TO GET LOST

Instants d'Absolu

Chavagnac - France

Few places in France feel this far away. A twelve-room ecolodge on a silent lake in the volcanic highlands, where days stretch between forest paths, warm water and dinner after dusk.

Restaurant

Wellness

Wildlife

Starlight

Hike

Fishing

THE SETTING

Instants d’Absolu sits on the edge of Lac du Pêcher at 1150m, in the Cantal part of Auvergne. This is central France at its most spacious: volcanic plateaus, dark forests, peat bogs, summer pastures, old stone villages and long roads that seem to empty as they climb.

Auvergne is often reduced to volcanoes, but Cantal gives them a different scale. The landscape is wider, wilder and less visited than many people expect from France. The mountains are old, the horizons are soft, and the silence can feel almost physical.

Laurence and Daniel discovered the place in 2007 and opened Instants d’Absolu in 2010, at a time when the word “ecolodge” was still unusual in France. Their idea was simple and ambitious: a small, comfortable house placed in a strong natural setting, where space, silence and attention would become the real luxury.

THE ROOMS

There are twelve rooms and suites, looking towards the lake, the forest or the volcanic slopes. The rooms are quiet by design. No televisions, no constant digital pull, no decorative noise. Wi-Fi is kept to the salon, leaving the bedrooms for sleep, reading, looking out, and listening to the weather over the lake.

Materials stay close to the place: wood, stone, wool, linen, soft light, natural pigments and colours drawn from local plants. The walls use tones linked to armoise, birch, juniper and other plants from the surrounding landscape, giving the rooms a softer connection to the plateau.

THE FOOD

Breakfast is local, shaped by the season and the house’s slower rhythm. The real food moment comes at dinner. Each evening, the restaurant serves one discovery menu, built from fresh local produce, the vegetable garden, the greenhouse, the forest and producers from the Cantal.

The cooking is described as “gastronomadic,” and the word fits the spirit of the place. The menu changes, keeps some surprises, and stays close to what the land can give: vegetables, herbs, mushrooms, local meats, highland lentils, mountain cheeses and small producers who matter because there are not many of them up here.

Dinner is served in the evening only, by reservation. The room faces the lake, with a large cantou fireplace for colder nights and a terrace when the weather allows. In summer, the team sometimes organises a “Soirée Sauvage”: a guided walk to another mountain lake, dinner outside, and a return under the stars.

THE STAY

The Boreal Spa is small and very much tied to the setting. There is a custom-made warm bath facing the water, with underwater sound and chromotherapy, a Nordic hammam in a wooden barrel, a sauna opening towards the forest, a sensory shower and a meditation space.

The treatments use the region more directly than most spas: volcanic stone, source water, local botanicals and clay. The thala-source ritual is built around the lodge’s own source water and volcanic clay, giving the wellness side a clear link to the land around it.

Outside, there are walks from the door, lake paths, forest tracks, birdwatching, guided nature outings, yoga, horse riding, cycling, snowshoeing in winter and quiet hours with nothing arranged at all.

AROUND INSTANTS D'ABSOLU

The lodge sits in the Cantal highlands, between the Cézallier plateau, the Pinatelle forest and the volcanic landscapes of the Auvergne. For travellers who do not know the region, think of central France without the postcard polish: wider, emptier, more agricultural, more elemental.

The Pinatelle forest stretches across thousands of hectares, with trails, wildlife, peat bogs, wetlands and quiet paths. Lac du Pêcher is part of that ecosystem, known for birds, open skies and reflections that change with the weather. The Cézallier plateau is close too. It is sometimes called Auvergne’s “little Mongolia” because of its steppe-like feel: high grasslands, few buildings, huge skies, cows, wind and roads that almost disappear into the land.

For classic Cantal outings, guests can visit Murat, Salers, the Puy Mary, the Plomb du Cantal, Saint-Flour or the thermal town of Chaudes-Aigues. Cheese producers are also part of the region’s identity, especially Cantal, Salers and the wider Auvergne AOP family.

The area works well in every season. Summer brings long walks and high pastures. Autumn brings deer, mist and colour. Winter brings snowshoeing, fires and a stronger sense of isolation. Spring belongs to birds, wetlands and the return of green.

This is not a region to consume quickly. The distances look simple on a map, then the roads slow everything down. That is part of the reason to come.

THE OWNERS

Laurence Costa and Daniel Siegel created instants d’Absolu. They were inspired by the lodge culture they had seen while travelling, especially the idea of a comfortable house set in a powerful landscape, with the environment shaping the whole stay. When they discovered Lac du Pêcher in 2007, the idea found its place.

Laurence gives the project much of its language: silence, space, ecology, hospitality, inner rhythm, the idea of travel as something deeper than movement. Daniel’s presence is felt through the food, the garden and the attention to what the highlands can offer at the table.

Together, they built one of France’s early ecolodges and kept it personal. The place has strong opinions: no screens in the rooms, a spa connected to water and volcanic stone, a kitchen rooted in the local ecosystem, and a way of hosting that prefers preparation over spontaneity.

GOOD TO KNOW

There are twelve rooms and suites. The lodge sits at around 1,150 m altitude, within the Parc naturel régional des Volcans d’Auvergne, in a Natura 2000 / sensitive natural area.

There is no Wi-Fi in the rooms by choice; connection is available in the salon.

The nearest train station is Neussargues, around 12 km away. Clermont-Ferrand and Aurillac are the most useful airports. A car is recommended, although private transfers can be arranged.

Prices start at €280 per night for a double with breakfast. Minimum stay of 2 nights.