Best country house of 2019

Slow down there! You wouldn’t want to miss the entrance to this little corner of paradise tucked away in the lush Perche countryside… That’s where you’ll find D’une île, a breathtaking 17^th-century farm with B&B rooms and communal dining. Taken over in 2018 by Bertrand Grébaut and Théophile Pourriat (the emblematic owners of Septime and Clamato in Paris), this beautiful inn provides seasonal meals made using ingredients from the local markets and its own garden. At lunch the day we went, savored in the rustic dining room equipped with a massive fireplace, an elegant stag’s antlers and big wooden tables: vivifying pickled vegetables; fresh goat cheese from the Ferme des Cabrioles, rolled

in herbs; incredibly tender duck breast that was dried in house; bone-in roasted leg of lamb from Lacaune, with a delicious jus that’ll have you licking the plate clean; juicy, tender pork belly with a crispy glaze that crackles when you bite; before a very light creampuff with a sweet vernal grass cream. // M.B.

FEELING THIRSTY? There’s hard cider from Grégoire Ferré (€15 a bottle) and fine natural wines: Cyprès de Toi, an Aude white (€5 a glass), a Loire Cabernet-Franc from Mosse (€34 a bottle), Poil de Lièvre, a Saumur white from the Domaine Bobinet (€36), etc.

PRICE: À la carte €31-41.