Toulouse with lisa donovan and Julie Belcher
JUNE 2 - 7, 2024
Experience the beauty of Château de Labusquière, a 13th-century gem nestled in Gascony.
June 2 - 7, 2024
6 Days, 5 nights
We can’t wait to show you around! There will be trips to the market for sourcing local, seasonal produce. A day trip to Toulouse, one of France’s largest cities. We will explore natural wines of the region and beyond with a local expert. During one of our last days, we’ll venture out to a neighboring village for a special meal at a local restaurant so we can all take a night off from the kitchen!
ONLY 1 ROOM LEFT!!
From $4,000
What will you do?
The magnificent 13th-century Château de Labusquière, in a quiet corner of Gascony an hour west of Toulouse, will be your home for a week as we take in the delights of the region’s foods, wines, and breathtaking landscapes.
Nestled in the hills of the Gers region, Château de Labusquière is surrounded by more than 30 acres of golden fields and woodlands. When you take a moment to explore, you’ll find an old chapel decorated with murals - and our good friend, the resident peacock, Yopi. He’s a real charmer and really likes the ladies.
You’ll enjoy afternoons by the pool, cocktail hours in the courtyard, and walks through the garden with its endless fruit trees. Together, we will spend 6 days and 5 nights exploring, cooking, and tasting our way through the southwest of France.
We can’t wait to do France with you!
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While we hope everyone will participate, all experiences are optional ! Please feel free to take time for yourself whenever you like.
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Rêverie has carefully selected activities and experiences that we believe represent the best of the region and our own expertise, aiming to provide an optimal experience for the participants.
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Cooking is communal, and we have the opportunity to cook together, learn from experienced cooks, and practice new techniques. The kitchen is an open space for everyone - come on in!
LISA AND JULIE
Lisa Donovan and Julie Belcher founded Rêverie in 2019. After cooking together for several events and becoming the sweetest little friends, they decided it would only make sense to bring new friends with them to France to spend a week cooking and learning. Both have a background in teaching baking classes and both have a deep love for French grub, so going on a retreat with these two is about as good as France can get!
This OG Rêverie duo hosted their first ever retreat at the Château de Labusquière in 2021, and it has become a kind of home away from home. They’ll show you exactly how to have a good time here, and they’ll take you around to all of their favorite spots. Lisa will prepare a mouth-watering menu for the week, and Julie will show you the ropes of how to pretend to be French. And you can look forward to in-depth workshops in bread and pastry with both of your hosts. Come find out where Rêverie was born!
FRIENDS OF RÊVERIE
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Virgil Boyer
Virgil founded Le Merle Moqueur in Auch, a cozy natural wine bar with an ever-evolving list of bottles that Virgil chooses based on feeling - not a name, not a process, but the emotions of the moment that he spend with each particular wine. We love his juice philosophy!! Virgil will join us for a guided tasting and workshop all about natural wines. -
Jérôme Navarre
Jérôme has been the chef/owner of several restaurants in and around Toulouse in southwest France. When we met him, he was running La Maison Navarre, a boutique hotel and restaurant in a village called Gimont. He is a lover of excellent produce and natural wine. He joins us during our OG Toulouse retreat for a lesson in traditional French cooking from the region, foie gras included. -
La Ferme Mapalou
La Ferme Mapalou is a goat farm and goat cheese producer around the corner from the Château de Labusquière. This family started making goat cheese only 5 years ago after leaving their desk jobs, and their product is an absolutely delight. We’ve visited their farm several times and have loved getting to know their family. We will be tasting and cooking with Anne’s cheeses all week !
YOUR ITINERARY
*Please note that changes to the itinerary may occur between now and your retreat start date*
DAY ONE
sunday 6.02.24
Welcome to France! As you approach the beloved Château de Labusquière, you’ll feel swept away by the inviting vistas and the wheat fields. Lisa, Julie and the team will be waiting in the courtyard to welcome you right out of the coach with a glass of champagne. Some post-travel snacks will be waiting for you inside. You will then settle into your room to rest and reset before we gather for a welcome lunch to kick the week off! In the afternoon, there will be a small workshop with Lisa just to get you warmed up for the week and welcome you into the kitchen. Come evening, we will all sit down to our first dinner at the château where local vegetables and good wine will be served in abundance!
DAY two
monday 6.03.24
On our second day, you’ll be greeted with breakfast: fresh local croissants, brioche, and French yogurt. The group will then head to the nearby village of Samatan to walk the local market and explore the idyllic township. Then it’s back to the Château, where a market lunch will be waiting for you in the courtyard. You’ll have some time after lunch to unwind, resting in your room or walking the property or reading by the pool. In the afternoon, we’ll be joined by Virgil from Le Merle Moqueur for a natural wine tasting that will lead into a celebratory dinner workshop with our dear friend, local chef Jérôme Navarre. Tasty dinner times and some standard reverie will wrap up the first full day.
DAY three
tuesday 6.04.24
Today we tuck in - breakfast, plenty of down time and a full day of exploring sourdough with Julie Belcher with a long, leisurely luncheon by the pool to ease the transitions between our workshop moments. Today is a day to learn, rest, explore and settle into the rhythm of baking throughout the day to complete your very own batch of naturally leavened dough.
DAY four
wednesday 6.05.24
After our easy but exquisite breakfast of fresh croissants and hot coffee, we will head over to the adjacent village of Auch and visit the Ferme en Coton, where Clément De Roy grows his grains, mills them, and makes his own breads to sell at the market - a true “paysan boulanger”, or farmer baker. Fascinating work performed by passionate people! Returning to the Château, we’ll have a countryside luncheon and an afternoon workshop with Lisa Donovan. We’ll learn about crème patisserie and choux and the art of the éclair.
