Get Lost! In Paris with Alison & Dana
#ouigetlostinparis
April 6-12 2024
Immerse yourself in Paris with James Beard nominated chef Alison Settle and award winning writer Dana McMahan in their inaugural culinary adventure in The City of Lights.
Limited to 10 intrepid travelers, this week will feature hands-on cooking sessions, market provisioning, kitchenware shopping, and more adventures in food with our home base a gorgeous apartment in the oh-so-cool Canal Saint Martin neighborhood.
See our feature in the Louisville Courier Journal! And check out the pre-trip adventures #ouigetlostinparis and our video feature on WHAS Great Day Live plus our podcast appearance on La Vie Creative.
Meet your fearless leaders:
Alison Settle (@alizasettle) has led some of the top kitchens in Louisville, with stints at Red Hog, Holy Grale, and Barn 8. A 2022 James Beard Foundation Best Chef: Southeast Semi-finalist, You may have also seen her throwing down on Food Network. There’s not much she loves more than finding amazing produce and local protein at a market and creating a meal that lets the ingredients shine. When she cooked for a Paris crowd it was unanimous: her market fresh dinner was among the best meals anyone had ever had.
Dana McMahan (@elleferafera) is the longtime dining columnist for the Louisville Courier Journal where she’s won awards for — among other things — writing about culinary travel in France. She’s spent the last 20+ years traveling the world with Paris the home of her heart (staying several weeks a year usually). She writes about food, travel, design, and more with bylines in a slew of national publications including Conde Nast Traveler, NBC, USA Today, the Washington Post, Delta Sky magazine, and Esquire.
Photos: Paris Cinematic Walks
So what’s the plan?
Dana will introduce you to her Paris, the one far from the tourist trap crowds.
Become a flaneur, wandering the boulevards and back streets of the far-flung arrondissements. Above all, feast on the magic of Paris.
We’ll gather in a sumptuous two-century-old flat in a former hotel in the non-touristy 10th arrondissement for hands-on culinary workshops and family dinners. We’ll all shop for a pique-nique and lunch Parisian style in this cool neighborhood where Dana almost always stays.
Alison will guide you through Dana’s favorite local market in Paris, sharing how a talented chef’s mind approaches sourcing ingredients. Back in the dream Parisian flat, you’ll roll up your sleeves for real working cooking sessions — no touristy observation-only classes here!
She’ll take you shopping in one of Paris’ hallowed kitchen supply houses for your very own chef’s knife, and send you home with real skills you can put to use in your own kitchen.
Get lost! We’re not here to hold your hand or show you the tourist sights. There will be ample time to get lost in Paris, finding your own favorite haunts and creating the kind of memories that are why we get on planes in the first place.
The all important details
Highlights and what’s included?
- Your daily workshop sessions
- Three family meals from chef Alison in our beautiful home base
- Customized recommendations for your hotel and independent meals
- A walking tour of one of the best food-lover’s streets in Paris
- Expert-led wine and cheese pairing session
- A shopping expedition to an iconic kitchen supply house, guided by your new chef friend Alison
- Dana’s personal guide to pinch-me-I’m-in-Paris, a zero-tourist-trap collection of places and experiences that will star in your best memories of, well, your life (this is Paris we’re talking about).
- Travel booking assistance and support from our friend Katie at MyWorldTravel
And not?
- Getting to Paris but Katie is standing by to help you book travel
- A place to sleep (but Dana will share her vetted picks and/or Katie can help you book rooms)
- Meals outside of our home kitchen or group picnic (but Dana’s got you with her super curated favorites list)
- Any other sundry expenses including (but not limited to!) getting around by Uber/metro/bus/bike/tuktuk, souvenir berets, that vintage couture Dior you have to have, breakfast Champagne (but we heartily approve!), or fees for changing your return flight home to stay an extra day or 30.
How much does this cost and what’s the fine print?
$2,200 includes
Daily activities, three family dinners, picnic, travel booking assistance, and Dana’s personal guidance on your time in Paris.
Among the tips you’ll get: the best place to watch the sunset and Eiffel Tower light up; the address to a vintage couture shop with the best pieces, and a hidden wine bar that still pours for less than five dollars a glass; directions to a random street with a crowd-free up close view of the tower; details on how to go up in a hot air balloon; and secrets to lower-priced experiences at the glitziest restaurants and bars in town, plus suggestions for unusual museums and quirky cool shops.
You get a built-in community as a nice break from all solo travel, but can forge your own path.
You should know: This is positively non-refundable. With such a small group even one cancellation has a big impact. So travel insurance is required. We’ve learned the hard way who to *not* use so My World Travel has arranged for a discounted insurance plan with a trusted partner. We’ll take a 50 percent deposit at booking and the other half 45 days before departure. You have to have a current, valid passport in your possession (that’s good for at least six months after our trip). The trip is an active one and Paris is a city for exploring on foot so you’ll need to be accustomed to walking at least 10,000 steps a day (and you’ll for sure top that every day). Weather is unpredictable so you’ll have to bring rain gear. Omnivores only; unfortunately we won’t be able to accommodate dietary restrictions in this size group.
What’s it like gathering round a table with Alison and Dana?
An esteemed guest at our launch party says it best! (and this one and this one and if you like rabbit holes, head to my See You in Paris highlights on Insta)
Elle Fera Fera 