About The Event
This summer, join us for a week in the radiant mountains of Haute Provence, just steps from the Verdon Gorge, at Haut Ourgeas near Barrême, France. This is the land of wild lavender!
This seminar invites you to meet a wealth of wild plants in their natural habitat to observe, taste, and understand them and maybe start building a new relationship with the plant world.
Each day, we’ll explore this beautiful area to identify the plants nature offers us. You’ll learn about their culinary and medicinal uses, their history and botanical features. Theoretical lessons will punctuate our days to help you recognize plants and deepen your understanding of the world we live in. Expect to be amazed!
A walk will lead us to an abandoned village, nestled in hills covered with wild lavender. It will be a chance for a slightly longer hike through breathtaking landscapes, an invitation to reflect, feel nature and share together. Throughout the seminar, we will of course be talking about plants, but also about the deep and tangible connection they can help us forge with all living things and with ourselves. Because plants are not just resources: they are partners in transformation, helping us to better understand ourselves and the world we live in.
Participants will be encouraged to take notes, build a personal herbarium with the plants we discover (mindful of protected species),and photograph plants and landscapes along the way.
As evening falls, in a warm and friendly atmosphere, we’ll cook together what we’ll have gathered: plantain soup, hogweed quiche, ground elder gratin, chickweed salad, nettle canapés, or sweet clover cream, etc. A delicious introduction to “wild” and creative cuisine, enriched with carefully selected organic ingredients. As far as possible, we adapt the menus to meet everyone’s dietary needs.
Japanese traditions will be honored through the presence of Keiko Imamura, a Japanese chef with a deep passion for sansai, the wild plants so highly valued in her country. She will introduce us to a different way not only of cooking, but of relating to nature, to taste and to life itself. Keiko is also a master of the tea ceremony, and she will speak of those rare, timeless moments with the quiet sensitivity that defines her, and the deep reverence she brings to this ancient ritual.
The program will naturally adapt to the weather and to the plants available. Nothing is set in stone: nature leads the way.
Accommodation is offered in shared dormitories, and all meals are vegetarian and organic, included in the price. For those who prefer to stay closer to nature, camping on site is also welcome.
Depending on the year, this course may coincide with the blooming of wild lavender, when the hills are awash with purple and the air sweet with its scent. We’ll gather the fragrant blossoms and use their delicate aroma to enhance our dishes.
Did you know that this aromatic plant once formed the backbone of the local eco
nomy for nearly a century? Harvested in the surrounding mountains and distilled on site, true lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) produced an essential oil renowned for its subtlety and medicinal virtues – and highly sought after by the master perfumers of Grasse. Like a fine vintage, it even held a protected designation of origin (AOC): “Lavande de Barrême.” Come experience its rare and unforgettable fragrance…
Accommodation is in dormitories, with vegetarian and organic food included in the price. You can also camp on site if you prefer to live closer to nature.
Location: Haut-Ourgeas (Haute-Provence)
Host: François Couplan, Keiko Imamura
Fees: 880 € / CHF 880.-
Details : From Monday 28/07 at 11:30am to Friday 01/08 at 3pm. The course price includes accommodation and food.
Information and registration: contact@couplan.com
