“A wonderful antidote to faceless mid-Atlantic hotels”, this beautiful Renaissance château stands in its own lovely park on the eastern edge of Alençon. “What it lacks in the glossier hotel facilities,” says a visitor, “it more than makes up for with a wonderfully nostalgic atmosphere.” “Romantic, quirky, charming”, it has been in the family of the “delightful English-speaking owners”, Charles-Henry and Ségolène de Valbray, for generations. Salons are filled with antiques, paintings and family artefacts; open fires burn in winter. Bedrooms, up a curved wooden staircase, are all different. One has a set of engravings given by Napoleon; in another are beams decorated in the 16th century with the crest of Henri IV and his paramour Diane de Courtemanche (this was his hideaway). In the “lovely” dining room, the candlelit dinner is served by arrangement: guests take an aperitif together, but eat at separate tables. “Charles-Henry is passionate about cooking, and his four-course menus are excellent; second helpings of main course usually offered.” Vegetables are home grown. Breakfast, a buffet, is in a former kitchen, “with the feel of an upmarket brocante”. In the magnificent grounds are woodland walks, huge lawns, a large potager, a swimming pool.