Instants d’Absolu: Inside One of France’s First Ecolodges, in a Former Templar Farm by Lac du Pêcher

The project began with a chance conversation.

“Our journey here did not start with a business plan,” Laurence Costa says. “It began with an unforeseen encounter. A perfect stranger on a ski slope in the Alps mentioned this place, and when we first discovered it, it was for sale and the evidence was immediate. It felt like walking into our life’s purpose. How could we resist?”

The year was 2007. Laurence describes it as a moment when the rest of life was already moving too fast.

“This deep calling came in 2007,” she says, “when I felt at the same time that everything was already moving too fast. I believed the true meaning of travel lay elsewhere: in the discovery of secret territories and, crucially, in developing smart tourism as a pillar of local economy.”

She and Daniel did not know, on the first visit, that the property sat inside the Auvergne Volcanoes Regional Nature Park, or that the dry lake on the estate would later receive the Natura 2000 label. The lodge’s name found her quickly.

“Just five hours after that first visit,” Laurence says, “the name Instants d’Absolu came to me as a flash, signifying those timeless, rare moments.”

When Laurence and Daniel opened the doors of Instants d’Absolu, the word ecolodge barely registered as a category in France. The only comparable property at the time, by their own count, was Le Bruit de l’Eau in the Baie de Somme. The vision they set for the place was clear.

“Our vision was clear: to create an experience where luxury would be defined by the absolute quality of the environment,” Laurence says, “proving that comfort and deep respect for nature can, and must, coexist.”

She talks about the lodge less as a business and more as a working experiment.

“Beyond using local materials and smart management, our goal was to establish a philosophy of welcoming, an art of living in pure nature to share,” Laurence says. “We wanted the lodge to be a laboratory for hospitality, a sanctuary where nature is not a backdrop. It is a place for reconnection, including to self, and profound discovery.”

Fifteen years on, her language has shifted.

“In the beginning, eco-responsibility was partly technical and already quite inspirational as such, insulation, wood heating, natural paintings, recycled materials,” she says. “With time, it has become holistic, shifting from reducing our negative impact to maximizing our positive contribution. Our greatest satisfaction is witnessing the ripple effect on our territory, seeing other local businesses adopt similar short-supply-chain practices. We have gone from just being an ecolodge to being a sustainable model for tourism in Auvergne.”

The building itself is a former Templar farm at the edge of Lac du Pêcher. The restoration kept the lodge low and unornamented. The twelve rooms and suites are described by the team as quiet refuges rather than conventional rooms, and the choice of paint is part of what makes them feel that way.

Walls are finished with natural pigments derived from local plants, including birch, juniper, and sagebrush. Materials throughout the lodge are raw but refined. Comfort is understated. The omissions are as important as the inclusions: no WiFi in the rooms, no televisions anywhere, no programming forced on the guest.

Laurence is direct about what the absence is for.

“What makes a stay unique is access to the Absolutes,” she says, “the gift of silence, the exuberance of Nature and space, and starry nights without light pollution. We offer a true luxury of disconnection: no televisions in the rooms, and a gentle encouragement to switch off screens and switch on your senses.”

The lake itself is part of the architecture, in her telling.

“Lac du Pêcher, in particular, acts as a mirror,” she says. “It encourages contemplation and introspection.”

Dinner at Instants d’Absolu is a single discovery menu, served each evening, built from what was harvested that day in the garden, the greenhouse, the forest, or by the trusted local producers of the Cantal. The team calls the cuisine gastronomadic: seasonal, intuitive, rooted in place, designed for surprise rather than repetition.

The pantry around the lodge is one of the deepest in France. The Auvergne is home to four AOP cheeses, and Laurence makes sure her guests find them.

“It is essential to celebrate our AOP cheeses,” she says. “I always encourage our guests to visit a producer of Cantal cheese nearby, or to discover the flavor of Salers cheese in its place of origin, labeled among the plus beaux villages de France, one hour drive away. Our own kitchen also highlights the blond lentils of the highland together with local meats through an ecosystem that completely resonates with the soul of the ecolodge.”

The spa is the second axis of the stay. The Boreal Spa is built around the four elements Laurence cares about most: water, sound, light, and volcanic stone. Outdoor hot tubs overlook the lake. Underwater sound vibrations are part of the treatment program. Lava stone, drawn from the volcanic geology of the Auvergne, anchors much of the wellness work. Meditation spaces, sauna rituals, and the forest itself extend the program beyond the spa rooms.

Laurence directs guests away from the obvious sights of the Auvergne and into the quieter ones. She has a specific dissatisfaction with the way the most famous landmarks dominate the standard itinerary.

“I encourage our guests to look beyond the major landmarks,” she says. “For instance, rather than only climbing the famous Grand Site Puy Mary, I suggest they venture onto the Cézallier Plateau, our little Mongolia, for its profound silence and unique peat bogs, our green lungs, which are fascinating and fragile ecosystems.”

Closer to the lodge, the six-thousand-acre Pinatelle forest hides Romanesque chapels perched on hills with long views over the valleys. Laurence also keeps a list of artisans she likes to send guests to: a cutlery maker, a producer of flower jams and jellies, a regional whiskey maker. The recommendations are not, in her telling, garnish.

“It is these rich, human connections,” she says, “that truly keep the territory alive and make the Auvergne experience unforgettable.”

Fifteen years of running Instants d’Absolu have, in Laurence’s telling, deepened what the lodge is for. She talks about it less as a hotel and more as a frame for a particular way of seeing.

“Now, my understanding of this place has deepened immensely,” she says. “I have learned how nature reflects our own inner selves and how the changing seasons mirror our own life cycles. Beyond the common concept of an ecolodge, I see the true intelligence of this place: it connects us to life, to the living, to the vibrant.”

What guests carry away, she says, is not the memory of a hotel.

“For fifteen years, we have seen countless guests leave with a sense of recalibrated balance,” Laurence says. “It is not just the memory of a beautiful stay, but the sensation of having found an inner compass again. Many tell us this is where they find anchor.”

She closes on the long version of why the lodge exists at all.

“Our place offers an art of living together in pure nature,” Laurence says. “We illuminate a vision, almost a civilizational approach, that shows we can live perfectly well, together, guided by nature. As such, I believe travel may change the world.”