France's Château de Labessière

Château de Labessière (55320 Ancemont, FRANCE; phone 33 3 29 85 70 21, fax 33 3 29 87 61 60 or visit www.labessiere.com or www.au-chateau.com) is a wonderful bed-and-breakfast near Verdun. The château is easy to reach by car or train.

The accommodations, in a restored château, are perfect. The price, €65 ($76) per person when we were there Aug. 24-30, ’05, included the room and both a Continental breakfast AND dinner. The dinners were some of the best we have had, with a full four courses, including a bottle of wine for each couple and after-dinner drinks. The food was imaginative, tasty, creative and plentiful.

There is a heated/covered pool which our 9-year-old looked forward to with much enthusiasm!

The owners, Rene and Marie-Jose Eichenauer, are great hosts and very helpful with travel information, maps, local markets, battlefield locations and other tourist sites.

We stayed six nights and left thinking we needed to go back for the many things we had not yet seen and, of course, for the food and hospitality at Château de Labessière.

Rene responds VERY promptly to e-mails and requests for information.

KARLENE McCOMB
Stillwater, MN