Lacanche owner Kerry Valentine recently traveled to France with a couple of friends for a tour of art, wine and food. The trip began in Provence, where they spent two days in the Avignon area, visiting Arles for the Van Gogh walk and then wine tasting in the Cote du Rhone region with transplanted American winemaker Douglas Graves of “Tours du Rhone.” Doug shares the scenic views and the history of the area, all while taking his guests wine tasting.
The majority of their trip was spent in the region of Burgundy. Kerry, Jana and Gina ventured to Beaune to attend “The Cook’s Atelier”, cooking class with Marjorie Taylor and Kendall Smith Franchini. During their classes, they teach and cook on a beautiful Lacanche Sully range. Before they begin cooking, Marjorie and Kendall take the group to the market, fromagerie and butcher shop to select ingredients to use during the class.
Kerry adds “I really enjoyed the cooking class. Marjorie and Kendall are so knowledgeable and energetic in helping us understand the procedures to cooking delicious French food. I am already trying recipes from their book. If you are thinking of buying a Lacanche, go take the class and see the stove in action.”
Thierry Purdon, a Lacanche owner and enthusiast from Saint Aubin, was kind enough to set up the group with a local private tasting from Richard Bos of JANOTSBOS. Richard has been producing wine in Meursault since 2005. Kerry describes the tasting, “Richard shared eight different wines with us from the Burgundy region. He has such an in-depth knowledge of his product. Richard really took his time to describe each wine and let us discover the differences. It was as wonderful afternoon.”
Kerry and her friends were able to get a tour of the Lacanche factory in Lacanche by owner Jean-Jacques Augagneur. Kerry exclaims, “I really appreciated Jean-Jacques giving us the tour of the factory. I was amazed by each part of the process of putting together the stove, even down to the 21 coats of enamel that goes on each piece. We enjoyed going through the showroom, as well. It was fun to see the collection of the old stoves that go back hundreds of years. I now understand why the Lacanche stoves are built to last and the quality and care of those who build them.”
Thierry Purdon was kind enough to invite the group to attend the local Bastille day celebration in Meursault with their friends. There was food, music and fireworks. Thierry is great at showing people the heart of Burgundy. He has been hosting Lacanche owners who come to visit for years. The group also got to tour Chateau du Cormatin and Chateau de la Rochepot while in Burgundy.
Kerry, Jana and Gina got to take part in the French winning the world cup before coming home and ended their trip with a few lovely days in Paris.