Château de Mercuès

The Château de Mercuès has existed in one form or another since about 650 AD, and was home for centuries to the Bishops of Cahors. In its present incarnation, it’s a luxury hotel, its fairy-tale turrets and towers converted into sumptuous and authentic guest rooms, its defenses used for peacefully surveying the countryside surrounding the Lot river, north of Toulouse.

Guest rooms are individually decorated but all are impossibly rich, some with stone walls and exposed timbers, others more refined, with fabric-covered walls and ornate antique wardrobes. The Tower room and the Bishop’s room are favorites, but it’s unlikely you’ll be disappointed by any.

Owner Georges Vigouroux’s main business is as a vintner, continuing in the tradition of the Cahors wines so admired by the likes of Julius Caesar and Peter the Great, and barrel upon barrel of his vintages age in the cellars of the castle. No less spectacular is the cuisine—expect no fusion of any sort, but rather simply some of the most traditional and emphatically French cooking available anywhere.

How to get there:
Chateau de Mercues is approximately a 1 1/4 hour drive from Toulouse-Blagnac Airport.