It is a cliche of travel writing to say that visiting somewhere is like stepping back in time, but it is the best way to describe a trip to Le Macassar. This maison d'hôtes in north-eastern France is a showcase for the owners' art nouveau and art deco paintings and furniture. And, by chance, our visit to the Somme valley fell on Armistice Day. Reminders of history were all around us.
The only hint that we were about to be transported back in time was a vintage sports car outside the hotel, in the unremarkable town of Corbie. Stepping through a wooden door we felt as if we had strayed on to a film set. The landscaped gardens, with fountains and statues, might have been a scene from The Great Gatsby.
We were greeted enthusiastically by Booey and Spatz, the owners' dogs. Our hosts, Ian and Miguel, were less energetic, but no less welcoming. No sooner had we put down our bags than our hands were holding large glasses of very fine red wine. We settled in front of the fire with Booey, Spatz and two cats for a chat with Ian and Miguel, made easier by the number of talking points all around, and our hosts' passion for their project.
In the 1930s, Le Macassar belonged to a wealthy French businessman and his young wife, who decorated it in the very latest style. There's a photograph of the couple in their drawing room, he leaning over the arm of her chair with studied casualness. The property takes its name from the ebony (imported from the Indonesian city of Makassar) of the room's panelling.
There are no fewer than four public areas: the gallery, where a dining table and grand piano are dwarfed by panels of four larger-than-life art deco nudes; a dazzling Moroccan den; the Majorelle room, named after turn-of-the-century cabinet maker Louis Majorelle; and the art deco library, now boasting a huge billiards table. Period artworks vie for attention with paintings by contemporary artists.
Our room, the art deco suite, is the pièce de résistance. Overlooking the square, it is panelled in the original ash and maple wood, with floor-length curtains separating the lounge area, it is dominated by another nude, on a giant green canvas behind the bed. A huge black-marbled bathroom has an elaborate stained-glass window and, rather incongruously, a white whirlpool bath. For those for whom vintage is all a bit kitsch, the other five rooms are a mix of modern and traditional.
Supper was table d'hôte, usually a Sunday night ritual, but they had swapped it to Friday for us. Ian and Miguel entertained us with stories of the lengths they'd gone to in sourcing many of their treasures. But the more the wine flowed, the harder it was not to stare in wonder at the four giant mesdemoiselles with whom they have chosen to share their dining room.
The next day, Ian drove us into Amiens, 15 minutes away. Its cathedral is a Unesco world heritage site. "Gothic pure, authoritative, unsurpassable, and unaccusable… not only the best, but the very first thing done perfectly in its manner by northern Christendom," said no less an authority than John Ruskin.
In summer and in the run-up to Christmas, a laser light show is projected on to its intricate western facade, recreating the multiple colours in which it was painted in the 13th century. We were too early for this, and also, alas, for the Christmas market. In truth, on a cold, grey Saturday in November, Amiens was a bit of a tourist challenge – but one that was overcome, naturellement, with a long lunch and a couple of glasses of wine.
Sunday was all about what most people come to this region for: a tour of the western front. We started at the Lochnagar Crater, left by the multiple mine explosions of 1 July 1916 that marked the start of the advance in which 20,000 men were killed in one day, and continued to a tour of the memorials that puncture the skyline. We ended at the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme. As so often when we visit places that are such a fundamental part of our cultural heritage, the reality was even more powerful than we expected. We were the only visitors.
To drive under the unforgiving skies of Picardie and see a landscape still scarred by trenches is an unforgettable experience. And if you are an art deco aficionado, you will need no other excuse to visit: Le Macassar will be a destination in itself.
• Le Macassar (+33 3 3248 4004, lemacassar.com) is in Corbie, 15 minutes' drive from Amiens. It has doubles from €175 B&B. Sunday guests book a four-course dinner with wine for €50 a head. Train tickets from London St Pancras to Amiens start from £119 return (0844 848 4064, raileurope.com)
