Residential Retreats

“I feel like I came broken and have left feeling stronger and healthier…”   A., Residential Retreat Guest in 2019

Residential Retreats at either our

Haven by the Sea     or    Haven in the Vines.

We have two private, luxurious Havens. Either the Haven-in-the-Vines, deep in the beautiful countryside of SW France or the Haven-by-the-Sea on the fabulous Ile de Ré, just off the coast from La Rochelle, France.  Each has it’s own unique character. Choose which one appeals to you most! 

Haven by the Sea

Our new Haven, Haven-by-the-Sea is on the fabulous Ile de Ré, the exclusive “White Island” just off the coast of La Rochelle, France.  You will have your private cottage to yourself, where you can relax on your sunny terrace, walk or cycle to amazing beaches, the lovely harbour and the surrounding countryside.

Located in La Flotte, the beautiful small market town that is famous for its low white walls and houses, its ancient market, its pretty harbour and its hollyhocks.

The lowline maisonette in the local character has its own access and terrace.

The pretty sitting room has large glass doors leading to the terrace with a woodburner, table and chairs and sun loungers. It has a dining and kitchenette area, a TV with netflix and DVD player if required and a selection of books.

The bedroom also has a door to the terrace and an extremely and very pretty iron bed.

In the bathroom is a stunning wooden Japanese soaking bath, the best place to relax and unwind allowing the stresses and toxins to soak away in the essential oil baths salts provided for you.

The local beach is only 600 metres from the house and the village and harbour 800 metres. Bikes are provided to enjoy the many cycle paths of the island leading to other beaches and new places to discover.

For years this was our place of refuge, to blow away the cobwebs, take time out to think, relax or recouperate. We are thrilled to be able to now offer it to our clients too.

Haven in the Vines

The guest accommodation for our residential retreats at Haven in the Vines is deep in the countryside near Angouleme, is a beautiful stone cottage overlooking the pool and gardens. It is, as you will have guessed, surrounded by vineyards growing grapes for the local wines and the special grapes used to make Cognac.

It is spacious, private and perfectly placed to watch the sunset in the evening from the garden, have breakfast in the morning sun and has a wood-burning fire for cosiness in the chillier seasons.

Sometimes we need to feel the wind in our hair and the earth beneath our feet – sometimes we want to snuggle down into a big blanket and be wrapped up like a child. Here, you can have both.

Haven in the Vines is located near the Chateau de Mouillac which was originally built over a thousand years ago, it was a Chateau with a tower. At some point, it burnt down and over 200 years ago a “maison de maître” was built in its place. This was our family home until we renovated and then moved into a tithed cottage across the courtyard and used it for the residential retreats when we had 4-6 people staying at a time.

Over the years we decided to work with just one or two people at a time for our residential retreats so that we can give our undivided attention for as many hours as needed each day. The big house was way too big for just one or two people, so we renovated the lovely pigsty, transforming it into the luxurious Haven in the Vines which sits in front of the pool with the gardens sweeping down in front of it.

The cottage consists of a large, comfortable living room; a lovely bedroom, a bathroom with bath and walk-in shower and a sauna area.

Vines, woods and horses surround us with many different walks right from the doorstep. We have untreated fruit trees – cherries, apples, pears, nuts, plums, apricots, a vegetable garden and fruit vines. The woods are a forager’s paradise full of mushrooms, nuts, fruit and leaves. We often see the local deer as we walk, they live amongst the vines surrounding the house and in the nearby woods.

The outdoor heated pool (28°-32°) is open in the summer months, usually April – October depending on the weather. At 12 metres long it is good for a proper swim and a lovely place to lie on the terrace bathed in sunshine. It has a retractable cover so that on the rare occasion the weather is awful you can still enjoy it.

Release toxins and aid relaxation in the infrared sauna. Heat, tranquillity, rest… perfect. Relax in the, very effective, massage chair.

