La Borde en Sologne Château & Spa Chateau / A Destination

Nestled in the heart of the property and bordered by a hornbeam arch, the La Borde vegetables garden boasts some fifty varieties of fruit and vegetables. Salads, beans, radishes, zucchinis, leeks, strawberries, herbs, pear, cherry and plum trees... the list goes on.

It's a gourmet inventory that inspires the restaurant's brigade, as the cooks spend every morning there to stock up, explore and get inspired.

A castle life for the animals! Chickens, pheasants, goats, sheep and ponies have taken up residence on the château's farm. Children are invited to get close to the animals, feed them and collect eggs from the henhouse. As for the goats, they come from a neighboring breeder who supplies the estate with cheese.

The La Borde project was born of a wonderful opportunity. Anabelle spends her weekends in the Loir-et-Cher region, where she grew up. There's not a road, an alley or a bridleway between Blois and Cheverny, Chambord and Romorantin that she doesn't know. Same story for her husband, Jean-Marie. "It's a breath of fresh air to arrive in Sologne every Friday evening," they confide.

The acquisition of Château de la Borde was therefore an "obvious" move for them, to ensure "family continuity since 1904", explains Anabelle, sensitive to everything that is passed on. There's also the desire to highlight Sologne as a destination, and the desire to work with local businesses and craftsmen.

When they're not in Sologne, Anabelle Ubald-Bocquet and Jean-Marie de Mourgues work in Paris, in real estate. They are developing a family-run group on a human scale, within which they hope to build a hotel park. La Borde en Sologne - Château & Spa has been launched, and three other projects are in the pipeline.

The couple's guiding principle is "not to let heritage go to waste" and "to offer the magic of a château anchored in an exceptional territory".