Cooking Class Paris & Heart of France tour

I am signed up for this tour in September so I have just about memorized the itinerary, lol!! The "What's Included" does not list a cooking class or demo, so I am guessing there is not one. Here is the list of what is included.

"All tours and admissions — at no extra cost — covering at least 13 group sightseeing events • 2-day Paris Museum Pass, allowing free admission throughout the city • Louvre Museum • Historic Paris walking tour • Notre-Dame Cathedral • Sainte-Chapelle • Guédelon tour • Bourges walking tour and Cathédrale St-Étienne • Chambord Château • Chenonceau Château • Mont St-Michel and abbey tour • Bayeux Tapestry • D-Day tour (American Cemetery at Omaha Beach, Pointe du Hoc and Ste-Mère Eglise) • Monet's Gardens at Giverny...and more"

When I did Village Italy last Fall the itinerary specifically said "Italian cooking demonstration" and yes, we had a cooking demo and class at an agritourismo.

In looking at the daily events on this tour I am not sure where there would be time to squeeze one in. The one in Tuscany took about 3 hours or more from start to finish including the eating of the food prepared. There was also wine drinking (we did not make the wine, lol!!) so the time frame is ....uh...slightly fuzzy!

There is also the statement at the end of the What's Included that says "...and more" but in my experience the "and more" is something small like the guide paying for wine at dinner or bike rental for an hour or something like that. A cooking class or demo would be a major expense.

Are you thinking about taking this tour?

I am taking the tour in September with a friend. My friend thinks there will be a cooking class, but I do not. So I decided to ask anyone who has taken the tour if there was a cooking class.

As suggested, to be perfectly sure, contact the Rick Steves' office.

It would be great if an Alum saw this and posted, or doubtless someone from the office will catch up with it on Tuesday (am just guessing they have tomorrow off). I think, however, you are reading it correctly. If you all are flying in a day or 2 early to Paris or are able to stay a day or 2 after you might be able to sign up for a cooking class then.

My experience on RS tours is that very, very few tour members even know about the forums much less post on them!

I am not interested in signing up for a cooking class. Just wanted people who have been on this tour went to a cooking class.

Thanks for all your responses.

Ann, ask the RSE office on Tuesday.
It doesn't matter what they did in the past. RSE will know what they're doing on your tour.

Thanks again everyone for your responses. Will wait to see if there will be a cooking class.

For what it's worth, I did this trip several years ago and there was no cooking class though as Kent points out, that doesn't mean that the tour is exactly still the same. There was a very nice wine tasting in Bayeux at a hotel where we were treated to some of the owner's private wines and some excellent homemade appetizers to go with the wine.

Not listing a cooking class does not mean it may not happen. On the Bulgaria tour, our guide offered to teach anyone interested in how to cook some of the dishes we had been enjoying. Only a few people took her up on it, but she showed us how to pick and make stuffed grape leaves, a typical salad of tomatoes, cucumbers and cheese and a dessert. The hotel cooked it while we were out sight seeing, and the whole group returned to enjoy it. It was certainly a highlight and she also presented the group with a cookbook that she had put together and some dried herbs that are used in most Bulgarian cooking.

It is a bet, just wanted to know if there was a cooking class last year. I say no there will not be one, my friend thinks there will be. That is all. A glass of wine is riding on the bet. Actually we both hope there is none and if there is we plan to skip it.