Chateau des Arpentis — I Found A Clue In The Attic Of This Stunning Hotel

The most elegant hotel in France has a secret…

The Loire Valley is a fabulous place. Beautiful scenery, delicious food, and of course all those magnificent chateaux. But wouldn’t it be wonderful if you could actually stay in splendid surroundings like those in Chenonceau or Chambord?

Well, this year I found the perfect place — but there’s one thing you should know. It has something strange in the attic.

The Chateau Des Arpentis lies just outside the town of Amboise in the heart of the Loire Valley. Accessed via a long driveway that provides a delicious sense of exclusivity, it will take your breath away.

Set in its own grounds including a stream, lake, woodlands, and paddocks, the experience of staying there is very much like being in an Agatha Christie novel, but without the murder.

We’d driven down from Paris, which was an experience in itself. So many Dutch people at the highway services that I’m sure the Netherlands must have been empty. All the French people had brought elaborate picnics and laid out blankets on the ground between the bushes to make little shady areas to eat in the blisteringly hot parking lot.

We were glad to get out of Paris, for various reasons, but the traffic on the road to the Loire Valley was appalling — after all, it was a summer weekend in July. By the time we arrived at the hotel, we were hot and tired and would have been quite happy with a Motel 6, but the scene that met us at the end of the gravel drive refreshed us like 8 hours of sleep and a cool shower.

A true country house weekend is something that probably only the very luckiest (or connected) of us will have the opportunity to experience, but that is the very experience on offer at this beautiful hotel. We checked in and headed up to our room on the very top floor.

C’est manifique, n’est pas? The room was cool, with a pretty view across the grounds and the most comfortable bed. A selection of local guidebooks (not nasty pamphlets or magazines, but actual coffee table books) was set out for us, and water and snacks were laid on.

There are only 12 suites at the chateau, each of them uniquely furnished with taste and flair. Every aspect of this hotel is executed with an eye for style and great attention to detail.

After freshening up we headed down to the pool for a swim. The pool is accessed via a corridor that leads out through the cellars — I felt like a French aristocrat sneaking out after a secret assignation with the lady of the house! It was deliciously cool as I made my way out, and then as I stepped into the sunlight at the pool level it was fabulously warm.

The pool blends discretely into the environment — no bright blue and concrete here — and it’s surrounded by the most comfortable loungers, each with its own umbrella.

The vibe at the chateau is ‘live like it’s your place’ so the poolside bar is like your own outdoor kitchen. Help yourself to drinks from the bar (there’s an honesty box). There’s an oven if you want to make a pizza or something for lunch, and when we were there we saw a group of guests setting the table for dinner complete with linen and glassware.

Later, we relaxed with drinks in what can only be described as the drawing room. The guests gathered and chatted, comparing travel tales and plans. Exactly like you’d imagine the perfect country house to be, with grand piano, fireplaces, billiard table, conversation, books, and card games.

The corridor leading to the drawing room is a testament to the previous function of this chateau — a hunting lodge for its owners and their guests. Portraits of family dogs line the walls along with the hunting trophies.

There was even a little touch of home — a portrait of a Brittany Spaniel that looked exactly like our own Edster! After dinner, we enjoyed a few games of traditional French foosball and ping-pong in the picturesque games rooms outside.

The next day we ate a delicious breakfast, with the best butter, served on the terrace then headed out to explore Chenonceau and Amboise. We discussed how this would be the perfect venue to host a wedding, and dreamed of when we would return.

Hang on — what about the secret?

Well, as I lay on my front on top of the bed after dinner on our second night, I spotted something strange about the floor tiles. The terracotta tiles were obviously very, very old, perhaps centuries old.

And there, captured for eternity like fossils, were the footprints of what — a dog, cats?

These tiles must have been rejects, not good enough to grace the main floors of the chateau but good enough and cheap enough for what was probably once the servants’ quarters, with hordes of servants living in the attic where we were staying. An inspection of the rest of the floor revealed more reject tiles — badly fired, mismatched.

Can you imagine the history of this Chateau? Catherine di Medici visited as did Louis XIII. The place must have been buzzing with activity and the attics would have been where the servants gossiped about the visitors.

The thing I love about Europe is its history. Not just the big tourist-draw locations, but the quiet, hidden history. It makes me feel like I’ve discovered something very special. A link with the past and the people of the past. The Kings and the servants.

Sure, the Chateau des Arpentis is a glorious hotel and I was lucky to have a chance to visit. But the real joy is in discovery.

And that is the secret.

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