Within three hours drive from Paris lies the Chateau de L'Isle-Marie, set in the heart of rural Normandy. A majestic, tree-lined avenue leads to a romantic castle. Surrounded by a one hundred acre estate with rivers, meadows and woodland, L'Isle-Marie stands on the elevated site of an ancient, Viking fortress and, in the winter time, forms a true island in the flood plain of the marais. The estate forms part of a protected National Park.

The D'Aigneaux and their descendants have lived on the estate for over a thousand years. Guests are entertained in the celebrated elegance of L'Isle-Marie's spacious drawing room, before a roaring fire, beneath ancestral portraits.

The estate today comprises three main residences: the Chateau de L'Isle-Marie, the Manoir de Bellefonds and the original Chateau aux Epaules. All these buildings and their interiors have been featured in numerous, prestigious periodicals: Residence, Colonial Homes, Nouveau, More than Classic, Living, Textile Decor, Cote Ouest, Country Homes and Interiors Victoria and Travel & Leisure.

In spring and summer, the lush meadows and woodlands of the estate burst into blossom, and in autumn the countryside is ablaze with colour. In the winter the flooded fields around the castle wreath it in a magical mist that makes it appear to float on a shimmering sea that mirrors the sky. One does not need to stay long in this region to understand why it provided inspiration for the French Impressionists.

The special quality of L'Isle-Marie which guests most frequently remark upon its most intangible: the air itself seems to impart a feeling of relaxation and tranquillity that they find unique.