La Mare Aux Oiseaux ★★★★

La Mare Aux Oiseaux is in the heart of the Brière marsh in Loire-Atlantique, the largest marshland in France after the Camargue. And here the island of Fédrun has seen the development of an amazing project. It is a result of the vision of Chef Eric Guerin, which has been conjured into reality with remarkable single-mindedness, and brings together the fruits of his travels around the world. This shows in the décor, where African artefacts rub shoulders with Japanese prints. It shows in the garden, too, where a Zen peace and simplicity coexists with country-cottage borders, branching bamboo and exquisite red maples. Most of all, it shows in the menu, where exotic oriental flavours are on offer alongside the classic cuisine of France and inventive new creations conjured up in the kitchen. People beat a path to the door just for the restaurant, understandably so, but we were here for a long birthday weekend which involved the full experience!

The house is relatively small, with six bedrooms in the main building and three hidden away in huts on stilts in the marshes. The eclectic approach has prevailed here too, with each one decorated differently and each with its own distinctive character. No trouble has been spared to make everything just so – in our bathroom was a massive flint bathtub brought from Indonesia and a washbasin made all of glass. In the bedroom, Perspex bedside tables allow the light to flow freely, and Japanese prints create a feeling of calm. The gardens are a delight too, with peacocks roaming wherever they will in a gentle park full of colourful birds. The wellness centre is an oasis of calm, in a purpose-built thatched hut in the marshes. They use organic and eco-friendly Nohème toiletries, and we had a truly relaxing massage treatment followed by a plunge in the pool where a giant oriental vase stands sentinel over the proceedings. We thought it really magical.

But the highlight was definitely the longest most relaxed lunch in living memory! It was a sunny day and not too hot, and we sat under a tree away from the rest of the diners on the terrace. We decided to be adventurous and go for the taster menu, a fun concept with six courses and four or five wines, but with no idea in advance what these were going to be. Along, in leisurely fashion but with perfect service, came fresh lobster with feta and strawberry with a dry Muscat, courgette with fig, olives and basil, black mullet with fennel, rabbit with home made pickles with a Cote de Durras … for the cheese, their own smoked Comte with a Syrah … and finally a fabulously pretty confection of chocolate, raspberry and mint pyramid with a chilled Maury Rouge. The sommelier was fun and knew her wines and her regions. She spoke good English with helped us to understand more than our serviceable but basic French would have allowed.

And so it turned out that the longest most relaxed lunch ever was also the most delicious and memorable. Only a couple more days in our lovely hotel in the marshes among the birds and the beauty of the Brière wetlands. It would take a good pinch to awaken ourselves from this dream of La Mare Aux Oiseaux!