Your Home-from-Home during Your Retreat will be an authentic French Farmhouse surrounded by woods, meadows, vineyards and sunflower fields
Maison Meraki (a house made with love) huddles in the middle of a sunny clearing in the heart of a great and ancient forest, like a little old lady gathering her shawl around her bony shoulders. She has been here for at least 200 years, from her elevated position, she looks out over the treetops to the mighty Pyrenées mountains. Who knows, maybe D’Artagnan himself has ventured over her threshold; the chateau where he was born is only a few kilometres away. Yes, this is indeed Gascony, land not only of milk and honey but also of divine wines, persillade, garbure, foie gras, cèpes, duck confit…all less than two hours’ drive southeast of Bordeaux.
This little French farm, deep in the heart of Gascony, between 2 small towns called Nogaro and Eauze, is located on several acres of lush, green meadows and is surrounded by vineyards, woods, and sunflower fields. Secluded but not isolated, it is only 3km from a typical local medieval town with all amenities.
Further afield, you’ll find medieval villages, bottomless lakes, orchards, and of course, the Camino de Santiago de Compostela.
Maison Meraki is a half-timbered house that faces southeast, towards the sunrise, typical of all Landaise fermettes. She has her back to the sunset, where the cold winds and weather come from in the winter. The house is U-shaped, with a central, secluded courtyard, where lavender perfumes the air in the summer. There are two guest bedrooms downstairs, each opening onto its own patio where guests can sit and soak up the sun with a cool drink and a good book.
The heart of the house is the kitchen-sitting room, delightfully cool in the summer, and extended by a shaded patio into the courtyard and snug and warm in the winter, heated by a Godin wood burner. Two centuries-old lime trees guard the eastern flank, and even older, majestic oak trees hold court in the paddocks surrounding the house.
I renovated Maison Meraki slowly, with infinite care. I have respected its humble origins and kept it dans son jus, comfortable but unpretentious, so if you want to experience unadulterated French farm life, this is the retreat for you. If you are looking for a couple of days in a luxurious chateau, it is not.
En plus, this is a French farmhouse, unlike any you have visited before. Even though I am a Frenchwoman through and through, I was born in Africa, so the interior is decorated, the meals flavoured, and the garden is scented by the warm spices and fragrant herbs of the country of my birth.
10 Powerful Life Lessons Learned While Walking the Camino de Santiago – a free guide filled with 10 not just “quaint anecdotes” or Instagram-worthy moments (though there are plenty of those) but real transformations from real people who walked the same insight-giving trail you might want to walk one day – Subscribe to my monthly newsletter to Download the Guide
I put the essence of who I am, and everything I have experienced that makes me who I am, with great enthusiasm, into my retreats, courses and books. – Dr Margaretha Montagu (MBChB, MRCGP, NLP master pract (cert,) Transformational Life Coach (dip,) Life Story Coach (cert) Counselling (cert,) Med Hypnotherapy (dip) and EAGALA (cert)
