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Les retraites
A few days of French château life, in rooms brought back from ruin.
This is not a hotel stay, and it is not a course. It is the life of a French château as it was meant to be lived: unhurried mornings, long lunches, the market and the brocante, the kitchen, the apéritif, and dinner that lasts the evening.
You stay within the château itself, with a small company of guests and no one else. Each retreat has its theme: the kitchen, Christmas, the brocantes, the old crafts, or simply a French summer. Around it, the château does what it was built to do. Take part in everything, or nothing at all.
4 nights / 5 days
5 December 2026
Spent at the château
Four December days at home in the château: a gingerbread château to ice, a bûche with the pastry chef, the tree to dress, carols and vin chaud by the fire, a wine tasting and cocktails in Le Bar, and a Christmas banquet followed by dancing.
5 nights / 6 days
25 June 2027
Transfers and excursions included
Five spring days with the château’s chefs and pastry chef: French classics and recipes from the château’s eighteenth-century cookbook, market day at Mirepoix and the brocantes, lunch in Foix and Ax, and a banquet to close.
3 nights / 4 days
3 July 2027
Transfers and excursions included
Three days of chiner in the markets, brocantes and vide-greniers of the Ariège, hunting for old French linen, copper and faïence, with lunch in Foix, long dinners at the château, and a last night to dress for.
7 nights / 8 days
10 July 2027
Transfers and excursions included
A week of French summer with everything: Mirepoix and the brocantes, the kitchen and the pastry kitchen, a morning with the restorers, Foix castle, the cave at Lombrives, lunch in Ax, the river, and a banquet and dancing to close.
Prices are charged in euros; other currencies shown are approximate.
Une journée à Gudanes A day at Gudanes
Bread and croissants from the village boulangerie, coffee on the terrace, and on some mornings the crêpe cart.
At the stove with the chefs, at the market with the producers, or on the restorers’ scaffold.
A long table in the garden, or lunch out in the valley: Foix beneath its castle, or Ax-les-Thermes among the hot springs.
The pool and a glass of rosé, pétanque on the lawn, homemade ice cream, the library, or an easel and a box of watercolours. Or a brocante, or the great cave at Lombrives.
As the mountains turn blue: a Kir Royale, a Lillet tonic, the château’s own botanical syrups.
Several courses by candlelight, or the barbecue on the terrace, or the last-night banquet, dressed for the occasion. Then a French film under the stars, or dancing.
À table The table
In France, the table is the point of the day, and so it is here. The château’s chefs cook the classics of the French table. There is bread from the village boulangerie each morning, trout from the farm right beside the château, cheeses from the Ariège, produce from the morning’s market, pastries from our own pastry kitchen, and now and then a dish from the château’s eighteenth-century cookbook.
Some meals are long and easy: platters passed down a table in the garden, the barbecue on the terrace, a kitchen supper of what you cooked that afternoon. Most evenings are an occasion. Several courses are served by candlelight, perhaps a fillet of beef, a ballotine of guinea fowl or the trout from next door, with the silver laid and flowers down the table. There is local sparkling wine as you arrive, the wines of France at every meal, an apéritif at dusk, and nothing to pay at the end.
Every date across the year, in one place. Choose a retreat above to narrow it.
Places are shown live. When a session reads as full, it is full — we do not overbook a château this size.
Noël at Gudanes
€3,200 per person · nothing to pay at the end
about €800 a night
Book these dates
Cooking in the Cuisine
€3,800 per person · nothing to pay at the end
about €760 a night
Book these dates
Antique & French Finds
€2,800 per person · nothing to pay at the end
about €930 a night
Book these dates
Seven Starry Nights
€4,800 per person · nothing to pay at the end
about €690 a night
Book these datesTwo ways to stay
A night's stay is a room and breakfast. A retreat gives you the château: its gourmet chefs, every meal, and drinks included, the brocantes, the restoration and the valley.
| Stay the NightRoom and breakfast | A RetreatLa vie de château | |
|---|---|---|
| Your room in the château | Included | Included |
| Breakfast | Included | Included |
| Lunch and dinner | Unavailable: restaurants nearby | Included Every meal, and drinks included |
| Gourmet chefs on site | Not included | Included |
| Drinks, alcoholic and non-alcoholic | Not included | Included |
| A tour of the château and its restoration | An extra, €50 per booking | Included |
| The classes and the outings: the kitchen, the brocantes, yoga, the river, the mountains, a barbecue | Not included | Included All optional |
| A last-night banquet in the Salon de Musique, then dancing | Not included | Included |
| Excursions | Booked separately | On the three-, five- and seven-night retreats |
| Transfers from Toulouse | Booked separately | On the three-, five- and seven-night retreats |
| The pool, the tennis court, the gardens | Included | Included |
| The lounge, board games, the terraces, the barbecue area and the grounds | Included | Included |
| Wi-Fi, in a common area of the château | Included | Included |
| Only the group in residence | Not included | Included No other guests while it runs |
| Length | From one night | Three to seven nights |
| Price | Per room, a night | Per person · nothing to pay at the end |
| See the rooms | See the dates |
Practical
Rooms
Three bathrooms on the ground floor, shared between the group. Prices are per person, sharing a room
To reserve
10% to reserve; the balance 30 days before. Booking inside 30 days? The whole amount is due then, not a deposit.
The stairs
No lift: every bedroom is reached by stairs. Pack lightly
Children
Eight and over
Heating
An electric blanket and a space heater in every room
Animals
Bruce, a French bulldog, and four cats live here. Tell us of any allergy when you register
Wi-Fi
In a common area of the château
Getting here
Toulouse-Blagnac is an hour and three quarters away
Groups
Groups can take the whole château for a private retreat, all-inclusive, from €45,000 for four nights. Ask us.
Before You Register
Yes. Write to us about a room.
Write to us; we can sometimes move you to another date.
Fit enough for the original staircase: there is no lift.
Each retreat is small, dated, and lived in the château itself.