Truant Travel Design

So for my last full day in Scotland, I hopped in the car, added a couple of destinations into the satnav in a rough circuit of Scotland and hit “avoid motorways”. This is just a tiny taste of what it gave me - I was driving so I couldn’t photo nearly as much as I saw, but around every bend, over every crest I whispered “you can’t be serious”. And that’s just from the car. For a bit more structure and inside information, I work with an award winning Scottish wilderness company specialising in everything from walking the West Highland Way (with luggage magically transferred from inn to inn) to outstanding family adventures - tire out your teens with mountain biking, trail running, sea kayaking and geocaching. You can travel with a guide, self guided or a mix of both. The more I travel, the more I realise that local experts have so much to offer. I don’t want my hand held every second of the day but to have a few things mapped out that I’d never find myself, and not have to think about organising, is a luxury. I’ve met some amazing people that way and learned more about a place than Lonely Planet could ever tell me. That’s what travel is all about right?

Where do I even start with this place…imagine a Victorian Coaching Inn in the rugged Cairngorms. Imagine groundbreaking Swiss gallery owners making it their Highlands fantasy. Imagine everything is curated from the bespoke Land Rovers kitted out in the house tartan and tweed, to the bagpipers on staff.…individual rooms are named after Scottish poets, nature, artefacts. And as for the art - a Picasso hangs in the drawing room, sketches by Queen Victoria in the lobby, here a Man Ray, there a Louise Bourgeois or a Lucian Freud and countless others amongst priceless antiques, riotous textiles and taxidermy beasts . Even if you’re not into art it’s hard not to be impressed just by the sheer front of this place in a remote village of 450 souls. It might sound a bit twee but it’s just outrageously fun.

To be honest I wasn’t sure I’d like Le Manoir au Quat’Saisons. Raymond Blanc was a celebrity chef in the 80’s, at the same time as lace fingerless gloves and shoulder pads. How relevant could he be? Well, let me tell you. On arrival I was served the best lemon cake in the universe, a recipe perfected over decades. Some classics never go out of style. The cooking school dinner was a treat, you would put good money down just to watch the chefs banter. Raymond Blanc (the restaurant) was a study in excellence - seasonal, complex yet remarkably unstuffy. And frankly just delicious. The manor house and gardens are beautiful. The staff (who treat guests and one another like family), the passion for detail and the joy of being surrounded by good food and wine at every turn make the whole experience like a warm hug. Much like the 80’s, I’d go back in a flash.