Presents
A Retreat for the Heart and Soul
Châteauneuf-Grasse
Provence–Alpes–Côte d’Azur
France
7 Day Wellness Retreat
13 - 20 SEPT 2026
This retreat offers a soft place to land.
It’s a week to breathe more fully, to slow your pace, and to spend time in a setting that supports presence and ease. Held in a Provençal stone bastide in the hills of Provence, the days unfold gently - shaped by light, landscape, shared meals, and unhurried time.
Mornings begin simply. Food is nourishing and well prepared. There’s space for movement, rest, conversation, laughter, and quiet moments that don’t need filling.
The invitation is straightforward: arrive as you are, settle into the rhythm of the place, and allow the week to meet you without expectation.
The Bastide
Our home for the week is a 200 year-old Provençal bastide in Châteauneuf-de-Grasse, within walking distance of the village and close to Valbonne and Grasse.
Built in stone and restored with care, it carries the quiet solidity of its age. Thick walls, timber beams, tiled floors, and light that moves gently through the rooms give the house a steadiness that is felt rather than announced.
The entire property is privately hired for our group. Five bedrooms are arranged across the main house and an independent annexe, offering both connection and natural privacy. Each room holds its own outlook - gardens, hills, or sky.
Outside, landscaped grounds open into shaded dining areas, a pétanque court, and a generous 16 × 8 metre swimming pool - expansive without overwhelming the landscape.
Walking paths lead directly from the gate into the surrounding countryside. Villages, markets, and hilltop views sit within easy reach.
Within the house and gardens are places to gather and places to withdraw - a shaded bench beneath the trees, a corner chair with morning light, stone steps that invite you to sit rather than pass through.
Some moments are shared. Others are quietly your own.
This is a lived-in Provençal home. Its authenticity shapes the tone of the week.
Your Room
Each guest has their own bedroom - a private space to settle, reflect, rest, or withdraw when needed.
Rooms vary slightly in layout and bathroom access, though all are thoughtfully prepared and comfortably furnished. Windows open to garden or hillside views. Stone walls and natural light give the rooms a grounded calm.
The house holds quiet well. Sleep tends to come easily here.
The Food
Chef Ash has cooked professionally in Australia, France, and Denmark, with experience in kitchens including Attica, Cutler & Co, and Gimlet in Melbourne; Le Cheval d’Or and Epicure in Paris; and Udtryk in Copenhagen. Trained at Le Cordon Bleu, his foundation is classical; his expression is grounded, generous, and deeply attuned to place. Each meal is shaped by season and region - guided by what is fresh, local, and alive that day.
Expect long-table salads layered with herbs and citrus, slow-roasted vegetables, freshly baked bread, seafood from the coast, thoughtfully prepared meat and fish, local cheeses, and simple French desserts. The food is abundant without excess, refined without fuss.
Ingredients come from village markets and nearby producers. Everything is prepared with quiet precision and care.
We gather at a long table. Conversation rises and softens. Laughter sits easily beside silence. Over the week, many people notice a subtle settling - in digestion, in the nervous system, in the way they inhabit their bodies.
Ash cooks with composure and discernment. His palate is refined; his timing is intuitive. The meals ground the body after inner work and restore without overstimulation.
Ash and I have discovered that our crafts move in quiet alignment. While I hold the group process, he holds the table. We sense the tone of the day together, adjusting rhythm as needed - allowing food and facilitation to support one another rather than compete.
This attunement shapes the week. It creates cohesion. It allows nourishment to land fully - physically and emotionally.
If you value seasonal food, shared tables, and cooking shaped by skill and presence, you will feel at home here.
Our Days Together
Our days unfold with a gentle rhythm, guided by the feel of the group rather than a fixed schedule.
Mornings often begin quietly - with simple movement, breath, or awareness practices that help you arrive in your body before the day opens.
Afternoons offer space for walking, resting, reading, creative time, or being on your own. Evenings draw us back together, often around the table, sharing a meal and the ease that comes from unhurried time.
I’ll be holding the group and offering practices that support listening inwardly - noticing the body, paying attention to what’s present, and allowing clarity to emerge in its own time. Madeline brings a steady, local presence, helping the days flow with ease and grounding the retreat in the rhythm of the place.
Ash’s food is part of this rhythm too. Meals mark the day, offering nourishment, pleasure, and a natural way of coming together. There’s a simplicity and care in how we eat that supports settling and connection without
needing to talk about it.
Across the week, there’s space for gentle embodiment, reflection, and integration, shaped by what’s alive in the group. Nothing is rushed. What needs attention tends to find it when the pace allows.
This retreat offers time to:
-
reconnect with your body and your own sense of knowing
-
spend time in a small, attentive group
-
allow space for what’s ready to shift or soften
-
feel supported by simplicity, presence, and shared experience
The Inner Work
Across the week, we guide practices that help you slow down enough to hear yourself again.
