After graduating from the kitchens of the Tour d’Argent in Paris, Eric Guérin returned to his native Brière, a coveted marshland just to the north of St Nazaire. After a few years, he was able to open a small hotel set amongst the peaceful thatched cottages of the Ile de Fréthun.
Here he works in harmony with the region’s natural resources, indulging his passion for wild life while combining flavours with originality in his cooking. There is nothing incongruous, he might say, in encouraging mandarin ducks and other fowl to wander freely through the garden and later finding Mendiant de Canard, tout à la Betterave on the menu for dinner. It is a complex, subtle and innovative philosophy that earned him a Michelin star at the ripe old age of 29. Some may find the highly original combination of flavours a bit weird - amateur, even - but the Michelin inspectors clearly loved it.
The same care and attention has been applied to the accommodations. Despite the creation of five new suites, our favourite rooms are the three most recently built on stilts by the water at the end of the garden. The cosy, fire-lit lounge is for reading as well as relaxing and a hotch-potch of local artwork and sculptures add to the ambience.
The success of the Mare aux Oiseaux risks becoming its undoing. Over confidence in attitude combined with under delivery on value is a recipe for disaster in an essentially rustic setting. Ideally, you should arrive here polling a punt and then judge for yourself!