“If you drink, don’t drive. Don’t even putt.” Kind of ironic for a winery hotel to have a Dean Martin quote about drinking on its web page — especially considering that they’re 8 miles from nowhere.
That’s not to say one should hold that against them, just that the frogs ought to reconsider their policy about drunk driving. Just designate 2230-2400 the drunk drivers’ hour, let only people with a minimum .1 blood-alcohol level hit the roads, voilà . Especially around places like St. Emilion, one of the most beautiful places I’ve seen in France, like Tuscany with a bad attitude. Oh by the way, it’s full of wineries. And great restaurants that aren’t necessarily close to your hotel. Click on that link, by the way.
Franc Mayne overlooks its own vineyard just outside St. Emilion; it’s not really a chateau (although every bricked-in goat stable in this area calls itself that) but a nice old villa with a few tastefully decorated rooms and generous, classically furnished common areas (including a shared breakfast table where some dipshit had the nerve to steal my croissant. I hope he gets done for drunk driving.) Make sure you go on the tour of their wine cave, the underground storage is pretty cool.
It’s a really, really nice place. Check it out.
Le Relais de Franc Mayne
14 La Gomerie
33330 St. Emilion
+33 (0) 5 57 24 62 61
