Travel Agent - October 29, 2007 - (Page 22)

DESTINATIONS Terrasson L’Hostellerie de l’Imaginaire (reception@ l’imaginaire.com) is a charming and inexpensive small hotel in Terrasson where Eric Samson, the chef/owner (limaginaire@ club-internet.fr), reigns over a one-star Michelin restaurant. This 17th-century restored building has seven beautiful rooms located up two long flights of stairs. The two front rooms (numbers 2 and 3) have a view and are the largest. To tour the small city’s beautiful gardens—Jardins de l’Imaginaire—you have to buy a ticket a day in advance. Tremolat Bernard Giraudel is the owner and contact person at a more rural retreat, Le Vieux Logis, (vieuxlogis@relaischateaux.com), a former 17th-century priory and tobacco farmhouse in the tiny 600-person village of Tremolat. Linden trees, a stream and a swimming pool set in the garden add to its charms. ABOVE: Facade of Le Vieux Logis LEFT: A guest room at Le Vieux Logis Other Options Going west, Bordeaux is 60 miles up river from the Atlantic Ocean where visitors flock to Soulac-du-Mer (a sweet, small town), Arcachon (where oysters are harvested) and Dune du Pilat (the largest sand dune in Europe). The TGV trip or the drive south to Biarritz takes about two hours. Biarritz is an exquisite beach resort city where Napoleon III built a seaside villa for his wife Eugénie in 1854. Today, her palace, the Hotel du Palais (contact Jean-Louis Leimbacher, manager@ hotel-du-palais.com), is one of the country’s most elegant hotels, multi-starred dining destinations and home to the newly opened Imperial Resort and Spa by Guerlain. Inland, and less than two hours from either Bordeaux or Biarritz, Les Pres d’Eugenie-La Ferme Thermale, offers 40 personalized rooms within authentic, transformed old buildings on a divine 40-acre hotel/farm/gastronomic restaurant/spa located in the village of Eugénie les Bains. Contact Christine or Michel Guérard (www.michel guerard.com). Bon vacance! I CONTINUED FROM PAGE 21 modern bar features leopard carpeting and burnt orange upholstery, and its rooms and terrace face vineyards and the famous Tour du Roi. Contact Philippe and Dominique Etchebest, who manage the hotel; he’s a prestigious Meilleur Ouvrier de France chef who presides over its one-star Michelin restaurant. Clients with a rental car might prefer Le Relais de Franc Mayne (contact Jacques Guillot at jg@chateaufrancmayne.com) just outside the walled city, which houses a wine cellar with wine tastings and eight individualized rooms equipped with modern amenities and an eco-pond-like swimming pool that faces vineyards. One of the most exciting UNESCO World Heritage Sites—the Cave de Lascaux—dates back around 15,000 years and is about 60 miles from Bordeaux in the Dordogne near Montignac, where visitors must purchase tickets before noon the day before they are planning on visiting. The original cave had to be closed to preserve the paintings, but Lascaux II is an extraordinary and precise reproduction of the cave paintings of animals and mysterious symbols. 22 | TravelAgent October 29, 2007 CONNECTING YOU For more information on Aquitaine, France visit www.travelagentcentral.com/aquitaine http://www.michelguerard.com http://www.michelguerard.com http://www.travelagentcentral.com/aquitaine

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Travel Agent - October 29, 2007

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