IF A SPA HOLIDAY IS ON YOUR AGENDA then the 19th-century town of Eugenie-les-Bains, near Bordeaux and the Atlantic coast, is one of France's finest.
La Ferme is a departure from the usual clinical facilities found in France - picture heated marble slabs perfumed with spices, chestnut wooden cabins with marble baths, hydro-massaging thermal showers and a Turkish hammam (bath). And Eugenie's waters are known for treating arthritis and painful joints and muscles.
I opted for its signature ritual that incorporated five 15-minute treatments centred on the revitalising waters. It includes a Vichy spray of mineral water as you lie on a heated marble slab, a steam in the hammam and a dip in a pool where jets pummel your thighs. Also indulge in a thick creamy mud bath made from fine clay known for its ability to draw toxins from the body, and soak in a marble bath by a fireplace where local herbs and flowers are wrapped in cloth for your exfoliation pleasure. In between the five sessions you relax by the fire in a cathedral-style salon to read and sip tea made from freshly cut herbs from the surrounding gardens. After a treatment, guests can lounge about in Louis XV chestnut daybeds in the le jardin room. The journey can take up to three hours.
La Ferme also offers curative programmes co-designed by its on-site hydrotherapy doctor and the farm's biologist-herbalist, which explains why many treatments combine homegrown plants with the thermal waters. Some of the ingredients used include lavender, rosebuds, chamomile, orange peel, lime blossom and sweet clover.
Cuisine-wise, the region is bursting with bountiful offerings. Most of the food is fresh, local and organic with herbs grown on site. Guerard is regarded for his distinctive nouvelle cuisine that is patented 'cuisine minceur active' or active healthy cuisine.