Jacko told us a few times about this place and I knew it would please my wife so I planned for 2021. At first I thought I would be flying in but it wan’t possible for me so we drove.
First piece of advice : flying is quicker 
The owner replied quickly and kindly to my emails. The week before, she upgraded us to their biggest cottage.
We spent 4 full days there, and it was a blast ite some rain.
The general place :
The cottage :
The amenities : we were alone at the castle, so had a pool (unheated), sauna, basic fitness room, a nice garden from which to pick herbs and vegetables, courtesy car (not needed for us) and of course, a runway !!
Quite some traffic on sunny days. There is a kind of local gang which meets there.
All in all, a awesome place for relaxing far from the world. The crew maintaining the property is very kind and helpful.
The only negative note is the 3 nights minimum stay and kids below 12 are forbidden. But we were not saddened, there is plenty to see and do in the area.
Please ask any questions.
The local area is full of treasures.
The local town of Mens is charming. We walked there, it takes about an hour from the castle in beautiful sceneries.
Lac de Monteynard
Notre Dame de la Salette, a basilica high in the mountains where Mary appeared in 1846
And, having driven there, a flight was mandatory
Highly recommend Alpine Flying School.
It looks really fantastic. Did you check runway condition although you were driving in? 560 meters of grass and an altitude above 2000 ft might need a precise calculation. 
Of course
We walked it from bottom to top, no holes, and it is mown, usually when people call to land.
They had Malibus and PC12s. They might be ask Pilatus to try land a PC24. I suspect the Austrian owners come via charter plane.
Looks interesting. Any restaurants in town that you tried out?
Lovely place and thanks for sharing, hope you (she) enjoyed the stay , looks it require PPR for permission and common sense? what is the upslope gradient on 09?
This looks great ! Would love to go there by air one day.
what is the upslope gradient on 09?
I have checked it on their website: 10% and it‘s oneway: 09 for landing, 27 for departure.
Thanks, should be enough to keep the surprise element !
Just noticed I posted the same pic twice
The strip is more tricky than I thought. It is steep enough and quite narrow too (15m IIRC).
From a legal standpoint, it is a private airfield. To land, you must fill in a form the manager sends to DGAC which adds you to the list of registered users, after which you can come with just a usual PPR. It takes a few days.
Mens is a small town.
We went to the Café des Arts which looks cheap from the outside but is the historic place there. Its painted walls date from 1896. The cottage is full of books about the local area.
Frankly, the road leading there is so long, you feel in a remote area (like Idaho I suppose). It looks like the area attracts people looking for, say, nature and freedom (not much masks to be seen ).
Just driving any road is a blast. I didn’t know we had such sceneries in France or Europe. No need to tour Montana
About driving, the guy running Alpine flying school offers both UL/mountain/bushflying instruction and motorbikes for rental. He is based at Aspres LFNB. Same form to fill through him to land, then you just pick the keys of his bikes and start riding the Alps
