Places We Love: Les Fermes de Marie – Megève, France

Megève, France

 It’s WINTER, which means ski season in many parts of the world (like France), and apparently it’s been a great year for SNOW! So for all you snow bunnies out there, here’s a tip we thought we would pass on about one of our favorite hotels in France’s très chic ski resort, Megève: Les Fermes de Marie.

Les Fermes de Marie

 Les Fermes de Maries is a cozy Savoyard chalet-style hotel and spa, nestled in the heart of France’s most exclusive ski resort in the French Alps. This virtual “village” is made up of 9 individual but interconnected chalets, century old alpine farmlands, 2 restaurants and an award-winning spa.

A chalet at les Fermes de Marie

Jocelyne and Jean-Louis Sibuet had a vision when they started refurbishing a traditional farmhouse over 20 years ago to create this enchanting, intimate, beautifully decorated and comfortable refuge for skiers and summer vacationers alike.

Guest bedroom at Les Fermes de Marie

It’s been years since our last visit, but friends and family have assured us that Les Fermes de Marie has lost nothing of its original style – if anything, its gotten better (the spa was not finished when we were there). Guests feel instantly at home, with an elegant bar, a library, cozy fireplace lounges and several inviting little nooks perfect for curling up with a book, gardens and two gastronomic restaurants. 

Fireplace Lounge at Les Fermes de Marie

The 71 luxuriously appointed and spacious rooms are decorated with charm, natural woods, old wooden beams, accented with antiques, carefully selected textiles… all tastefully done with a “French Touch”. You really do feel like you are at home, in a French chalet.

The world–famous spa, with a heated pool and 17 treatment rooms, offers custom treatments using the house line of skin care products - “Pure Altitude” - composed of local plants such as Edelweiss and Arnica.

Treatment Room at the Les Fermes de Marie Spa

And if that weren’t enough, they even have two "Chalets" that sleep 10, for family gatherings or other special occasions. Les Chalets des Fermes feature their own private spa as well.

Megève, France

Les Fermes is 5 minutes away from the center of lively Megève, which is full of bars and restaurants (3 of which are Michelin star rated) and of course, plenty of shopping for the swish clientele this town attracts. It is definitely a mountain vacation destination - winter or summer - offering a magnificent setting for sport, relaxation, fresh air and total indulgence in the art of fine living.

In the village of Megève

Bon voyage!

Les Fermes de Marie
Chemin de Riante Colline
74120 Megève
Tel: 33(0)4 50 93 03 10

Places We Love...

Les Demoiselles Dupuy
People always ask us where and what we eat while we’re traveling across France, so we thought we share one of our favorite restaurants which we never fail to hit (often more than once!) during our buying trips. We’ve been eating seafood and fresh fish at this place for a decade. Our mouths start salivating like Pavlov dogs as soon as we see the sign for SETE on the autoroute!

Owner Gilles Dupuy is a talented architect and artist (his paintings hang throughout the restaurant) and he and his crew (including renowned oyster shucker César shown above at right) are always there to greet us so it really feels like going home.

Leslie and chef Demoiselle de cuisine.

Vintage oyster plates hang overhead...

One word to describe the food: FRESH. Everything is fresh, fresh, fresh, often caught within just a few hours of serving and the ambiance is straight out of a Hemingway novel - very old salt, broken in and worn (in a good way), with a grotto-esque interior and nautical décor overlooking the port of Sete. You you can watch the fishing boats go by while you eat and listen to the seagulls calling for a table scrap. The terrasse outside is a “zone pietone” (no cars) so far from the noise and crowds of the more touristy areas.

 Jean-Noel is so happy to have arrived!

 Jean-Marc too... the Picpoul is nice and crisp!

The raw bar, especially the oysters and the sea urchins (Jean-Marc’s favorite), are sublime of course, but the Demoiselles do all kinds of fish and seafood a la plancha (the calamari is to die for) or prepared in all sorts of different ways.

Sea urchins...

Oysters gratinées...

Mussels gratinées...

Squid a la plancha...

One of the talented Demoiselles in the kitchen...

Les Demoiselles Dupuy offers a truly authentic Setois experience. We're heading to France next week for more buying, and more plates of fruits de mer - our tastebuds are rapt in anticipation!

Hail César!

Les Demoiselles Dupuy
4 quai Maximin Licciardi
34200 SÈTE - FRANCE
(33) 04 67 74 03 46