My husband and I have just returned from a wonderful week in the Bordeaux region of France. We stayed at a La Closerie de Fronsac, a bed & breakfast chateau in the small village of Saint Michel de Fronsac (near St. Emillion).

The chateau has 5 rooms, each individually decoarted, but all in traditional French country style. The rooms are large and comfortable. Our room (the Belle Epoque) overlooked the chateau's vineyards.

La Closerie de Fronsac is surrounded by vineyards and small villages. It is close to most of the major attractions of the Bordeaux region and is only a short drive (10mins) to the historic town of St. Emillion and about an hour drive from the Medoc wine region, the beach and the city of Bordeaux.

We were looking for a place that offered us a taste and feel of French country and the Bordeaux wine region - and I cannot imagine a better place to stay!

But what truly made La Closerie de Fronsac outstanding, was the hospitality of the owners. Marie-Christine and Alain made us feel most welcome. We went to Bordeaux to learn more about the wines of this region and Marie-Christine and Alain were only too pleased to arrange for us unique experiences to learn about their wines, including the harvest. This was no ordinary wine tour, but a hands-on experience - even allowing us to assist with the grape harvest (hard work but an experience we will never forget!). After helping with the harvest, Marie-Christine and Alain invited us to lunch with their friends (a 4 hour extragavanza of the best French cooking we had of our whole trip!)

We cannot give enough praise to this chateau and the hospitality of the owners - if you are looking for a relaxing vacation in the Bordeaux region with an experience of a true French country chateau - this is definitely a place to consider.