GETAWAYS • Eure-et-Loire
When a friend asked if I wanted to join her on a quick getaway an hour train ride outside Paris, my mind jumped to Versailles. “No, but there’s a château here, too,” she responded.
The castle in question: Domaine de Primard, an 18th-century residence and former estate of celebrated French actress Catherine Deneuve, whose films (and fashion) I studied religiously in college. Of course, I should’ve known she’d bury the lede. Parisians are nothing if not discreet — especially when it comes to celebrities.
A light drizzle greeted us when we arrived, but the sun was pushing hard against the clouds. A ray or two of light illuminated the moat dividing the island-like maison and beautifully manicured rose gardens, some bushes stretching nearly a hundred feet high, melding into the foliage of trees.
I quickly traded my loafers for muck boots (this is a place used to city dwellers, after all) and started strolling around the sprawling property with Indiana Jones (my pomeranian). He guided me to pastures where a trio of Valais Blacknose micro sheep and shaggy Highland cattle were grazing. We lingered in the afternoon on a wooden dock, perched over the pond, watching ducks cut through the glassy water and geese waddling through the reeds in the distance.
In the evening, we sipped the house Fontenille rouge wine crafted in Provence’s Luberon region in the candlelit greenhouse, where the private chef-like experience took us on a feast of what grows in the estate’s garden: confit fennel with yuzu koji and trout eggs, parsley-seasoned mushrooms.
My Parisian friends started flooding my DMs once they realized where I was. It seemed Primard, at the gateway to Normandy, was rapidly becoming a weekend favorite for a quick recharge. One asked, “Did you try the Susanne Kaufmann facial? Life changing!” I couldn’t agree more about the spa treatment — and the entire 36-hour escape. –Lane Nieset
→ Domaine de Primard (Eure-et-Loir) • Route départementale 16 • from 454 €/wknd king.