Cozy in winter, idyllic in summer: nestled in lush greenery, the Domaine de Bassilour especially encourages a return to nature. The promise of an exotic stay told by Charlotte Vachet, owner of the place.
How did your story with Bidart come about?
I arrived in the village more than thirty years ago and I fell in love with this small village near the ocean. A village where everyone knows each other with endearing places such as the coastal path, the Sainte-Madeleine chapel or Bassilour mill and of course all the hinterland backing onto the mountain.
What makes Domaine de Bassilour so original?
I wanted to create an establishment resolutely turned towards sustainable tourism but I also wanted it to be a place of life, where customers feel at home. This farm from 1562, surrounded by a 16 hectare park, was the most relevant place to develop this project. It must be said that here, everything lends itself to the development of green tourism : we have nature, the conviviality of the village and a certain “slow” rhythm which encourages our customers to disconnect.
How do you manage to combine the ecological approach with the unusual?
Our idea is to get customers to have a different holiday. The unusual is also in the way of living this stay. Our ecological approach - consecrated by the eco-label certification is made of small as well as big gestures: preservation of the building, low consumption light bulbs, short circuits, garden in permaculture, recovery of rainwater, limitation of watering, reuse and recycling. We adapt to nature and the environment. It is the heart of our action. And then, like a symbol, we compose our breakfasts based on products from the garden. On the menu, in particular, melon, tomato and pumpkin jams produced by the estate. Our customers come to us to share this eco-citizen approach and this return to nature.
What clientele do you welcome?
We welcome families, groups of vacationers or business seminars and weddings. Everyone feels at home here. The Domaine is designed as a large living room opening onto the garden with tennis court, barbecue area and cooking classes taught by our chef. A villa with private swimming pool which has become co-living accommodation for nomadic workers and a mansion with rooms and apartments complete our offer. Clients are very sensitive to the history of our house which is a reflection of Basque heritage. The establishment operates all year round and at Christmas, the entire area displays Scandinavian-style decorations, in reference to my Swedish origins. Our ambition is to continue to make Domaine de Bassilour a house we always like to come back to.
And how can we keep the magic working?
We have an estate which naturally has exceptional charm. And we have a habit of always moving forward on new projects consistent with our convictions. This year, we launched with my team and our partner in permaculture on the creation of an “edible forest” and in the space of a few months we completely redesigned an area of the estate.
The idea of this project is to be able to plant thousands of plants of flowers, fruit trees, aromatic herbs, hundreds of trees, redirect the water in order to irrigate the area while preserving this precious resource.
We call on volunteers and our customers to participate in the creation of this area, live this moment with us, rediscover the happiness and satisfaction of working with our hands in the earth and building together.
Obviously, we are only at the beginning of the project, but when I see the size of the trees that border the estate, these same trees which were barely twigs when my husband planted them more than 20 years ago, I know that this project that we are imagining will quickly bear fruit...
