Postcard from Courances
Book the gatekeeper's apartment and stock up on honey, wine, and cheese
My Darling Camembert,
It seems I dropped this postcard in the grass while strolling with some sheep. Forgive me! I just found it and decided to send it your whey. After all, how often do you get to stroll around the grounds of a château with a wooly flock? Let me tell you about it.
Maybe you’ll get a yen to visit Courances during your next trip to Paris since it’s just outside the city. Or, maybe you’ll join me next year with Cheese Journeys? As a longtime cheese educator for this dairy-centric travel company, I had the pleasure of being captive in the Jardins de Courances for a full week as we launched our inaugural Paris/Courances tour.
Yes, that means locked inside a walled garden — surrounded by spring-fed pools, mossy walkways, flowering trees, an empty château, and a flock of sheep (a.k.a lawn mowers).
The estate is open during the day for visitors to stroll and dine at the tea house, but at night the gates are locked. And if you happen to rent one of the gîtes (cottages), then the garden feels like yours.
There is also a wonderful boutique on the grounds, full of local goods — from organic estate honey, to local teas, wines, cheeses, ceramics, and even coffee roasted by Paris chef Charles Compagnon of Café Compagnon, who has a secret roastery in his garage across the road from the château.
I first heard about Courances on an episode of Monty Don’s French Gardens — but I never imagined staying there. Or leading a cheese & tea tasting in the tea house.
Our week there was absolutely glorious, and in addition to enjoying the chorus of frogs at night, I thoroughly enjoyed hearing the shepherds call the sheep.
Exploring Courances
Courances is a tiny village in the French countryside, about 45 minutes outside Paris. The region is known for Brie. The village is also home to the Château de Courances, which is still a privately owned estate. You can rent select rooms in the château, or there are newly renovated cottages, which are beautiful and more economical. I loved staying in the Gatekeeper’s apartment (La Régie) with the Cheese Journeys staff. It has a lovely sitting room and red kitchen.
Travel Notes
A flock of sheep serves as part-time lawn mowers. Look for them and the resident Shepherdess, Audrey. She makes beautiful wool shawls.
You can buy raw milk at Courances! And a few local cheeses, plus jam, crackers, pickles, wine. You might as well have a picnic.
Patrick, the estate manager, knows everything, including the history of the spectacular tapestries in the chateau library. Worth a tour! Also, if you’re looking for a nearby cheese shop or a bottle of Chartreuse…
The beekeeper is named Fabrice – he looks like Sean Connery and he loves pairing chestnut honey with Roquefort. He gave us a taste. You can find jars of his seasonal harvest in the Boutique at Courances.
Be sure to eat your weight in Brie de Meaux and Brie de Melun – it’s made all around you! And do send me a postcard. I will be thinking about my time there for many moons.
Love,
Madame Fromage
Well, this is now going to have to be squeezed into my 2024 travel plans. "You might as well have a picnic!"
Ready to move in for a few weeks!