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The first thing she noticed was the light.
Lora had been living in a dark flat when she found the Manoir. The 19th-century country house stands in the hamlet of Lorette, on the border between the Gironde, Bordeaux wine country, and Lot-et-Garonne, known as the orchard of France. Lora used to perform on stage; Rob worked in the wine trade and sold cheese to Michelin-starred chefs. Together they turned the house into a five-room bed and breakfast.
In 2026, the hosts paused individual B&B bookings and rented the house exclusively. Like Glastonbury Festival, they say, they need a fallow year every few years to rest and regroup. Ask them about room bookings and whole-house stays for 2027.
“When I first found the Manoir one of the things I loved most was how the light flooded through the house.”
Lora
01
Five rooms, five characters
Each room is named after a character. The Gardener, the largest, takes its name from the garden view. Chinoiserie wallpaper hangs behind a bed with a huge bamboo headboard, the painting known as “Miss Wong” sits above the marble fireplace, and an old cane chair waits beside it for an afternoon with a book. The bathroom has a sink a metre long. In The Gypsy Queen, a Portuguese iron bed has been turned into a four-poster and framed with an antique Indian garland; its bathroom, with hand-painted Indian tiles, is just across the hall.
The hot-pink fringed lampshade in The Dancer was sewn by hand by Alice of Beauvamp in Derbyshire. Beneath it hangs a large picture of Josephine Baker, whose château, Les Milandes, is not far away. The Traveller sits under the oak beams of the west wing, with wallpaper made from 1960s Indian newspapers, a neon sign, a Victorian hospital bed and a leather club chair that has faded beautifully.
02
Almost a gift
The furniture and objects come from far and near: some from Vietnam, much of it from the brocantes around the village. A local dealer more or less gave Lora the chair by the window; she later saw a similar one on an antiques website for a great deal more. The terracotta vase was one of the first things she bought for the house, for pennies.
Next to it hangs a huge copy of a Rubens. Lora calls it theatrical and kitsch, and admits it is an acquired taste. The wall behind it was left as they found it: layers of old plaster with a marbled look. A happy accident, discovered a little before stripped-back walls became fashionable.
03
A heron at the pond
The house sits in about four acres of garden with mature trees. Alongside apple, pear and walnut there are pomegranate and sharon fruit. Fish and frogs live among pink water lilies in the big stone pond in front of the house. One year, as the season was closing, a heron came back every day for the koi carp, and the hosts went looking for a net.
Ten heritage-breed chickens roam freely and like to come and say hello. The wood-fired hot tub sits in a secluded corner looking towards the heated pool, which is ringed with lavender. Bats come out at dusk; by day there are hoopoes and red squirrels. On clear nights the sky fills with stars.
04
A room or the whole house
When the B&B is open, breakfast comes with the room. Guests who order pancakes with bacon and syrup make the hosts happy; some save them for their last morning. The batter is made the night before and cooked in a cast-iron pan, served with warm syrup, sweetened berries and a big pot of coffee.
Take the whole house and you do your own cooking: in the large kitchen, on the barbecue or in the Ooni pizza oven outside. Five double bedrooms, each with its own bathroom, sleep ten adults. In peak season the house is let by the week, Friday to Friday; shorter stays are possible on request at other times.
Images
All images.
A tip from the house
Chez Pascal
Cap Ferret, on the Atlantic coast, is a day trip from the house rather than a short outing, so plan a full day. The hosts recommend it, and once there, the Chez Pascal bakery. Its speciality is the dune blanche, a very light pastry filled with fluffy sweet cream. The hosts ate a pile of them with coffee for breakfast and say they have been hooked ever since. The original shop is in Grand Piquey, 46 Route du Cap Ferret, Lège-Cap-Ferret.
Researched from the hotel’s official information, editorially checked on 6 October 2026. We do not claim to have stayed here. Prices and availability directly from the hotel.
Charlotte Auboin has been selling organic and biodynamic wines from small growers in La Réole for twenty years. At lunch the kitchen cooks a daily menu from produce brought in from nearby that morning; every course is €7.50, and the desserts come from an in-house pastry cook.
For
Lunch on a trip to La Réole, then a few bottles to take home
Good to know
Lunch Tue–Sat 12–2 pm; wine bar with tapas Wed–Sat evenings; closed Sun and Mon. Book by phone.
The Blanchet family has run this former convent in Duras since 1980; today Jean-François and his son Vincent cook. Expect duck breast and foie gras terrine from the Ferme la Renardière with local prunes, by the fire in winter and on the garden terrace in summer.
For
A classic dinner after a day in the Côtes de Duras
Good to know
Closed Mondays; Saturday dinner only, Sunday lunch only. Open Sunday and Monday evenings from July to September.
Wine bar, wine shop and ice-cream counter on the square below the château in Duras, part of the village since 1991. Plates of Iberian ham and charcuterie come with the wine, along with quiches and house-made ice cream.
For
A glass of Côtes de Duras on the terrace after visiting the château
