La Toque d'Or cooking school and French for a Day are two organizations that team-up under the banner of Paris Gourmet. La Toque d'Or is run by the affable, British-born Sue Young. Sue has lived in France since 1990 and is a graduate of the Cordon Bleu. She teaches cooking from her well-appointed and bright kitchen workshop in the heart of Paris. Courses are based in classic French techniques.
Menus use seasonal ingredients and are easy to recreate at home.
Shopping Plus is run by Irene Adamian who organizes special walking tours where small groups visit stores offering the latest, as well as the classics, in French style, be it fashion, interior design, antiques, table wares, cuisine and more. All of these guides provide lots of well-researched and useful information, written by Paris residents and updated on a regular basis. Follow this link to The Leeds Good Value Guide to Paris Restaurants where you'll find information about all the guides. We published an article about the Caines' and several other walking tour provides in our March 98 issue, which is available in our Subscribers-only section. Follow this link to see their Web site, which will give you a schedule of all their upcoming tours.