HEALTH + WELLNESS
Natural pleasures at Les Prés d ' Eugénie
Until 1972, the tiny town of Eugénie-les-Bains, which sits, quietly confident in the Landes department of south-western France, was known for its sulphur-rich spa waters. A straight road of simple shops and restaurants punctuated by a church at one end, the bells of which chime tunefully every 30 minutes, it was the last empress of France( notably also Napoleon III’ s wife), Eugénie de Montijo, who gave both her patronage to the healing baths here in 1861 and her name to the postcard-pretty town. BY POLLY HUMPHRIS
But that was all before world-renowned chef, Michel Guérard arrived in town and developed the impressive Les Prés d ' Eugenie estate. A haven for everyone from recuperating Hollywood A-listers to health-conscious long-stay locals, the manor is a collection of three restaurants, a chic, 19th-century colonial-style hotel, and a rustic, 18th-century thermal spring spa. Flanked by Chinese windmill palms, the simple walk up to the hotel’ s central L ' Impératrice wing makes it clear that you’ ve arrived somewhere special; embalmed in the heady scent of roses, verbena and jasmine, it is nature’ s equivalent of a red carpet.
Following suit, the interior is appropriately grand and very luxurious, but without ostentation, and the rooms are the sort of rooms that, once the door is closed and you can stop pretending to be cool about the whole thing, make you start laughing to yourself in a fit of restless giddiness. Really spacious, with a walk-in wardrobe; a huge bathroom with marble bath, gold twin sinks and lots of L’ Occitane goodies; and a bed plumped up with a thick mattress and countless pillows, my suite was resplendent. Stylishly decorated by Michel’ s wife, Christine, it takes a skilled eye indeed to make something look so‘ French’ without force, but she has done it with aplomb; the indulgent touches of gold blending seamlessly with lots of white wood for a restful and elegant finish.
Hard to believe, it isn’ t just the beautiful lodgings that guests in their thousands flock annually to Les Prés d’ Eugénie for. Instead, they come here for the Minceur Essentielle programme, a top-to-toe wellness package devised by Michel Guérard and leading nutritionist, Dr Patrick Sérog, that cleanses mind, body and soul and is the result of years of extensive research combined with a shared belief that staying healthy and slim doesn’ t mean abstinence from a pleasurable plate.
Usually adhered to for nine or 12 days, the three-phase Minceur Essentielle programme is absolutely bespoke to each individual and combines medical and dietary consultations with a calorie-controlled diet, hot spring treatments, and personal training sessions. Don’ t expect to be slogging it out in a sweaty gym though – in keeping with the entire Les Prés d’ Eugénie experience, the individually tailored exercise programmes are as sophisticated and effective as the countryside surroundings here and are often undertaken outside.
Likewise, the weight-loss agenda couldn’ t be further from faddy, or flavourless food if it tried. Michel Guérard’ s stamp of epicurean excellence is evinced in the three Michelin stars that his cuisine here has held for almost 40 years, and the menu sings with delicious-sounding dishes that even the most reluctant‘ dieter’ would jump at. We dined on zucchinis with fresh goat cheese from Adour to start; skewer of monkfish, chicken and prawns for main; and for afters, a tiramisu of raspberries picked from one of the estate’ s many wonderful garden kitchens. All for 590 calories collectively. The fact that Guérard has found a way to include puddings across a series of menus that promise weight loss is a revelation, and each and every dish tasted as beautiful as it looked; no one felt neither hungry nor deprived.
Of course, you can go the whole hog and throw calories to the wind with wild, buttery abandon too. And on day two of our gastronomic adventure we did just that. First, lunch at the phenomenal La Ferme aux Grives, a pastoral, stone-walled auberge but minutes from the main house in which a huge suckling pig roasting slowly on a spit takes centre stage. The meat was meltingly tender, packed full of flavour and served with a rich, creamy mash that would’ ve made any calorie-conscious weightwatcher run for the hills, but that made me dive in, perhaps a little too greedily.
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