MAKE THIS GARDEN GROW

Ross Kenneth Urken and his family roll up their sleeves for a cooking class en plein air at a famed estate outside Paris.

ONE AFTERNOON last July, I wandered through a garden in Versailles, France, herb shears in hand, in search of oregano. Elsewhere in the Domaine de Madame Élisabeth-a lush estate that Louis XVI gave to his younger sister in 1783-my wife, Tiffan, picked basil for pesto while our three-year-old daughter, Odella, cranked dough into pappardelle. All of our efforts were guided by Simone Zanoni, the chef at Le George, one of three restaurants at the Four Seasons Hotel George V, Paris (doubles from $3,440).