Do you really want to eat
beef from a cow which has been tippling stout and enjoying a daily massage in
a car wash? And stay in an apartment with so many mirrors it could have been
designed by Narcissus himself? Yes, please.
Well, there's yet another
good reason for booking into the Grand Hôtel du Lion d’Or at
Romorantin-Lanthenay: it's perfectly placed for visiting the Châteaux of the
Loire. Romorantin-Lanthenay itself is a dreary place, but short drives will
take you to fairy-tale castles like Chenonceaux and Valencay.
Chambord, too, is nearby.
And after trudging around the gloomy grandeur of this Big Daddy of the
Châteaux, you will need a bit of frivolity to restore your sparkle.
Step forward the bedrooms
of the Grand Hôtel. Mine (number 17 - £200 a night, bed and breakfast for two)
had all those mirrors: round ones, square ones, smoked ones, clear ones,
sliding ones, tilting ones, angled ones...combined with glass doors, panels of
trompe l'oeil marble, brightly coloured drapes and theatrical lighting. Down
in the courtyard a Renaissance fountain dribbled. Heaven!
Eating and drinking in this
restored post house (built by a friend of King Francis I) can be quite
heavenly as well. Didier Clément's cooking has attracted two Michelin stars
and the three small dining rooms are full of pretty conceits – a handbag stool
is placed by your chair; a gilt duck peers at you from your table. The same
care and attention to detail was evident in risotto of langoustines, hot foie
gras with liquorice and a pudding of rhubarb crumble. But what of that beef?
A farmer south of Limoges
has been plying his cows with beer and pushing them through the spinning
brushes in an attempt to create a French version of one of Japan's great
delicacies – kobe beef.
His efforts can be eaten in
only two restaurants: Lucas Carton in Paris and here. Sad to report, the
resulting entrecote was tasty but only intermittently tender. Still, it's a
fascinating experiment even if there is some way to go yet. (£70 for these
courses.)
With a wine list offering a
large selection of red and white Loire (from £14) and plenty of grand clarets
(like Ch. Margaux 1970 for £220), drinking can be found for most budgets. Then
it is back upstairs – to admire yourself in those mirrors.
