Chateaux all over France offer everyone the possibility of spending a night or two in a well-appointed room, gazing through floor to ceiling window panes onto bucolic gardens … and exhaling. Include ‘half board’ or fine dining & full breakfast? You can disappear.
There is something to be said about allowing one’s self to steep in the opulence of history polished to such a fine, fine sheen. This is not only available in a five star; it’s within your reach.
I only discovered the availability of ‘a chateau weekend package’ last year. That’s 15 years into being in France. Some British friends in my neighborhood, were racing to the GROCERY STORE to purchase a birthday present for our friend — a weekend in a chateau.
Excuse-moi??
The concept, the possibility, dropped a pebble in my pond. It had that continuing ripple effect which coming forward, found me hunting for a similar package for my friends for THEIR birthday present.
I’d spoiled myself a long time ago, to discover and stay at the Petite Trianon in Versailles, former summer home of Marie Antoinette.
Five star is a very high bar; you can’t beat it. And though I love that rare, ultimate treat, it is indeed rare and not often. But frequenting Chateaux? That’s another story.
Think of it this way; you like the ‘just above’ comfort of a three star hotel, right? You can seamlessly weave your journey between that comfort, and that of a chateau — and expand the breadth and depth of your experience.
It distills your journey.
With this in mind, I’ve carved chateaux into time and travel in France — both for my own travel — and for yours.
I love three and four star hotels. And, living locally, I love a good two star — I have a list of go-to’s ever at the ready!
But for a cut above, to bring the finery of France into your life, it doesn’t have to be just a dream. You don’t *have* to just touch it virtually or live vicariously.
You can step in, and feel the Love.
