cultural point of interest for the day. In this way, we provide you with a broad variety of the region’s cuisine, featuring fresh local produce and the camaraderie of charming, friendly chefs and their families. All dinners include selected local wines, and as much as you wish to drink with your meal. All of the restaurants will prepare special and interesting dinners for vegetarians and for guests with food allergies on request.
The culinary specialties of the region include a variety of duck dishes — for example, confit and maigret de canard, fois gras, roast lamb, cassoulet — a dish of beans slowly baked in earthenware with duck, pork and a variety of spices, a wide variety of fresh ocean fish from the nearby Mediterranean, ratatouille composed of the many fresh regional vegetables, mouth-watering salads, and innumerable local goat, sheep and cow cheeses. All ingredients come from small farms in the area that practice natural methods in raising and growing their produce.
Some of our daily outings feature wine tastings. You may be introduced to the balanced finesse of the reds and whites of the Minervois, the gutsy, full-bodied reds of the Corbières, or the new Cabernets and Merlots of the Malpère. Always, you are exposed to the world famous sparkling wines — Blanquette and Crémant de Limoux. Wherever we venture, you have the opportunity to visit some of the region’s most outstanding vineyards, and taste and discuss the wines with their managers or owners.