After presenting a little bit of Saint Emilion in general, one of its magnificent churches and Saint Emilion’s sweet treats on previous posts, time has come to unveil the little “secret” about where we stayed during our visit: but of course, we had no hesitation to email fellow food blogger, cook, photographer and aesthete Stephane Gabbart, who authors the sleek and elegant blog “My French Heaven” and operates a wonderful B&B in the vicinities of Saint Emilion!
Stephane’s family have been Bordeaux wine merchants for generations, but he decided to follow his own call and study cooking and Hotel Management in Lyon under uber-famous French Chef Paul Bocuse. After completing his studies, Stephane worked for 10 years for Ritz-Carlton at several of their locations in the US. Then in 2005 he headed back to France, where he started operating a B&B in his beautiful family property near Saint Emilion and later on he founded his wonderful blog, My French Heaven.
In case you are not following Stephane’s blog yet, do yourself a favor and check it out as it really is exceptional, in terms of both learning authentic, delicious French recipes and soothing your eye with Stephane’s outstanding food photography.
But back to Stephane’s B&B and our stay: the property is called Château Saint-Jacques Calon and is located in the town of Montagne, a short 5 minute drive from Saint Emilion (for driving directions or reservations, check out the B&B’s Website). Montagne is a beautiful small town in its own right, as I will show you on a future post. The B&B is nothing short of phenomenal, inside and out, as you can tell from my photographs that illustrate this post. The chateau is a large family house with a beautiful front yard and a neatly manicured inner yard with a large swimming pool, right by which the most delicious continental breakfast is served in the mornings of the warmer months of the year.
Stephane is the most gracious host and goes out of his way to personally ensure that your stay is as satisfactory and pleasant as possible. He even takes care of selecting the freshest ingredients for breakfast himself: that baguette… those fruit preserves… that fresh seasonal fruit… hmmmm… Everything was so wonderfully exquisite!
Beside that, Stephane is more than willing to help as necessary, including by recommending great restaurants and the best wine store in Saint Emilion (more on that on later posts) and getting to the point of escorting us on a mini-trip to visit the nearby Libourne food market! Of course, Stephane’s English is flawless and, I have to say, so are his map-drawing skills: he charted out our route to a local restaurant in a nearby village with Google-Earth precision! 😉
To top it all of, Stephane is a real pleasure to spend time with, very personable and incredibly kind to all his guests. A true French gentleman. Plus, he offers fellow bloggers a discount off the regular B&B rates and, for those who may be interested, guests may also sign up for French cooking classes with him.
Thank you, Stephane, for making our stay in Saint Emilion so pleasant and productive! 🙂
Flora's Table 
Another blogging friend mentioned Stephane and his blog to me only a couple of days ago. Great to see these photos and know more. It’s very tempting to go!
Thank you for stopping by: Saint Emilion is truly a gem of a place and Stephane is a very gracious host, I think you would be happy if you went. 🙂
Wow! I’m uncharacteristically speechless! So much pretty!
Thank you, Azita: it really is a nice place!
Gosh, I’d pack my bag and go tomorrow! What a lovely, inviting place, Francesca! It looks like a perfect place to unwind and charge the batteries. Stefano has captured the great charm and atmosphere of the place in his lovely photo-documentation.
Klausbernd and myself are no good at cooking, by we enjoy it and world very much like to improve our skills in a place this. Great news that Stephane speaks flawless English! I’ll pay him a virtual visit and say hi from you.
Big hug!
Dina
Thank you, dear Dina: Saint Emilion is a beauty, and also a treasure-trove of photo opps, beside great food and wine. Plus, Stephane is a helpful and gracious host. I have a hunch you and Klausbernd would like it there! 🙂
A big hug,
Stefano
Thanks, Stefano. I’m sure we’d love it! It sounds and looks very good. 🙂
Big hug
Dina
I follow ‘My French Heaven’ and have put his beautiful house on my list to hopefully one day visit. Your lovely post as a guest has really high lighted what I hoped it would be like. Heaven.
Thank you, Maria: I hope you will get an opportunity to go visit Saint Emilion one day. It is a very beautiful destination indeed.
It looks really like heaven, doesn`t it?!
Dear Klausbernd, it really is a very nice place: I think that you and Dina would like it a lot and have a wonderful time there. Plenty of things to do, life to enjoy and also time to think and relax. 🙂
Stefano, I felt like you are walking us through the premises while you are narrating for us. What a wonderful visit and memories you had with Stephane.
Dear Fae, thank you very much for your very kind comment: I am glad you enjoyed the “virtual tour”! 🙂
Well you’ve got me wanting to pack my bags and spend a weekend at the bed and breakfast! Sounds like a luxurious experience 🙂
I am sure you would have a wonderful time there, Heather! 🙂
This looks absolutely stunning, like a little paradise! If my summer months 2014 weren’t cramming up like crazy already, I would definitely investigate the blogger buddy discount rates further….boy, that looks nice.
Man, I am so behind with comments… Thank you, Oliver: it definitely is a nice place worth considering for when you decide time is right to head over to Merlot-land! 😉
Such a beautiful place to call home for a while and such a wonderful host. I cannot wait to hear more about your stay, Stefano.
Thank you very much, John! There are a few more installments to come in our Saint Emilion series… 🙂
Hello Stefano, Stephane’s beautiful home sounds and looks like a wonderful place to stay made more perfect by its proximity to Saint Emilion and the fact that it has a swimming pool. It was especially nice, given it’s now cold here, to browse through your summer-evoking pictures. with best wishes from B. 😉
Thank you very much, dear B: glad my images brought you a little “virtual warmth” when we are definitely transitioning to winter! 🙂
I’m so excited… my daughter and I are going there in April! I cannot wait to meet Stephane in person! Beautiful photos.
Oh, that really is exciting, Chef Mimi! I am sure that you and your daughter will have a wonderful time there! Thank you for your kind comment. 🙂
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