Tucked deep within the countryside on the cusp of the French regions of Burgundy and Champagne, is where you'll find the Chateau de Courban. A little under four hours from Paris, nature-lovers seeking a secluded spot off the beaten with plenty of French character, will find that the journey is worth it, even for the weekend. A veritable home away from home, think champagne aperitifs by the roaring fire, hearty Michelin starred cuisine washed down with some of the finest Burgundy wines, and hours relaxing on a sun lounger out in the quiet garden by the pool.
Sited on the location of a former chateau, what remains of Courban are several stone outhouses and a dovecote tower, as well as a dusky pink manor house draped in climbers. On the ground floor, the full sized family kitchen and large stone fireplace, where you can imagine big old cauldrons of soup were set to cook in the house's heyday, and table with a half-sliced saucisson brought over by a neighbor, is enough to make you wish you could have your own French country home. It’s also here on the ground floor, in one of the fire-lit drawing rooms, that guests can curl up on a sofa with a good book.
Upon our arrival, as though on cue, two game hunters, their muddy boots alone visible through the swirls of smoke from their wooden pipes, who had returned from a day out in the woods, stood on the house's stone step. As one greeted us and the other opened the door, Penny the owners' spritely dog came rushing out, tail wagging. She was swiftly followed by Courban's co-owner, the personable Jérôme Vandendriessche, suited and booted in a three-piece leprechaun-green and mustard-yellow corduroy suit.
Owned by Jérôme and his brother Frédéric, Courban is a centuries-old property that’s always evolving. First came the dovecote conversion into the honeymoon suite, then the Nuxe spa, followed by the well executed guest-room upgrades, not forgetting the restaurant where Japanese chef Takashi Kinoshita rustles up wonders for the palate that's earned the hotel its first Michelin star earlier this year.
While the rooms in the main house have kept their original charm – think toile de jouy wallpaper and Laura Ashley bedding – guests also have the choice of two more modern independent, sizeable suites, as well as a handful of rooms behind the pool that come with a slick hunting lodge style, an ode to Courban’s hunting history.
The house, which the brothers believe dates back to 1839, was unexpectedly inherited by a lady who lived locally. Alas, the house was too big to live in alone, but its new owner nevertheless painstakingly looked after it. She would visit the house every single day to air it out for the next 40 years, meaning that although the house was uninhabited for several decades, it remained in pristine condition. And when Jérôme and Frédéric’s parents stumbled upon it in 1998, they snapped it up right away as their second home.
Several months later, the family came across two hunters returning from the nearby Chatillon Forest asking for bed and board for the night. They accepted, and that marked the start of yet a new life for Courban as a hunters' inn.
Several years on, the chateau has seen several changes, including the addition of a Nuxe Spa with a range of treatments to relax those tired muscles after a day’s hunting (which the hotel can organise in season) as well as an indoor hot tub and outdoor pool.
The latest news for the hotel, however, is the acquisition of a Michelin star last February, for its gastronomic restaurant headed up by chef Takashi Kinoshita – and to say it is wholly deserved would be an understatement.
A master at meticulously pairing wide-ranging flavours, chef Kinoshita’s cuisine is generous, much like the character himself, and is marked by a strong local influence while remaining extremely refined. From the prawn tataki with caviar, to roasted veal cutlet with white asparagus, you'll want to stay on several nights to sample everything on the menu, as well as dishes off the menu, which the chef loves to experiment with upon his return from the market.
Set in the countryside with the nearest city at least an hour's drive away, life at Courban chimes to the local pace of life. And despite the modern additions, it's a throwback to times of simple pleasures: countryside walks, a saunter down to the market, wandering the narrow lanes of nearby villages... And it doesn't take long for even the most urban of city dwellers to succumb to the rhythm here.
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