On the edge of this historic town stands new owner Justin Giustianini's substantial half-timbered inn. It is on a dull main road, but bedrooms (in Louis XVI to Louis-Philippe style) face a quiet rear garden which has a dining terrace.

In the village of Neuville-St-Amand in Picardy is Claude and Sébastien Meiresonne”s 1900s handsome white manor house (Logis de France), owned by their family since 1970 and set in three hectares of grounds.

This fin-de-siècle villa is a former home of the parfumier Pierre Guerlain. “Winningly eccentric”, it has a “pieds-dans-l”eau position” on the north side of the Somme estuary (excellent birdwatching and “very special, pearly light”).

Behind imposing wrought iron gates, and fronted by a courtyard with a central fountain and lawns, this big, honey-coloured, former 18th-century hunting lodge was liked again by visitors.

In a 'lovely, tranquil” setting, this stately, white-fronted 17th-century demeure (Relais & Chateaux) stands amid garden and parkland, between Reims and Soissons.

In a picturesque village in the forest of Compiègne, Yves Giustiniani”s restaurant-with-rooms was liked by visitors: “A lovely suite with large bedroom, very nice bath and shower, large sitting room. Lovely food too.”