Walking through the sixty-acre gardens at the Prieuré de Notre-Dame D'Orsan, in the southeastern part of France's Loire Valley, is like wandering along a meditation path. Hedges are shaped into archways; long, slender twigs are bent into benches and baskets; plants, bushes and fruit trees are pruned with painstaking care.
The structural aesthetic and the air of spirituality are no accident. Dating to 1107, the estate was originally a monastery. It was used as a farm for almost 200 years before it fell into disrepair. Fifteen years ago two Parisian architects, Patrice Taravella and Sonia Lesot, stumbled onto the derelict property and vowed to restore it; they reopened the cloister as a restaurant in 1996 and added six guest rooms in 2001. Although the pair had no experience as gardeners, they reimagined the monks' original plan by drawing loose inspiration from medieval illuminated manuscripts and paintings.
Now guests can promenade through the seemingly endless magical enclosures and then take an aperitif by the inn's sitting-room fire. In the evening everyone gathers in the dining room to enjoy organic dishes—including a starter of vegetables from the garden—before retiring to the guest rooms upstairs, which are so spare they are almost ascetic. Day-trippers are also welcome to walk, smell, think and taste just as the monks of the moyen âge did—and then return, perhaps with a bit more serenity, to the present day. Rooms from $242. 011-33-2-48-56-27-50; www.prieuredorsan.com.
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