A few days ago, I along with several wonder women, found myself trundling along in a sparkling air conditioned coach through the beautiful Loire Valley, watching *those* last two episodes of Sex and The City, eating French sandwiches, drinking French water and admiring the French scenery en route to our home for the next few days – Chateau de Jalesnes… which was even more stunning than we could have ever imagined…
Chambord cocktails on arrival…
The keys to our beautiful rooms…
On the first night we had drinks on the terrace before dinner… the cocktails were Chambord creations and the view was…well…
THE VIEW (Yes, that’s our pool)
Stylist have partnered up with Chambord to create a very special issue of their magazine, dedicated to all things ooh la la, and in order to do it authentically they decided to go to France. Bon idée.
They packed up their office and moved the entire editorial team to a beautiful Chateau, which they transformed into ‘Chateau de Stylist’… From here, they were going to create a special issue of their magazine and I, along with some other bloggers and lucky competition winners on the magical mystery coach, had been invited to go along to get involved with every aspect of it.
This included features meetings, Life Lessons, cocktail masterclasses, watching the fashion shoots unfold and generally experiencing 48 hours of French indulgence with them and Chambord. What a chore.
The catering was exceptional – by Ginger Jar
Life Lessons with Freddie Harrel
Lisa Smosarski – Editor at Stylist, London
Audrey Diwan, editor of Stylist, France
This is all because Stylist have a long standing wish to be a little more French, and I would say that box has been well and truly ticked. A highlight for me was the magical woodland picnic we stumbled upon one lunch time… it was as if Alice herself had been at work with the Mad Hatter… so beautiful, so Stylist, so French…
Emma Block was with us, illustrating each magical moment every step of the way…
Food by the very clever Ginger Jar
Our glorious French adventure was topped off with a Chambord cocktail masterclass, a candlelit cinema in the chapel and drinks by the pool as the sun went down…
Forever Yours Betty & Kavita Cola learning the ropes…
Pippa Bugg was a total pro…
Swanning about…
A huge thank you to Stylist and Chambord, for the amazing hospitality – we all had such a wonderful time and I am pretty sure I can speak for everyone when I say we wish we could all go back!
I believe that this special issue of Stylist will be out this week, so keep your peepers peeled – I can’t wait to see it.
The cherry on top was the beautiful grand piano in the chateau – I got to tinkle the ivories while everyone sang at the tops of their voices with their newly found French confidence…
Picture: Poppy Dinsey
C’est magnifique.
I was a guest of Chateau de Stylist, but as always, thoughts and opinions are my own.
This post was shot on my LEICA D-LUX – dinky but dynamic ;)
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Oh wow!
This looks amazing! Definitely going to keep my eye out for the latest copy of Stylist, I love their magazine and website! x
Well that all looks completely fabulous. Lucky you!
Remember we want to hear you playing!!! Please :)
Words cannot CONVEY how envious I am! What an amazing trip! I’m a huge fan of Stylist and can confirm that, from a reader’s perspective, they’re now more french than a baguette in a beret.