Staying at Cal-a-Vie is an escape from the world in every way. In this idyllic French village, there are no locks on the doors, it’s always sunny and everyone is their happiest and healthiest self. It’s like adult summer camp with daily laundry service, spa treatments and nutritious desserts. For the first time since Cal-a-Vie opened in 1986, this year due to guest demand they’re open year-round. Previously, the resort closed the last two weeks of December for the holidays.
A short meeting at the beginning of your stay helps craft your itinerary based upon personal goals and interests. Various nutritional and fitness tests are available for a more clinical health analysis, but many guests come to just enjoy, unwind and reset physically and mentally.
Owners Terri and John Haven love collecting French antiques, which you’ll see displayed through the public spaces and guest rooms. Their passion goes so far that they’ve actually reconstructed a few buildings from 17th and 18th century France. The chapel where meditation and some yoga classes are hosted (and where guests can get married) was originally built in 1615 in Dijon. Next door, L’Orangerie was part of the same convent, a greenhouse for orange trees and dining hall for the religious community. Now, it’s a reception hall where Chef Curtis Cooke teaches cooking demos alongside one of several nutritionists with beautifully prepared mise en place from the organic garden.
Rise early for a morning hike meandering across the 500-acre property before breakfast, or sleep in. There’s no judgement and everyone is free to do whatever they feel like. Including having dinner in a bathrobe. You’ll receive a suggested personalized itinerary for the day at breakfast, although you’re free to alter however you like. Mornings start with higher energy workouts like spinning, TRX, Zumba and weight training circuits. One of my instructors bears an uncanny resemblance to Derek Jeter. After lunch on the patio, it’s time for spa treatments, sunning by the pool and gentle yoga. All of the spa treatments are lovely, and every package includes multiple treatments a day; the Phyto hair and scalp treatment which includes a heavenly neck massage is not to be missed.
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There’s no need to ever look at a menu either – just decide how many calories you’d like to consume each day and if you have any allergies or dietary preferences. During my visit, the gardeners harvested nearly two dozen different fruits and vegetables from the organic garden on-site for our meals, including eggplant, tomatoes, green beans, kohlrabi, guava and tangerines. If you decide halfway through the week that you don’t want to be vegan anymore but instead would like to cut out carbs and only eat meat and vegetables, the kitchen is happy to acquiesce. Chef Cooke and his team view the various dietary restrictions and preferences (and there are plenty) as a welcome challenge to get more creative.
Drinks consist of a dozen organic loose leaf tea blends from Specialtea Teas since alcohol isn’t served with meals. If you do want some wine, the Havens grow their own Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc grapes on 12 hillside acres for estate wines, which you can order to your room. There are beehives on property too and the boutique sells honey, granola, dark chocolate from local chocolatier David Bacco and all sorts of pampering bath and beauty products – including grapeseed oil made from the wine grapes.
Perhaps the best part though, are the friendships made. Everyone visits for different reasons, but many people come to Cal-a-Vie solo and all the guests I meet are friendly and kind; there’s a high-powered Wall Street executive, a mother and daughter duo from Michigan and a trio of lovely local ladies who invite me to play Mahjong. From Nashville to Alaska, it’s a diverse group, but everyone gets along well and at breakfast on my final morning, I overhear some new friends already making plans to return again next year together.
