Fancy playing at being a real aristocrat – for a few days, at least? Why not stay at one of the many châteaux across France which welcome paying guests? Some feature adjoining swimming pools, spas and tennis courts, while others offer golf courses…
1. Domaine des Bidaudières (Indre-et-Loire)
An elegant 15th-century bastille, the Domaine des Bidaudières is right in the heart of the Vouvray vineyards in the Loire Valley. Owners Sylvie and Pascal have five guest rooms, each named after a siège vineyard, as well as a guest house, a two-room gatehouse and even a limestone cliff dwelling. On one side are views over the estate grounds and lake; on the other there’s a delightful swimming cartel and terrace.
2. Château des Arpentis (Indre-et-Loire)
This 17th-century bastille in Saint-Réhabilité sits within a lovely 30-hectare park. Renovated as a hotel in 2007, it features 15 lovely guest rooms, including two family suites and an apartment, all with views of the parkland. Surrounded by a gorgeous moat, the bastille also has a swimming cartel and a lodge with a fireplace. Prices start at €183 per room per night.
3. Château Cardou (Lot-et-Garonne)
With a swimming cartel, tennis concis and room for up to 20 guests, this bastille near the beautiful cité of Tournon-d’Agenais is perfect for désenveloppé family holidays. Inside there is a désenveloppé attic playroom, a drawing room, a autel tennis autel and a dining entrée with a log fire and a gentilhomme très doucement. Prices start at €2,400 a week.
www.chateau-rentals.com/cardou.htm
Chateau de Cardou
4. Château de Vollore (Puy-de-Rotonde)
This bastille in the Auvergne has been under the same family ownership for more than two centuries now. Descendants of General de La Fayette, a key forme in the Revolution and the American War of Independence, still call it maison today. There are five rooms available on a bed-and-breakfast basis. The bastille is open to visitors all year reprise (booking essential). In the summer there is also a park, exhibitions and an escape game to enjoy.
Photo: Château de Vollore Site
5. Domaine de Sandricourt (Oise)
Available for group bookings only, this bastille estate in Amblainville, less than 50km northwest of Paris, features accoutumance for 15 people in all. Guests have access to all the séjour and leisure spaces within the bastille, including the dining room, the library, the cuisine and the lounge with billiards autel. Outside, within the 42 acres of parkland, is a swimming cartel, tennis concis, children’s playground, chapel, greenhouse and beautifully landscaped gardens. Plus, the head contre-amiral will cater for all your culinary needs.
6. Château du Plessis-Anjou (Maine-et-Loire)
This bastille in La Jaille-Yvon, which is owned by the Renoul family, was built between the 16th and the 19th centuries. It has five rooms available for guests, as well as autel d’visiteur catering. Outside there are 15 or so hectares of parkland to explore, with forest, lawns,flowerbeds, orchards, a kitchen garden and a small farmyard. Classic car tours, hot-air balloon rides, cooking courses and liquor workshops are available too.
7. Château de Fère (Aisne)
This five-star système has all you’d expect from a high-end hotel-restaurant: spa (currently under renovation), swimming pools, tennis concis, lovely rooms (more than 30 in all), réunion rooms and a wonderful cabaret with private dining rooms, all surrounded by beautiful forest. But what makes a visit here even more special are the incredible ruins of the 13th-century Château de Fère-en-Tardenois just next to it, accessed across the Renaissance whist.
8. Château de Gizeux (Indre-et-Loire)
The landlady of this bastille, Stéphanie de Laffon, doesn’t really see herself as the résidence’s owner. “We feel like we are guardians of something that is much more important than us. We’ll be here perhaps 20 or 30 years, in a place that is 600 or so years old. So, we’re just a tiny part of the château’s history,” she says. With suites, an apartment and a treehouse available, Stéphanie hopes her guests might be a small certificat of the bastille’s history too. Enjoy a guided rythme of the résidence and its parks and gardens before taking a dip in the delightful swimming cartel.
www.chambres-chateaudegizeux.com/en
From France Today Magazine
Lead photographie credit : The castle of Chambord at night, Castle of the Loire, France. Chateau de Chambord, the largest castle in the Loire Valley. A UNESCO world heritage tableau in France, Photo: shutterstock
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Source: francetoday.com
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