An appetizing smell of hot bread escapes from an artisanal oven set up next to a house in the countryside. Fabienne Veillon, wasp waist and silk blouse, grabs the loaves handed to her by a young woman while checking on her, then gets back into her car. ” She’s great, she comments in her thin, admiring voice.. She is a farmer and baker, she sows and harvests ancient seeds, she grinds her own flour and kneads her dough by hand. His bread is excellent, I serve it to my guests for breakfast. »
This lover of short-circuit products runs eight guest rooms at Domaine de la Partoucie, in the town of Confolens, in Charente Limousin. “The estate has been in my husband’s family since 1910. We took it over twenty years ago. » With her husband, Michel, and their triplets, now in their thirties, they work together to keep the estate alive. In this rural area, roads lined with pastures and oak trees lead to castles, dapper or in ruins, and to silent villages adorned with splendid Romanesque churches and a few half-timbered houses. A pond in the distance and flocks of sheep announce the entrance to the 16-hectare estate.
The keep, the corner towers and the drawbridge of the 15th century fortified castlee century have disappeared. And the main buildings of the old lordship have been modernized over time. The large residence was rebuilt in granite in the 18th century.e century. A generous wisteria adorns the facade. The east wing, which housed rickety stables, has been renovated in a contemporary style. And the dovecote has been transformed into a family suite with kitchenette. The park, inspired by French gardens, with its paths and bushes cut into balls, extends after the moat, filled with water thanks to a stream which connects it to the pond.
Hermès saddle, stuffed animals
In the main building, the charm of yesteryear has been preserved, from the family furniture to the stuffed animals, including the Hermès saddle inherited from the riding grandfather in Saint-Cyr. In front of the piano in the living room, Fabienne Veillon confides : “The composer Jules Massenet [1842-1912] stayed within these walls. He was the lover of one of my husband’s ancestors. specifies the lady of the house, peeling apples for a crumble for her guests, while in the distance we hear the sheep bleating and the birds singing.
Later, during the Second World War, Jews found refuge there. The old stables are decorated with a contemporary decoration, with a state-of-the-art kitchen, a glass roof and a wall adorned with landscape wallpaper. Around the large table, we spot the famous Le Corbusier chestnut armchairs, made in the workshop of basket maker Pascal Raffier, a few dozen kilometers away. Upstairs, the mullioned windows from the Middle Ages have been reproduced identically. In total, fourteen additional openings were created to let in light.
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