According to a report earlier this month in The Guardian, Pierre Cardin is spending millions in an attempt to turn the small town of Lacoste into a cultural enclave. The place has an interesting history:
Only the imposing, half-ruined castle that once belonged to the Marquis de Sade hints as a darker truth of the feudal rulers who lorded it over the villagers in this south-eastern corner of France… de Sade’s chateau [is] said to have inspired the gothic settings for his novels of sexual perversion.
Cardin has “spent millions restoring the castle” and his plans for the village include “luxury hotels, a top restaurant, a de Sade café and a piano bar.”
A de Sade café?!! The mind just boggles. I suspect that the conditions of employment for the waitresses are likely to be rather strict. And is it too much to hope that one of said hotels might be located in the castle itself, all themed rooms, whips available from room service and “would sir care to make use of the dungeon”?
Isn’t Lacoste the crocodile? On the colourful polo shirts? Or is that just me being dense?
I so dare someone to go to one of these hotels and order a whip from room service!
Thanks for asking Smudge – that was exactly the same thought that went through my mind.
I utterly love Provence, and while visiting it on one occasion a few years ago we did swing by Lacoste — that was before Cardin’s purchase, the castle was a ruin and while no doubt unsafe/unwise to visit (looked like it could crumble up on you any time) but in practice it was open so we did tour it; my GF at the time was a great fan of De Sade (mostly as a philosopher and writer – part of her passion for French intellectuals, both Enlightenment and Post-modernists).
The castle, even fully restored, is far too small to house a good hotel, particularly a luxury one; maybe a small top-class B&B, but that would basically interfere with tourist VISITS to the castle so it would seem to make really little sense to arrange things that way — I’m pretty sure the hotels will be in the village proper, walking distance to the castle.
And yes, Smudge — Lacoste is ALSO a popular brand (named after its founder, a tennis champ and businessman nicknamed “the crocodile” — he’s in the International Tennis Hall Of Fame, too). “La coste” means “the ridge” and so it’s a common place name in French hilly country: look for lacoste, fr on Google Maps and besides the Provence town (near Bonnieux) you’ll see another dozen places thus named!-)