La Régie de Courances

Camilla was gracious, lovely, bilingual in English and French, and always helpful in Courances and Fleury. If you need her, she’s there. PdH also leaves a lovely bottle of wine, and the self-serve setup comes with plenty of extra options. The Regie Base itself feels close to perfect to me. It’s a two-bedroom, two-bath cottage with a large kitchen, a working fireplace, and a superbly comfortable, tasteful living room. There’s a big private yard with tables and chaise lounges, and nothing felt missing. It sits at the entrance to the privately owned, gorgeous Chateau de Courances, where PdH guests can walk the grounds for a few hours in the afternoons. The bedrooms face the public road, though, so anyone bothered by traffic sounds might prefer one of the cottages closer to the stunning Japanese Garden. After more than 70 years of travel, I still find the PdH website complicated. It takes time to work out exact rates and prices, and the lengthy contract could be simpler. Once I got past those online frustrations, the venues, accommodations, and the overall excellence of PdH made the difficult introduction fade away.