South Africans living the dream in a French château

Four hours south of Paris, past fields of sunflowers and villages where time seems to stand still, lies Château de Montflour. Its fairytale towers and original painted ceilings whisper of the 15^th century, yet step inside today and you’ll find something unmistakably South African: warmth, easy humour, and the all‑important sabrage of champagne before dinner. It’s a place that embodies the sort of leap many dream about – leaving the rat race behind for something slower, richer and infinitely more meaningful.

Joburg couple Christo and Elbé Lindeque bought Montflour in 2021 – sight unseen, mid‑Covid – and set about reviving it from centuries of slumber. Christo isn’t exactly a stranger to ambitious projects: he spent decades building a highly successful career with BMW South Africa, owning and running numerous dealerships. But this leap – from fast cars to slow living in rural France – was something else entirely.

The work was relentless: heritage red tape, bitter winters, expensive labour and endless delays. Midway through the project, tragedy struck when Elbé passed away. Christo chose to keep going, carrying forward the vision they had created together. Today Montflour feels both storied and deeply human – and it offers one of the best stays I’ve had in years.

Creuse, where Montflour is set, isn’t the France of lavender clichés and Provençal postcards. It’s quieter and gentler. Over the past decade, more than 30 South African families have settled here, renovating farmhouses, opening guesthouses, even launching design shops. The rural landscape feels oddly familiar to us: big skies, quiet roads and locals who grow, cook and live at a pace most South Africans have forgotten exists.

This way of life is most visible at the weekly markets in nearby villages like Boussac or tapestry‑famous Aubusson. They’re straight out of a novel: villagers queuing (and tsk tsk‑ing if they think you’re cutting in) for perfect tomatoes or goat’s cheese, carafes of red wine on café tables by noon, gossip traded over wheels of bread.

For textile obsessives like me, Aubusson is a pilgrimage: home to the Cité Internationale de la Tapisserie, a jaw‑dropping museum chronicling 600 years of weaving – from medieval wall hangings to contemporary commissions – and cementing the town’s Unesco‑listed status. It is surprising to hear Afrikaans and South African English being spoken in the midst of this, but it’s testament to our mense who’ve settled there too. They’ve got stuck into these communities and are, to quote the youth, living their best lives.

What Montflour teaches us

Montflour itself mirrors that blend of heritage and humanity. Five suites mix flea‑market finds with four‑poster beds, roaring fireplaces and long dinner tables set for lingering feasts. Provenance matters here: local honey and wine share pantry space with rooibos; décor tips its hat to Elbé’s eye for warmth, quirk and texture. Evenings unfold lazily – generous plates, conversations that stretch long into the night – before you collapse into bedding you wish you could put into your hand luggage and take home.

Christo says the project has taught him resilience and patience. “Back home, we want everything yesterday,” he admits. “Here, nothing happens fast – and that’s okay. The process matters.”

That said, he reckons South Africans are uniquely wired for challenges like this: “We’re resourceful – we find solutions where others see problems. And we’re open, so we connect with people easily.” But slowing down, he says, is our collective blind spot. “France forces you to take a breath. It’s frustrating at first, but in the end it’s what makes this life so rich.”

He’s also learnt from the French reverence for heritage – their belief that old buildings carry a responsibility beyond aesthetics – and from their fierce commitment to quality of life: long lunches, conversation as sport, weekends that are sacrosanct.

Montflour is more than one couple’s leap of faith. It’s part of a bigger South African story – about curiosity, grit and the search for something slower and more meaningful. In reviving this medieval château, Christo honours the dream he and Elbé imagined together – and shows what South Africans can create when we bring a little of who we are into a completely different place.

Getting there

Fly Air France direct to Paris (I found the airline genuinely excellent, and I’m a stickler). From Paris, take a two‑hour train from Gare d’Austerlitz to Châteauroux, then it’s about a two‑hour drive to the château. Montflour is also roughly equidistant to Lyon if you’re doing a wider central‑France loop.

How and when to visit

Montflour now hosts guests for stays and events. Contact Christo and his team directly if you’re tempted.

Go in summer for long market days, sun‑drenched countryside and café terraces; winter for fireside dinners, frosted landscapes and a quieter pace still.

For more information, visit Montflour’s website. The château is also on Instagram.