If one day you greet me with the good news that you want to come visit, I may well suggest - if we're all full here - that you stay with our friends Frédérique and Arnaud. This young dynamic couple bought the Château d'Emalleville a few years back and have made it into a tasteful, welcoming and peaceful place to stay.
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Don't be intimidated by the imposing façade, this château is family sized, and is indeed a family home. Fred and Arnaud live here with their two lovely children, two naughty Labradors and too many horses for me to count.
The gardens are beautifully maintained, there's a heated swimming pool and a hard tennis court.
When you reserve you'll be able to choose between a room in the 'communs'
the gardeners cottage by the pool,
or a room in the château itself.
Here, as you descend the stunning staircase after a sound night's rest,
you'll be reassured to notice that you have spent the sleeping hours guarded by lions,
The garden or 'parc' as we call it here, is peaceful and Arnaud will encourage you to wander around, admiring the wide variety of mature trees. If you ask nicely he may even show you the drawing he has of the original garden plan, laid out several hundred years ago.
I adore this old greenhouse, complete with underground heating! Arnaud has had it lovingly restored to it's original beauty.
Amazingly, besides raising a family and maintaining a great big château, our friends still find time for hobbies.
Fred is a keen horsewoman, and recently started breeding ponies for competition. She takes pride in her beautiful paddocks, and rarely misses the morning feed and check on every horse.
Arnaud's passion is for old cars. He often welcomes groups of vintage Porsche or Jaguars, touring normandy on a weekend rally.
So while you're staying here I'll jump in my car and pop over to see you, maybe we'll have time to go out for lunch together. I'm looking forward to it, just say the word!
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