We’ll end the day with our traditional grill party - always a big, beautiful event where we shake it down party style, cook around a fire and get away from the table to celebrate and enjoy each other in revelry!
DAY five
thursday 6.06.24
It’s our final full day together and we ease in with one more workshop with Lisa - a pâte brisée and a savory galette session where we all participate in making our big buffet lunch full of vegetables and local cheeses and salads and wine. Then we’ll load up in the vans and head into one of our favorite cities in France.
In Toulouse, you will be able to wander as you like with our map guide that we’ve loaded up with some of our favorite stops. There are many historic, culinary, and cultural joys to find in Toulouse - it’s quite the city to discover! We will have our final dinner together at one of our favorite restaurants in the city. This will be a night to celebrate and remember - the fondest farewell between friends.
DAY six
friday 6.07.24
Today, we depart from our home for the week and we soak up every last breath of the wide open air of Gers. Breakfast will be served and we will say our goodbyes as the vans arrive to shuttle us all away from Labusquière and toward the airport so we can all make our way home or to our next destinations.
WORKSHOPS
There is much to do! We’ve tried to balance what we feel is the best of the region and the best of us for an optimal experience.
While we hope all will participate, we want to stress that each experience is optional and your relaxation and enjoyment is our utmost priority. We will be cooking together – traditional French dinners, lunches and pastries - and though it will be in active use most days, the kitchen will be an open space to join in for our day to day meals and workshops. Lisa Donovan will lead traditional French pastry workshops - tarte au citron, pâte à choux, brisée, brioche! Julie Belcher will take you into the world of natural ferments and sourdough bread-baking! Jérôme Navarre, local Gimont chef and all around nice guy, will join us for an evening to teach us about regional cooking in the Gers region. And Virgil Boyer, owner of Le Merle Moqueur in Auch, will lead us in a natural wine class and tasting to show off the many faces of fermented grape juice. These are just a few of the things we have in store!
France is a place for you to explore and the kitchen belongs to everyone. This is your chance to work alongside experienced cooks, practice technique and dig into learning. Or just pull up a kitchen stool and sip some wine! Whatever your pleasure, however you feel!
WORKSHOPS
Pastry and baking technique workshops with Lisa Donovan
Naturally fermented sourdough workshop with Julie Belcher
Guest Chef dinner workshop with local boy Jérôme Navarre
Natural wine tasting workshop with Virgil Boyer of Le Merle Moqueur
Open kitchen for skills practice at all times
* Due to the nature of the experience we wish to provide, we can accommodate vegetarians, but will be unable to accommodate any further dietary restrictions.
EXPLORE
We can’t wait to show you around! There will be a trip to the market in Samatan for sourcing local food and wine and planning meals. We’ll pay a visit to Clément, a farmer/baker who grows his own grains, mills them, and makes delicious + nutritious breads to sell at the local market. Then on our last day, a stroll around the gorgeous plazas and old streets of Toulouse, one of France’s largest cities. We will have so many great moments at the château as well - from long languorous dinners in the courtyard with Yopi and the moonlight, to outdoor cooking parties (protein technique!) by the pool, to pâté and saucisson and gougère filled apéro hours. It’s made for love, we promise you that!
OUTINGS
Shopping at the open-air market in Samatan
Visit Clément de Roy at La Ferme en Coton
Explore the beautiful city of Toulouse
Group dinner at La Maison Despouès
WHAT’S INCLUDED
Everything! Well. Except for your ride over the ocean and to the chateau’s nearest airport or gare (train station). But once you arrive, we got you.
Transfers to and from the château from the Toulouse airport.
Workshops and all materials associated
Recipes galore!
All meals, unless you go rogue
All wine and beverages, unless you wanna have your own after hours party
Private coach transportation while on retreat
All scheduled tours and events during our week
Chateau lodging, naturally
GETTING HERE
*Cost of airfare to the closest regional airport or train station to our Château is not included in the cost of your reservation. Please let us know if we can offer any moral support or guidance with your travel plans - we’re happy to help!
Airplane
Several planes fly direct to Toulouse Blagnac airport (TLS) every day from Paris and London. We will arrange airport pickups on the first day of the retreat, and we will drop you off on the last day. All you have to do is get to Toulouse and we’ll take it from there.
Car
If you’re the seasoned-traveler type and you’d enjoy having your own transportation, then please- rent a car in Paris and drive down! Have a stopover in the region of Dordogne for a foie gras tartine and make a pitstop for the wild view of the old city Rocamadour. You could then keep your car for the week and choose your own destiny, or drop off at the Toulouse airport on the first day of the retreat and we’ll come grab you.
Train
Trains are another option for those who feel comfortable traveling around on their own.
We would be able to pick up from the Gimont Cahuzac train station.
Travel Reservation
If you would like guidance with booking your travel to the Chateau, please reach out.
We are here to help make this part easy and smooth.
If you would like to extend your stay in France, we are delighted to partner with The French Travel , a locally owned and operated trip designer based in Paris. They are true experts who will help you perfectly plan your before and/or after Rêverie experience. Check them out for more info!
Our friends at Coucou French school offer some incredible online French language classes - whether you’re looking to brush up on your high school French, perfect your conversation skills, or just learn a few phrases to feel more comfortable with travel, Coucou is the way! Check out their website for more information.