The Saint James chateau-hotel in Paris. The exterior is historic, but the rooms balance modern chic with period features. Photo / Supplied
Staying in a chateau makes you feel like the king or queen of the castle — but it doesn’t have to empty the royal treasury, writes Anna Richards
The French love a chateau, so much so that there are some 45,000 in the country. The Chateau de Thil often gets credited as being the oldest in France, built in AD850, but some are still being built today. In Bourgogne, eastern France, an ambitious project is under way to recreate a medieval castle using only the tools available in the 13th century. About 40 workers are employed at Guedelon, which has been in construction since the 1990s.
The first time I stayed in a chateau, I was a teenager. That sounds very fancy, but French chateaux (country houses or castles) don’t all have hundreds of Rapunzel-style towers and a hall of mirrors to rival Versailles. Some of them are fairly modest, and since a chateau requires a considerable amount of upkeep, their owners rent out rooms to fund their overheads.
Chateaux can be found all over the country, but some areas have more than others. The Loire Valley, for example, former home of the French royals, numbers over 3000 chateaux. These are often some of the most decadent — the hundred turrets of Chateau de Chambord, the bridge-like Chateau de Chenonceau, which spans the River Cher — the kind of chateaux you see on postcards. Here, many of the chateaux are built from a creamy local limestone known as tuffeau, the colour of the biscuit part of a Jammie Dodger. Areas well known for winemaking also have plenty of these gorgeous buildings; Beaujolais, Bordeaux and Languedoc-Roussillon in particular.
Whether you’re planning a French holiday with a backdrop worthy of a period drama, or simply looking for something a little different, here are five chateaux you shouldn’t miss.
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An on-site farm with miniature pigs, cows, ducks, chickens and a Shetland pony, a vegetable garden that serves the award-winning on-site restaurant and has panoramic views of Pyrenean peaks and an infinity pool looking over acres of vines, Chateau les Carrasses looks like the fairytale dream, but is surprisingly down to earth. Particularly welcoming to cyclists, it’s got its own mountain bikes available free of charge to guests, top-of-the-range road bikes (for a fee, guided tours available), and some of the best cycling routes in the region start quite literally just outside the wrought-iron gate. The new OenoVelo loop, an 80km bike route almost entirely through the vines and largely on greenways, passes only a few hundred metres from the hotel. It’s easy enough to stop for tastings at one of the numerous wineries en route, but consider splitting the loop over two days and staying at les Carrasses to do so — there’s a fair amount of elevation gain. There are nine rooms in the 19th-century chateau, and villas for 2-6 people in the former grounds, which also have a tennis court and petanque (boule) court. Unusually for a luxury hotel, four-legged friends are welcome, and all rooms (those inside the chateau and the villas) come equipped with all the self-catering facilities you need to be fully self-sufficient. In short, the best chateau I’ve stayed in.
Doubles from €215 / $388, lescarrasses.com
For those of us looking for a regal bargain, the Chateau de Noirieux north of Angers has doubles (without breakfast) starting from €89 per person in the low season. This 4-star hotel run by Relais & Chateaux occupies the little town of Briollay on the banks of the Sarthe River. The building dates from the 15th century and is undergoing renovations, but reopening in June; so, if you can wait a few months, it should be even more beautiful than before. Guests enjoy a spa and an outdoor pool and jacuzzi (heated during the summer months), while period features like a grand piano and grandfather clock make it unmistakable that you’re staying in a place steeped in history. There’s even a small maze on site.
Doubles from €89 / $160, chateaudenoirieux.com/fr
This place is all about the wine. There are only five rooms in the chateau itself, in the heart of Morgon, a part of Beaujolais known for producing some of the region’s most prestigious wine. Eighteen hectares of vineyards surround the hotel, and the owners organise tastings and vineyard visits. Built in the 19th century, the chateau was once the home of Princess Lieven, an 18th-century aristocrat born in modern-day Latvia. She travelled widely and collected plants in the chateau grounds, which are now a mass of Lebanese cedar trees, sequoias and araucaria trees. Another famous former tenant was the son of the Lumiere brothers, the inventors of cinema. A fantastic area of slow tourism, Beaujolais has picturesque little villages made from the region’s “golden stone” (the colour of light caramel), windmills and chapels that seem to spring up among the vines, and undulating hills. If you get itchy feet, France’s third-largest city, Lyon, is only 50 km away. It’s well worth stopping by for a tasting and vineyard tour, even if you’re not staying. The downside — it’s regularly booked out for weddings.
Doubles from €280 / $505, chateau-bellevue.fr
If ever a chateau could be described as all singing, all dancing, it’s Domaine les Crayeres in Champagne. Owned by the Relais & Chateau group, there’s a 2-starred Michelin restaurant on site, an intimate champagne bar, and tennis courts. The vast grounds (7ha of parkland) leave you feeling as though you’re in the middle of nowhere, but les Crayeres is a rare chateau with the best of both worlds. In the heart of Reims, the capital of the Champagne region, sights on your doorstep include a Unesco-listed Gothic cathedral and a plethora of champagne houses. French royals were crowned in Reims for over 800 years, until 1825, and the city’s regal history shows at les Crayeres. The rooms, anything but minimalistic, could have been designed by Marie-Antoinette. Elaborate patterned wallpaper, draped headboards and painted wood panelling on the walls, they’re all about excess. The facade is reminiscent of Parisian Hausmann buildings. The rooms mostly have little wrought-iron juliette balconies, there’s elaborate stone carvings framing the windows, and a sweeping stone staircase for a royal arrival.
Doubles from €490 / $885, lescrayeres.com
Delightfully rustic, Chateau le Bas Bleu only last year opened for visitors. The bunting-strewn, little red brick town of Quesnoy-le-Montant, in Hauts-de-France, looks as though it belongs across the Channel, far more British than French in terms of architecture. Even the chateau itself resembles an English stately home. Most of the guest rooms are in the old stables and come with self-catering facilities, with a couple of richly decorated rooms (far superior to the stable rooms and with a good stock of reading material) in the main building. There’s a small spa in an outhouse in the garden that can be privatised on request. Just 15 minutes by road is the Bay of Somme, known for migratory and native birds, and an abundance of seals. Many WW1 battlefields are also within easy reach. The owner is a character, a playwright who seems to bring the history of the place to life. Weekend rates are a steal.
Doubles generally at a flat rate of €226 / $408, regardless of season, chateaulebasbleu.com
A 16th-century chateau-hotel in the heart of Paris, the exterior of the Saint James is historic, but the rooms balance modern chic with period features. The piece de resistance is the bar, which doubles up as a library, and glass-fronted mahogany cabinets line the walls. It’s only minutes on foot from Bois de Boulogne, but there’s plenty of greenery to be found at the hotel itself. The hotel’s own vegetable garden supplies farm-to-fork fare to the restaurant, and honey served at breakfast is made by their own bees. There’s also a small indoor pool, spa and gym, and a patio-garden bedecked with plants. As would be expected with a Parisian chateau stay, this one doesn’t come cheap, but it has you feeling like the main character in your own movie. Bonus points for the exquisite fountain in the entrance courtyard.
Doubles from €680 / $1227, saint-james-paris.com
GETTING THERE
Fly from Auckland to Paris, France, with one stopover with Qatar Airways, Emirates and Singapore Airlines, as well as Air NZ and United on a codeshare basis.
DETAILS
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