My French Country Home by Sharon Santoni

Tuesday, 18 May 2010

staying in our valley - chateau d'emalleville

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!

22 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness, yes please!!!

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  2. What is the best time of year in the region ?
    If I got there I may never leave.
    Karyn x

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  3. Beautiful place,perfect to happen a few unforgettable days.
    Bss

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  4. Do not say that too loud dear Sharon, I could jump on my car and be there in around 12 hours!!! Kisses,
    Fra

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  5. Oh you make it sound like it's oh so possible! If only the other side of the world was not indeed a world away!!

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  6. How completely charming!!! Would that I could!!! I'll put it on my bucket list :)

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  7. Oh ah, it would be a dream!

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  8. Oh Beautiful Sharon
    Now as much as I'd like to stay with you.. this is delightful.. the gardeners cottage for me please!! xx Julie

    by the way.. what type of trees are they? i just love them.. I call them my french trees but sure they have a proper name!! haha

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  9. Beautiful allee of plane trees, photo of stone lion on gravel, antler festooned stairwell and conjured image of vintage road rallies...all with my morning coffee. Merci Sharon! Trish

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  10. Thanks girls, I've just had Arnaud on the phone and he's delighted by all your kind comments!

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  11. Gosh. Late again. Tell Arnaud I'm on my way as soon as I can squish my suitcase closed, and tell the girls to start the tennis without me. ;)

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  12. Ahhhhhh... I'm so happy :)
    One day...
    I'm coming...
    One week here...
    One week chez vous!
    xo

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  13. Yes, please!
    I have added you to my blog roll.
    I do so love my visits here!

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  14. The château looks just enticing. But does this mean I can't camp on your gorgeous lawn any more? ;-)

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  15. How lovely it would be to stay here! I am tempted to start packing my bags!!

    xoxo
    Jane

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  16. Thank you Sharon!!!! I put you at the mine too.
    Bss

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  17. Oh my goodness Sharon...how absolutely delightful...and that staircase...WOW!!! Dzintra♥x

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  18. Sharon you can tell Arnaud that his Chateau is my new latest obsession, this is the third time today I have looked at these images, I am especilly smitten by the painted panelling and those windows in the salon/dining room, love it.
    XX

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  19. one would be so lucky to stay in a place like this, even more so to live in it - it's beautiful.

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  20. What a beautiful post and your blog is amazing! I will be back for more...Have a wonderful weekend:)
    Greetings

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  21. What an absolute fantasy! Oh I would love just a weekend there..the home is magnificent as are the grounds. I love the antlers...such a "french" thing. When we were at my aunts last year in the Loire valley they had antlers all over including a huge limestone pair above their front door and it was magnficent!!!! Loved this! Thanks for sharing, Sharon!

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I love reading your comments, thank you so much for stopping by.

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