Last week we were enjoying the good life in the Charante region in France for our Women Only Health & Fitness Holiday. This was a Body Retreat full of firsts… our first time in France, our first retreat which was full with all returners, our first time with tennis and our first time with Wine on the menu!!! How very French of us.

One of the things we look for in our retreat locations is that they are truly representative of the region they are based in and our Manior in Charante ticked all the boxes. Stylish, impressive but very welcoming as the ladies arrived I counted 18 Wows and at least half a dozen “oh my gods”. Even after some lengthy journeys the ladies still had plenty of enthusiasm and energy to explore their base for the week. The rooms, the pool, the tennis court and gardens all got the thumbs up.

We pride ourselves on providing a full and varied programme of activities on every retreat and our Women Only Health & Fitness Holiday was certainly no exception.. of course we started the day with Wake up Workout ( there is always Wakeup Workout at The Body Retreat☺ ) then we took to the French countryside on foot and/or two wheels with Abbeys, Chateaus, sunflowers, vineyards there was plenty to see en route.

After an alfresco lunch and a short siesta it was time for strength and toning classes in the afternoons. Cardio tennis was a bit hit, pardon the pun.  Not everyone managed to get the ball over the net and some managed to hit the ball out of the court but no one could fail to exercise their laughter muscles through the entire class.  We are now thinking that along side a pool & spa facilities we need a tennis court at every location too LOL  :-)

One of the key parts on every retreat is R&R and in particular enjoying massage treatments, this retreat we were joined by the lovely Cher a local holistic therapist who it turned out had magic hands and the ladies all padded out of the massage shed with happy contented smiles on their faces, the perfect way to end a full day.

Think of France and its cuisine and you probably don’t think it is conducive to a Health & Fitness Holiday… but of course Juls had spent time to give classic French dishes the Conscious Cooking treatment. So we were able to enjoy a variety of dishes from Toulouse Sausage & Duck Cassoulet Quiche Lorraine, Beef Bourguinon and even enjoyed cheese, ham and baguette. You might think that all this extravagance would be reflected in the health assessments at the end of the week.. but the average weight loss was 8lbs and 5 inches, a great result.

One of the best bits of the French location for us was that we could have Bella (retreat dog)  join us on retreat and she loved all the new smells and experiences, but most of all loved getting out on the walks.  Well perhaps the tennis court with all its little yellow spheres was up there too :-)

Oh and of course the wine…. Well in addition to having a little glass of vino with supper we also enjoyed a private tour and tasting at a local vineyard. Strangely enough I seemed to forget to take any pictures once the sampling started but here we are inside listening the lovely Mattieu whose family own the vineyard. As they also produce a sparkling grape juice there was something for very to taste. This was the perfect way to end the holiday.

Our next Women Only Health & Fitness Holiday in October sees us in our gorgeous Andalusian oasis in Spain. Warm days, cool nights, stunning scenery for miles and miles, there is no need to think of a Spanish holiday as a “fly n flop” when with us you can ‘tan n tone’ ☺

If you are ready for a real healthy holiday then get in touch.