Enjoy breakfast on the terrace, lunch by the pool, dinner at your dining table – or take some or all your meals in the cottage if you prefer, you choose!

For residential retreats, we provide support when you need it and we also appreciate your need for quiet time, privacy and space.

Gourmet Delights for Guests of our Residential Retreats

For guests of our residential retreats, we offer a delicious, high raw, gourmet plant food diet. It is very healing, nourishing and cleansing whilst also satisfying the desire and need to ENJOY your food. It has been very highly reviewed by guests of past retreats.

That doesn’t mean going through an awful detoxification process (though we can offer more intense cleansing when required), but you will still be cleaning out toxins and reinforcing your immune system from day one.

We adapt our menus depending on the seasons, how long someone is here and what their requirements are.

A raw food diet is based on raw, fresh, ripe fruit and vegetables, nuts and seeds. The meals we achieve with those, using first-class equipment (high-speed blenders, dehydrators, sous-vide water baths, sprouters and masticating juicers) are amazing. Every mouthful nourishes the mind and body, soothing and energising.

We provide juices, smoothies, meals and snacks throughout the day to really pack those nutrients in. Juices allow speedy absorption with minimal digestion. Green smoothies satisfy both on a nutritional level and alleviate hunger pangs (as well as increasing our stomach acids – all will be explained to you if you are interested). Snacks and delicious raw gourmet meals are prepared with mostly organic produce, often fresh from our garden, to nourish you on every level including pure indulgence!

There will be cake and chocolate, snacks and savoury morsels.

You may experience a few little cleansing niggles on days 2 or 3 which we can help you through and you will feel oh, so good as a result.

During your residential retreat we provide, if required, nutritional and well-being consultations/discussions with Desri addressing any problems you have. All sorts of food or lifestyle-related topics could be covered from feeding a family or what to take to work for lunch to avoid afternoon brain fog.

If you want to (I say this as some people just don’t and that’s OK) we can include teaching about juicing, sprouting and creating delicious foods. You can learn how to substitute healthful ingredients and recipes to create better versions of your favourite foods enabling you to continue on your new path. We can cover how to achieve that ever-elusive 5-10 fruit and veg a day, meal planning and how to sneak nutrients into picky eaters.

We all need delicious and nutritious!

NB: This is a simple example of a day: your stay with us will be tailored to your requirements.

We can also offer a deeper detox of mainly fresh juices and/or lighter meals if required.

Options for our residential retreats

We have several options for the Residential Retreats. To ensure the most effective benefits, we limit the number of clients staying at the Haven to one or two people who come together at any one time. 

NB: From August 2021, we also have retreats at our Haven by the sea on the Isle de Ré. Get in touch to book in!

Intensive Emotional Residential Retreat: 3+ nights

Example 3 nights

Price: £1,350  (aprox 10 hrs 1-to-1 overall).

Includes all therapy, coaching, energy work (optional), accomodation, meals, juices and snacks.

Example 7 nights

Price: £3,550 pp (aprox 30 hrs 1-to-1 overall).

Includes all therapy, coaching, energy work (optional), accomodation, meals, juices and snacks.

Gourmet Raw Food Retreat

Gourmet Raw Food Retreat: Cleansing retreats for a health boost, weight loss and regaining your glow. Includes accomdation, all meals, snacks, juices and drinks (teas, pure filtered water, tisanes), a nutritional consultation, NLP and motivational work or help to resolve the causes and move forward more healthily, guided walks and the use of all facilities.

Example 3 nights

Price: £980 pp.

Example 7 nights

Price: £2,290 per person.

We can offer a lighter regime, resulting in a deeper cleanse/detox and over a longer period of time if required. Please contact us to discuss.

NB It is possible for a couple to come together at Haven in the Vines without following the same program. For example, one person can have an Intensive Emotional stay, whilst the other has the Gourmet Raw Food Retreat. We also offer couples therapy.