Aquitaine is not only home to Bordeaux, the wine capital of France. It is also considered the country's undisputed home of the spa, with many of France's spa resorts concentrated in the region. We are not just talking about run-of-the-mill hotel spas either (though it has them in abundance), but wellbeing retreats and thalassotherapy centres that take rest and recuperation to a new, mud-smothering, sea-water-soaking level.
Thalassotherapy – treatments designed to revitalise, even heal, the body using seawater and sea mud – has been popular in France since the 1960s (it was discovered by a Tour de France cyclist from Brittany, whose injuries were healed by seawater). In Aquitaine some of the finest thalassotherapy centres are dotted along the Basque coast, ideal for combining a beach holiday with a spot of pampering.
One of the most famous is at the Grand Hôtel Loreamar, which dominates the seafront of Saint-Jean-de-Luz, a fishing village renowned for its beautiful architecture. The hotel is a wonderful belle époque palace and its pièce de résistance is a thalasso spa that features a heated seawater swimming pool and vaulted treatment rooms with windows that open out over the ocean. Here you can have all manner of hydrotherapy treatments, mud baths, oriental wraps and massages.
Head 10 miles north along the coast and you come to Biarritz. Once the playground of the glitterati, from Frank Sinatra to Rita Hayworth, no other French seaside resort combines shabby chic glamour with unadulterated pampering quite like Biarritz. The luxurious Sofitel Biarritz Le Miramar Thalassa hotel, located on the beach with amazing sea views, is home to one of the most impressive thalassotherapy spas in town. Housed in four individually designed pavilions, there is everything from seawater treatments to reflexology and shiatsu – just what the doctor ordered after a day exploring Biarritz's boutiques.
Or head a few miles north to the Atlanthal thalassotherapy centre, situated on the beach in Anglet, to soak in its stunning 350 sq m heated seawater pool – with indoor and outdoor sections, and micro-bubble beds – and have a mud treatment (the house speciality).
For a spa in a grand setting, head to the Château des Vigiers, in Monestier in Dordogne. It is a 16th-century chateau, set amid its own vineyards on the Bordeaux "route des vins". The hotel's beauty centre offers a range of hammam and spa treatment; the Vigiers Dream, a heavenly 90-minute exfoliation, wrap and essential-oil massage, is a favourite.
Still feeling some aches and pains? You might need something stronger, perhaps some healing waters. Just an hour south of Bergerac is the spa town of Casteljaloux, home to the Baths Casteljaloux, built on ancient thermal springs renowned for their healing properties. Miracles are not guaranteed, but the hydro-massage baths, underwater massages and mud treatments will leave you glowing.
Besides, if by the end of your trip you aren't healed, you will just have to return for more …
Where to go
Grand Hôtel Loremar Thalasso Spa, Saint-Jean-de-Luz (+33 559 263536, luzgrandhotel.fr)
Sofitel Biarritz Le Mirimar Thalassa Hotel, Biarritz (+33 559 247720, sofitel.com)
Atlanthal, Anglet (+33 559 527575, biarritz-thalasso.com/atlanthal-anglet.com)
Château des Vigiers, Monestier (+33 553 615000, vigiers.com)
Baths Casteljaloux, Casteljaloux (+33 553 205900, bains-casteljaloux.com)
