SPRING AND AUTUMN WORKSHOPS In GruyÈre (SWITZERLAND)

Our workshop will take place in canton Fribourg, near Bulle, in May, June and September, weekends from Saturday. They start at 10 a.m. on Saturday and go until Sunday at 5 p.m. They include six hours of lessons per day. Accommodation is provided at the magnificent Chartusian monastery of La Part Dieu, at the foot of the Moléson Mountain.

WORKSHOPS NEAR PARIS AND IN THIÉRACHE (NORTHERN FRANCE)

 
Our spring workshop (June) will take place close to Compiegne’s forest, north of Paris, in Margny sur Matz. Accommodation will be provided at a gîte.

The autumn workshop (September) will take place in the northern area of the Aisne department in France, 50 km from Belgium. Accomodation will be provided at a gîte in Sorbais, a small village in the middle of Thiérache’s hedged farmland.

Both workshops last a whole weekend from Saturday 10 a.m. to Sunday 5 p.m.

Our summer seminar in Switzerland will take place in the village of Saint Luc, in the mountains of central Valais. Situated in the heart of the Val d’Anniviers, on the sunny slopes just above Sierre, the village is easily accessible by car or by postal bus.

SUMMER SEMINAR IN HAUTE PROVENCE (FRANCE)

Our Haut Ourgeas center will welcome you in early August to a week of "Wild plant gastronomy". It will still be time to gather wild lavender, formerly distilled to yield a deliciouscly-scented essential oil used by perfumers i Grasse. You will also discover the astonishing pear frangrance of Queen Anne's lace's fruits, the vanilla smell of sweet clover and curious artichoke flavor of Montpellier's thistle.

You will have the opportunity to follow up with "soft survival" the following week.

"SOFT SURVIVAL" IN HAUTE PROVENCE (FRANCE)

"Soft survival" is a rewarding experience enabling you to discover a fuller life, in harmony with nature, with other people and with yourself. From our Haut Ourgeas center, we shall explore during a week in mid-August the sunny mountains of the Alpes of Haute Provence. We will walk across the countryside, away from everyday worries, taking with us only the bare necessities : plants will fulfill most of our needs.

We will spend our days harvesting plants on the mountain crests and in the valleys, preparing our meals by the fire, taking baths in streams, making the best of every instant. This is also the opportunity to discover a few primitive living skills including fires without matches, string from plant fibers and stone tools. Depending on the weather, we shall either sleep out in the open, or under an improvised shelter.

PRIMITIVE LIVING SKILLS

Discover the traditional know-how and customs of different people living close to the earth, from the Indians of America to the Australian Aborigines. Our European ancestors used them as well. This heritage is common to the whole of humanity.

Our primitive living skills seminar will take place during a week at the end of July at our Haut Ourgeas center near Barrême in the Alpes de Haute Provence.

SPECIAL SURVIVAL« BETWEEN SKY AND EARTH »

MEDITATION WITH THE 5 ELEMENTS

From our Haut Ourgeas centre, we shall go hiking for a week, at the end of July, through the mountains and valleys of the Alpes de Haute Provence, fragrant with wild lavender. We will live in harmony with nature and commune with earth, water, fire, air and ether. These elements are present both in Nature and within us. Meditation with plants helps to develop a living and conscious relationship, a source of rejuvenation and vitality for the body and spirit.

3 HALF-DAYS WORKSHOP IN MASSONNENS (SWITZERLAND)

This workshop is meant to enable each one to approach progressively the world of wild edible plants, observing the evolution of plant life throughout the Spring.

These three sessions will take place in april, may and june at our farm in Massonnens (Fribourg, Suisse). Main topics : identification, picking and cooking, in small groups.