We work with gentle embodiment and nervous system regulation practices that help the body settle and feel safe.
Through guided inquiry, somatic listening, elements of parts work, breath and awareness exercises, and thoughtful small-group dialogue, you’ll have space to explore what has been quietly asking for attention.
Some sessions are shared in circle. Others are quieter and more personal. The rhythm of the week supports steady, unforced depth and natural integration. The intention is to return to a steadier, more connected place within yourself - supported by place, rhythm, and careful guidance.
A Gentle Note on Suitability
This retreat offers reflective group work and embodied inquiry. It is not designed as intensive trauma therapy.
Participants benefit from feeling comfortable in a small group setting and open to shared dialogue.
The property includes stairs, uneven ground, and village walking paths. A moderate level of mobility supports ease throughout the week.
Often, what becomes clear here has been waiting patiently.
Sample Rhythm of a Day
Morning
An hour of guided movement and embodied practice, shaped by Qi Gong, Five Element philosophy, acupressure, somatic awareness, breathwork, and meditation..
Breakfast follows - unhurried and shared - a quiet anchoring before the day unfolds.
Late Morning
Small-group inquiry or workshop sessions. Themes may include belief exploration, parts work, emotional integration, embodied awareness, or creative reflection.
Afternoon
Free time for rest, swimming, journaling, walking, or exploring nearby villages - or a local outing guided by Madeline.
Evening
Dinner together. Conversation softens. Integration happens naturally.
No prior experience is needed. Practices are simple, accessible, and gently guided.
Cobblestones and Coastlines
Time outside the farmhouse unfolds gently, shaped by curiosity rather than agenda.
Madeline knows this part of Provence from the inside - the villages, the quieter streets, the places that still belong to daily life rather than tourism. Because of that, our days out tend to move like a local week, not a tour.
We spend time in places such as Valbonne, Gourdon, Antibes, and Grasse - each with its own rhythm, light, and way of holding you.
A long lunch in a village square. A market wandered without hurry. A picnic on a hilltop when the weather invites it. A walk that turns into a pause because the view asks for it.
You might find yourself sitting with a coffee in a café the locals favour, wandering a square where people greet each other by name, or chatting with someone whose family has worked with their hands in that place for generations.
Along the way, there are simple, everyday scenes - washing on a line, bread cooling in a bakery, a game of pétanque in the shade, a doorway left open, a view that invites you to stop rather than move on.
We travel at an unhurried pace, guided by how the day feels.
The emphasis is on letting a place register - through movement, colour, scent, and the subtle shift that happens when you give yourself time to be there.
Provence, felt....
The Heart Behind It
Holding the Space Together
This retreat is held by Bel and Madeline - long-standing friends and trained practitioners whose work has evolved in parallel across integrative and body-based practice.
Bel is a qualified kinesiologist and integrative practitioner, practicing since 2018 and previously a lecturer with the College of Complementary Medicine in Melbourne. Bel has been facilitating retreats in Australia and France since 2023, bringing seasoned group leadership alongside her clinical background. Her work blends somatic awareness, emotional inquiry, and practical grounding.
Madeline is trained in integrative complementary medicine and has worked extensively in therapeutic and body-based approaches. She brings steadiness, discernment, and a deep respect for process.
Together, they share a commitment to thoughtful, well-facilitated group work. This retreat is a natural progression of their professional craft - shaped by training, experience, and lived practice.
The work is structured, intentional, and professionally facilitated - offering depth without intensity, and reflection without overwhelm.
The bastide is Madeline’s home in Provence. Having lived in the region for many years, she brings an intimate understanding of its rhythms, markets, and quieter corners. Her long connection to the area means we move through Provence with familiarity rather than itinerary - visiting trusted markets, village cafés, and hilltop paths known to locals.
Bel guides the overall arc of the week. Madeline leads and supports sessions throughout, grounding the work in place and presence.
The space is held with steadiness, warmth, and respect for each person’s pace. The group is intentionally small to preserve depth, safety, and personal attention.
Retreat at a Glance
-
King Room with Private Ensuite – AUD 8,200
-
King Room with Private Ensuite – AUD 7,950
-
Hills View Room (Shared Bathroom) – AUD 7,695
-
Garden View Room (Shared Bathroom) – AUD 7,495
-
Lower Ground Retreat Room (Private Ensuite) – AUD 7,750
If you’re attending with a friend, shared room arrangements can be discussed.
All rooms offer a queen or king bed and are carefully prepared to support rest and comfort.
Limited to 5 participants.
If two guests choose to share a king bedroom, the group may extend to a maximum of 7.
What’s Included
Your retreat is designed so you can arrive, settle in, and let the week unfold with ease.
