We traveled via Angoulême on our way to Domaine des Étangs. Angoulême is a city made of gray and white stone that has such an authentic appearance of a French city that it was chosen to stand in for the village of Ennui-sur-Blasé in the 2021 film "The French Dispatch." Isabelle Stanislas, an interior designer who recently refurbished several of the rooms of the Élysée Palace, was responsible for the design of the Domaine, a chateau that dates back to the 13th century and is surrounded by lush grassland. Since the 1980s, the hotel has been owned by the Primat family, who amassed their riches in the oil industry. In April, the hotel became the first French property to be included in the Auberge Resorts Collection.