French interiors : the art of elegance

French Interiors invites us into nine exceptional residences : old walls enclosing a world of fantasy, châteaux combining seventeenth-century elegance with the refinement of today, and hideaways set in verdant oases at the heart of Paris. Each is a masterpiece.

In turn, we discover Château Gabriel by the Normandy coast, where Yves Saint Laurent created his private haven, and Le Jonchet, where fellow designer Hubert de Givenchy has married to perfection the handsome Louis XIII architecture of the château with contemporary art by the likes of Diego Giacometti and the Lalannes. We visit the country house that belonged to renowned antiquary and interior decorator Madeleine Castaing, with its eclectic mix of chiffon, chintz, and leopard prints, as well as Jacques Grange's Parisian apartment, formerly home to the novelist Colette, overlooking the Palais Royal gardens.

From glamorous châteaux to stylish residences that are veritable art galleries tucked away at the end of lamplit streets, these interiors will inspire all those who, like Proust, « believe that objects retain something of the gaze that has rested on them ».