• Seven nights in a carefully restored Provençal bastide
• All meals, shared tables, and relaxed Provençal apéro - prepared on site by our chef, Ash
• Optional local French wine served with dinner. The atmosphere supports clarity and presence, while still honouring the pleasure of being in France.
• Airport transfers to and from Nice Côte d’Azur Airport (Group airport transfers are provided from Nice Côte d’Azur Airport within a designated arrival window. Guests arriving outside this time may arrange private transfers at their own cost)
• Thoughtful local outings and gentle day trips, guided by Madeline's local knowledge of the region
• Daily body-based practices and small group sessions, offered with care and spaciousness
• Time for rest, walking, reflection, and quiet enjoyment of the surroundings
• Everything needed for our practices is prepared and ready for you
Your only job is to arrive. The rest is held.
What You’ll Arrange
-
Flights: Travel to and from Nice Côte d’Azur Airport (I can recommend a trusted travel agent)
-
Travel Insurance: Ensure your plans are protected with comprehensive coverage
-
Personal Expenses: Shopping, souvenirs, and extra treats during outings
Early expressions of interest are recommended. Rooms are allocated in order of confirmed booking.
Booking & Cancellation: A non-refundable deposit secures your place. Cancellations more than 60 days prior to the retreat receive a refund of payments made minus the deposit. Within 60 days, payments are non-refundable. Full Terms & Conditions are provided upon enquiry and before booking.
What You Might Be Wondering
How many people attend?
The retreat is limited to five guests. Up to seven may attend if two guests choose to share one of the private bathroom bedrooms.
The group remains small by design.
Do people come alone?
Yes. Most guests attend solo. The group is intentionally small and carefully facilitated, making it easy to arrive on your own.
What does a typical day look like?
Mornings begin with an hour of guided movement and embodied practice, drawing from Five Element principles, gentle somatic inquiry, breath, and awareness. Breakfast follows. Days unfold through a blend of facilitated sessions, reflective workshops, local outings, and generous free time. Evenings gather around the table. The rhythm supports both depth and integration.
Is prior experience required?
No. Practices are accessible and gently guided.
Is alcohol included?
Local French wine is offered with dinner, optional and moderate. The tone of the week supports clarity, presence, and ease.
Is this trauma therapy?
This is facilitated transformational group work held by trained practitioners. It is not designed as intensive trauma therapy.
Participants benefit from feeling resourced and comfortable in a small-group setting.
What about mobility?
The property includes stairs, uneven ground, and village walking paths.
A moderate level of mobility supports comfort throughout the week.
What is your cancellation policy?
Deposits are non-refundable. Instalment payments become non-refundable within a defined period prior to the retreat.
A clear summary of terms is provided before booking, with full details included in your formal booking agreement.
What are the arrival and departure times?
Group airport transfers are arranged from Nice Côte d’Azur Airport between 11:00am and 2:30pm on Sunday 13 September 2026.
Return transfers are scheduled for mid-morning on Saturday 20 September 2026 (exact timing confirmed closer to the retreat).
Guests arriving outside the group transfer window are welcome to arrange a private transfer at their own cost.
Can you assist with travel planning?
Yes. I can recommend a trusted travel advisor I’ve worked with extensively for international retreats.
Guests are also welcome to arrange their own travel.
I’m travelling from Australia - will jet lag affect the retreat?
We begin with a Qi Rhythm recalibration practice designed to support circadian adjustment and help your body settle into local time.
Insurance
Guests are responsible for their own comprehensive travel insurance, including medical and cancellation cover.
Aftercare
A short post-retreat integration call is offered to support continued reflection and settling.
Is This for You?
This retreat is open to anyone, across genders, backgrounds, and life stages.
It tends to suit people who value space, thoughtful pacing, and time to settle into themselves. People who appreciate good food, beauty, and being in a place where life unfolds without urgency..
Many guests attend solo. The group is small and thoughtfully held, making it easy to arrive on your own.
If you’re looking for a week that allows rest, clarity, and a steadier relationship with yourself, this may be a good fit.
A final note
If something settles as you read this - a sense of ease, curiosity, or recognition - you’re welcome to reach out.
These retreats tend to work quietly. People often notice their effects later, in how they rest, move, and relate once they return home.
If Provence feels like the right place for you this year, I’d be glad to hear from you.
Places are limited and held with care.
With open heart,
Bel & Madeline x
Why I Do This
This work grows from listening.
I’ve learned to pay attention to what’s asking to be made - the places, the timing, the people, and the pace. When those elements come together, the retreat takes shape naturally.
I’ve been facilitating retreats in France and Australia since 2023 alongside my clinical practice, refining a small-group model that balances depth, steadiness, and lived experience.
My role is simple: to notice, to respond, and to create the conditions for people to arrive more fully in themselves, supported by place, rhythm, and shared experience.
If this resonates, you’ll know in your own way.
