Cooking Up a Vacation in Provence or Mexico

On a cooking tour to France, guests can stay in the rural country house where Julia Child and Simone Beck lived when they wrote “Mastering the Art of French Cooking.” The house/cooking school is an hour from the beaches of the Co^te d’Azur.

In daily morning classes, students will learn to prepare a four- or five-course luncheon. In the afternoon, they are free to explore the countryside.

Instructor Kathie Alex will take students through an outdoor food and flower market in Cannes where local chefs do their shopping. She will show students how to select the best ingredients. After the market and a visit to a cheese-ripening cave, students will go behind the scenes for lunch at La Palme d’Or, a restaurant in the Ho^tel Martinez, to see a French kitchen in action. Alex also will take the group to La Terrasse Restaurant for an in-kitchen class with chef Christian Morisset, followed by lunch on the patio overlooking the yachts and beaches along the coast of Juan-les-Pins and Antibes.

Programs run weekly from September to November and April through June.

Cost: $1,950 per person, including six nights’ accommodations, all classes and excursions, daily breakfast, dinner on Sunday evening and all lunches. Air fare to France is extra.

Contact: Cooking With Friends in France; tel. (617) 350-3837.

Mexico: More Cooking

Explore Mexican gastronomy in the company of culinary experts. Marilyn Tausend, author of “Cocina de la Familia” and “Mexico the Beautiful,” will lead a small group trip to Jalisco from Jan. 29 to Feb. 6. Rick Bayless, chef and owner of two Mexican restaurants and author of three cookbooks, will join the groups for several days to introduce participants to Jalisco’s tequila and foods. Tours include market visits, classes with local cooks, meals in homes and regional restaurants, and visits to cultural sights and ancient ruins.

Cost: $2,500 per person, double occupancy, including all classes, meals, lodging and local transportation. Participants must provide their own transportation to and from Mexico.

Contact: Culinary Adventures, 6023 Reid Drive NW, Gig Harbor, WA 98335; tel. (253) 851-7676.

India and Nepal

Cultural anthropologist Judith Johnston will lead a tour to India and Nepal Jan. 1 to 23, departing from New York on the evening of Jan. 1.

The itinerary includes Bombay; Jodhpur and Jaipur in Rajasthan; the Taj Mahal in Agra; the holy city of Varanasi; Katmandu, the capital of Nepal; the Tibetan refugee community of Patan in Nepal; and two nights in Nepal’s Chitwan National Park to see elephants.

Cost: $4,800 per person, double occupancy, including accommodations, meals and transportation. Air fare to New York is extra.

Contact: Judith Johnston at Adelphi University; tel. (516) 877-4115.

England: History

A British company is offering art and history tours of Southeast England. Six-night trips based in East Sussex depart on various dates throughout the year. Guests will visit the site of the 1066 Battle of Hastings; Canterbury Cathedral; Hever Castle, home of Anne Boleyn; and Chartwell, the country house of Winston Churchill, where he conceived the strategy for the Battle of Britain.

Cost: from $2,600 per person, double occupancy, including lodging, daily breakfast, tea and dinner, entrance fees and airport transfers. Air fare to England is extra.

Contact: Art & History Tours, North Den, North St., Winchelsea, East Sussex, England TN36 4HX, Internet https://www.artandhistorytours.co.uk. Art & History Tours has no U.S. phone number, so remember that its time zone is eight hours ahead of Pacific Time; tel. 011-44-1797-224145.

New Zealand: Gardens

The Delaware Center for Horticulture is offering a trip Down Under to tour private gardens, public landscapes, nature preserves and wilderness areas led by native New Zealander Richard Lyon.

The tour runs Jan. 14 to Feb. 5, New Zealand’s summertime.

Guests will explore coastal coves and white beaches, tropical rain forests, alpine terrain, volcanic peaks and fiords. There will also be wine tastings as the group tours a selection of the country’s finest vineyards.

The group is limited to 20 people, who will have an opportunity to chat with many of the gardeners who create their unique landscapes.

Cost: $6,850 per person, including round-trip air fare from Los Angeles, hotels, ground transportation, entrance fees and some meals. Contact: Richard Lyon at Garden Adventures; toll-free tel. (877) 323-3300.

Indonesia: Cultures

Absolute Asia’s new 16-day tour to see the tribal cultures of Papua New Guinea and Irian Jaya, Indonesia, is available several times each month. The first two nights of the tour are spent in Tari, in Papua New Guinea’s southern highlands, at the luxury Ambua Lodge.

Nature enthusiasts will take guided walks through the forests, passing waterfalls and crossing over rope bridges. Traditional singing performances and pig roasts will be arranged in Huli villages.

The tour continues with a night at a waterside resort in the coastal town of Madang before boarding a seven-night cruise up the Sepik River. Passengers will visit Madang and Vanimo, the lower Ramu River, Wewak, Schouten Island, Aitape and the Sissano group. Shore excursions are made several times daily to local villages.

The cruise disembarks in Jayapura, the capital of Irian Jaya, and travelers continue by a chartered flight to Wamena to experience the traditional lifestyle of the Dani tribes in the Baliem Valley. Some hiking into remote villages to visit ancestral effigies is included. Accommodation is basic, involving stays in village homes.

Cost: $4,570 per person, double occupancy, including all meals, accommodations and guides. International air fare is extra.

Contact: Absolute Asia, 180 Varick St., New York, NY 10014; tel. (800) 736-8187, Internet https://www.absoluteasia.com.

Down Under: Judaica

Visits to the Jewish communities of Australia and New Zealand are the focus of a Dec. 19 to Jan. 2 Lotus Tours excursion.

During the journey--which will include stops at standard attractions of both countries--only kosher or vegetarian meals will be served, and the Sabbath will be observed. The tour host in Australia will be Rabbi Ronald Lubofsky, and in New Zealand, travel writer and historian Ann Gluckman.

In Sydney, the group will be escorted to the Great Synagogue for a reception and lecture. In Melbourne, the agenda includes the Jewish Museum of Australia, a reception at the rabbi’s home and Glick’s bakery.

In New Zealand, there will be a luncheon with members of the Jewish community in Christchurch and a meeting with Gluckman in Auckland.

Cost: $5,695 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare from Los Angeles, all lodging, meals, ground transportation and entrance fees.

Contact: Michael Kong at Lotus Tours; tel. (800) 267-5415.

Africa: Safari

Trax World Tours of Englewood, Colo., is expanding its African programs to include a combination Kenya and Tanzania safari. The 16-day tour includes Lewa Downs Conservancy and Ngare Sergoi Rhino Sanctuary in Kenya and the Ngorongoro Crater and the Serengeti in Tanzania. The first scheduled departure is Feb. 19. Tours are led by naturalists.

Cost: $3,750 per person, double occupancy, including deluxe accommodations in game lodges and private tent camps, airport transfers and most meals. Air fare is not included.

Contact: Trax World Tours; tel. (888) 340-8729, Internet https://www.traxtours.com.

The Times is not responsible for changes in prices, dates or itineraries. These should be confirmed with travel agents or tour operators.