Spa a thought

Think of a massage, then double the benefits. Swim in the pool followed by a deep-tissue rub-down, in a brand new state-of-the-art spa with panoramic ocean view as you cruise from the UK to Spain.  Not only do you benefit from a first-class treatment, you’ll also experience (launch date: Spring, 2017) a £225 million new ferry that will be the most environmentally-friendly and cleanest to operate in UK waters.  It will also be the first from the UK to use liquefied natural gas, emitting 25 per cent less carbon dioxide during combustion than marine fuel oil and burns with no smoke. With 2,474 passengers, 189 crew members, the new ferry will have 675 cabins, some with balcony, plus spa, pool, cinemas, reading lounge, restaurants, and observation area.  Brittany Ferries has come a long way since disgruntled Breton farmers formed a conglomerate to combat prohibitive tariffs, to despatch, in 1973, a first cargo of artichokes and cauliflowers from Roscoff to Plymouth.  Today, Brittany Ferries is the market leader in the Western Channel and supplies attractive ferry-inclusive motoring holidays to France and Spain.

You are made to feel that you own the spa at the hugely popular Le Clos du Colombier in Burgundy’s delightful Cote d’Or village of Pommard, where you can guarantee privacy in the sauna, Jacuzzi, followed by a dip in the outdoor swimming pool. Thanks to the owners’ vision, you can rent the sauna and pool for your own private session. Le Clos, a former wine-grower’s mansion, is the brainchild of Philippe and Veronique Barthelmebs: “We’ve both travelled widely, and always dreamt of owning our hotel. A ‘private’ spa was priority and the house seemed to be just waiting for us,” says Melbourne-born Veronique.  “The TV and telephone are downstairs, not upstairs in the rooms. Peace and relaxation are the aims,” she adds.   We dined at the highly-regarded La Table d’Olivier Leflaive located in a 17th-century building in picturesque Puligny-Montrachet. Classical guitarist Leflaive, whose family have been wine-makers for 18 generations, including a fabulous Puligny-Montrachet, gave us no less than 14 wines to taste-test as we consumed our gazpacho, chicken, cheese and chocolate mousse – a memorable bacchanalia! The next day, we enjoyed a picnic lunch at the invitation of the Scots-born 14th Duchess of Magenta in the vineyards of Abbey de Morgeot.  Planted by Cistercian Burgundy monks in the 12th-century, the 22-acre vineyard produces superlative wines, such as the world-beater Chassagny-Montrachet. The Duchess, who owns the beautiful Chateau de Sully, says that the vineyard practices a sustainable viticulture where grapes are hand-picked and organic enrichments are used. Chemical fertilisers, though, are outlawed.

We were honoured when Wellbeing was invited by Bernard Emie, the French Ambassador to the Court of St James’, to his official residence in London’s Kensington Palace Gardens, ‘Billionaire’s Row’, to meet Philippe Augier, Deauville’s Mayor, widely-known as ‘le JFK des politiques francais’. The dynamic, hands-on Mayor and his team, extolled his city’s virtues (featured Wellbeing, July-August, 2010) issuing a personal invitation to visit. Deauville, founded in 1860 by a consortium led by the Duc de Morny, Napoleon 111’s illegitimate half-brother, displayed his preference when he built the racetrack before the church; again this year, the resort hosts the prestigious World Equestrian Games, held every two years prior to the Olympics, from August 23-September 7, 2014.   The Mayor emphasises that the chic resort also provides hotels, meals, and sports activities year-round at budget prices.  Luxuriate in the thalasso-spa as horses train on the adjacent beach, a slice of joie de vivre!

That triggered memories of another honour I experienced similarly in London yet in stark contrast to Augier’s friendly reception, was Nelson Mandela’s CBI Press Conference 21 years ago at Centrepoint, in which the Nobel Laureate appealed for investment to continue in the new apartheid-free South Africa. Mandela, who spent 18 of his 27 years imprisonment in Robben Island, would be South Africa’s President in six months, and was treated by two BBC reporters with open hostility and scepticism, doubting his ‘Rainbow Nation’ cabinet could succeed – one lady, who is a household name today, led the attack.  If the intention was to provoke the African leader in saying something rash, it did not work, and seemed a far cry from the objective and helpful reporting embodied in Wellbeing’s leitmotif, mens sana in corpore sano. My question received the longest answer yet not one word appeared in the next day’s Press. My timely intervention, received warmly by Mandela, saved it from being the shortest Press conference in history! If only the BBC, oblivious to the sense of occasion, had ‘spared a thought’..

Brittany Ferries Reservations –  0871 244 0744   www.brittanyferries.com

Le Clos du Colombier, 21630 Pommard – +33 (0)3 80 22 00 27  www.closducolombier.com

Olivier Leflaive, 21190 Puligny-Montrachet –  +33 (0)3 80 21 37 65  contact @olivier-leflaive.com

Abbey de Morgeot, 21190 Chassagne-Montrachet+33 (0)3 85820986 abbeydemorgeot @gmail.com

Thalasso & Spa Deauville, 3 rue Sem, 14800 Deauville+33(0)231877200 www.thalasso-deauville.fr

Deauville Airport, 14130 St-Gatien-des-Bois+33(0)2 31656565 information @aeroportdeauville.com