Discover France through food
Explore the connection between food, place and the way we live.
Food is woven into everyday life in France, connecting people to the seasons, the land and sea, generations of tradition and one another around the table.
Over seven weeks, explore those connections for yourself. Cook, shop at markets, meet farmers, fishermen, chefs and artisans, follow ingredients back to their source and travel through the landscapes and cities that have shaped how France eats.
Along the way, discover how food can open the door to a wider understanding of the French art of living well.
Make our farm your home
Live independently with your peers while being part of daily life at La Vaquerie.
You'll share your own house and take responsibility for the everyday things that make a household work, from planning meals and shopping to caring for communal spaces.
You'll also take part in life around the farm. Tend the vegetable garden, feed the chickens or lend a hand with a project, becoming more independent while contributing to the place you call home.
There is structure each day but also plenty of time to cycle into town, cook something simply because you feel like it, develop a creative project, take a walk, read by the fire or sit around the table long after dinner is finished.
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Find your rhythm
Settle in and let everyday life in France become part of the experience.
Become a regular at the market. Plan a day trip somewhere new. Find a favourite boulangerie. Choose what to cook and shop for what you need. Follow your curiosity somewhere unexpected.
As La Vaquerie begins to feel like home, you'll have more freedom to make your own plans, follow your interests and explore the things that have caught your attention along the way.
Over seven weeks, there is time for your interests to develop, your independence to grow and unexpected discoveries to become part of the experience.
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In the kitchen
Cooking is the heart of daily life here.
You'll spend time in the kitchen with Chris, Andrea, guest chefs and local experts, becoming a more capable and intuitive cook through the simple act of cooking regularly.
Build your skills in knife work, seasoning, timing, stocks, sauces, bread, pastry, meat, seafood and vegetables. Learn classic French dishes while also learning how to improvise, cook seasonally, plan a meal and make good use of what you have.
Some days you'll learn a new technique. Other days you'll cook dinner for the house, recreate something discovered on an excursion or decide what to make with what looked good at the market.
We'll establish the foundations at the beginning, then give you increasing independence as the weeks go on.
Dates and Details
Cohort Size
6 - 8 students
Program Length
7 weeks
Dates
Autumn 2027: September 13 – Nov 4, 2027
Cost
€11,500
More information on how and when to pay your tuition can be found HERE
Included: local transport, accommodation, instruction, excursions, equipment, meals in residence and group meals out.
Not included: Airfare, train ticket to and from our location. Meals on trips where students are free to make their own choices.
Scholarships are available for this program.
Travel Information
Staff will assist students in getting the train from Paris to our location on arrival day and getting from our location to Paris on departure day.
Eligibility
This program is open to all, from confident cooks to complete beginners.
Language Requirements
None. The program is taught entirely in English.
Follow ingredients to the source
Discover what changes when you know where your food comes from.
Normandy is an extraordinary place to explore the journey from source to table.
Shop at village markets and specialty food shops. Visit oyster beds and fishing communities, walk through cider orchards, make bread at a working windmill, meet a butcher and discover the farms and dairies behind Normandy's butter and cheese.
See how ingredients are grown, caught, raised and made, and how the landscape, climate and traditions of the region influence what ends up on the table.
Meet the people behind the food
Food tells the story of a place through the people who grow it, catch it, make it, and cook it.
Spend time with a Michelin-starred chef, a third-generation fishing family, or a farmer protecting a rare heritage breed, hearing first-hand about the lives, choices, and traditions behind the food on our table.
Together, we'll explore bigger questions about tradition, identity, community, stewardship, and adapting for a more sustainable future in the face of climate change.
Using photography, writing, film, podcasts, recipes, and other creative forms, we'll capture and share what we discover.
Gather around the table
Make time for the meal.
In 2010, UNESCO recognized the gastronomic meal of the French as part of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, celebrating the traditions of coming together, taking time and sharing food.
At La Vaquerie, that becomes a part of everyday life. Sometimes we'll cook something ambitious together. Sometimes dinner will be made from leftovers. We'll invite people over, linger over long lunches and spend evenings around the table with nowhere else we need to be.
You'll eat beyond the farm too, from seafood beside the harbour and traditional French bistros to meals that show what happens when exceptional ingredients meet exceptional cooking.
Explore Normandy & beyond
Let food lead you through France.
Travel through Normandy and beyond, exploring the places and traditions that have shaped the way people live and eat.
Follow Normandy's cheese routes through the countryside of Calvados. Visit Villedieu-les-Poêles, where centuries of copper making are tied to the French kitchen. Explore Rouen, recognized for its rich gastronomic culture, and seek out food festivals, markets and seasonal celebrations happening across the region.
A producer known for a particular cheese, plan a journey around a festival or market, or travel somewhere simply because there is something there worth tasting.
Food and the Art of Living
Food offers a way into something larger: the French art of living.
The French art of living can be found in the attention given to everyday things: a good meal, a well-made loaf of bread, knowing your local market, welcoming people to the table and taking time over the things that matter. It's a way of valuing quality, tradition, beauty, connection and time well spent.
You'll leave a better cook, but this experience reaches much further than the kitchen. It offers a different perspective on what makes a good life and leaves you with ideas, habits and experiences that can shape the way you live long after you leave France.
Who is Food and the Art of Living for?
For gap year students who want to spend time in France, build cooking skills and be more independent including:
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Food lovers who want to expand their repertoire and learn new dishes
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Creatives who want to develop their artistry in the kitchen
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Lovers of France who want to experience French culture beyond being a tourist.
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Curious travellers who would rather settle into a place than simply pass through it.
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Independent spirits who want more freedom to follow their own interests.
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Homebodies at heart who love cooking, and making a place feel like home.
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Slow travellers who want to get to immerse themselves in an experience
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Community-minded people who enjoy sharing experiences and daily life with others.
