One warm autumnal evening, in the Languedoc region of France, the owners’ of Belle Vallée were out walking amongst the neighbouring vines adjacent their property when they came across an old man carrying a basket of wild mushrooms. After questioning the old man on his findings, they learnt that he had been foraging the forest that thrives within their 15 acres of property. “Les bois sont pour tout le mond”, he declared. The woods are for everyone. As are the vineyards, the valleys and the villages in this authentically antiquated area of the south. Old charm prevails beyond the stone walls of the 16th Century farmhouse, along the shady lanes lined by tall cypress trees, into the village of Plaissan, and out of the affable eyes of the locals. A trait that seduced the South African-Californian owners into undertaking the mammoth task of tenderly restoring the decrepit Mas de Fages into the perfect hideaway it is today.
