Les Lavandières de Fontaine hosts seminars, conferences, study days and team building for up to 80 people, and weddings, christenings and birthdays for 40 to 110 guests, with 66 beds when the whole site is privatized. The estate is a restored 18th-century farm on rue des Lavandières in Fontaine-lès-Vervins, in the Thiérache area of the Aisne, run by Raphaëlle and Cédric François-Clément.
Seminars and company events
Two seminar rooms are available. The large seminar room covers 90 m² and opens onto a 60 m² lounge and a 70 m² terrace. It seats 36 around a U-shaped table or up to 80 in conference style, with a projector, a retractable screen, a flipchart, a technical rack with microphone, ceiling speakers and free Wi-Fi. L'Annexe, a 60 m² soundproofed room next to the restaurant, takes about 15 people for a seminar or 30 in conference style, with the same projection kit and a 25 m² terrace.
Day packages include a welcome coffee, breaks and lunch, for groups of 10 to 80, with a choice of two menus and vegan or vegetarian options. Residential seminars run on full board, with room for 17 participants in single rooms or 37 in shared rooms. On site, teams can use the pool, sauna and hot tub, play Mölkky, borrow mountain bikes or book a scalp massage, and the hosts can arrange archery, blowpipe or geocaching. Within 30 minutes they also book canoeing, climbing, a mini raid, an escape game and a 3D visit at the Vervins museum.
Weddings and receptions
For a wedding, the couple privatizes the whole site from Friday 4 p.m. to Sunday 4 p.m., with all 66 beds. The reception room takes 40 to 110 guests and has space for a dance floor and a DJ or small band, with no fixed end time but a 95 dB sound limit. Drinks can be held on the terrace or in the seminar room, a secular ceremony in the garden with the seminar room as a rain option, and a brunch or buffet on the Sunday. Guests have daytime access to the pool, sauna and hot tub. Smaller parties of 10 to 30 can use L'Annexe with six bedrooms. The hosts also rent a photo booth, an audio guestbook and a ceremony arch.
Rooms and capacities
The reception room in the former barn measures 250 m² and seats about 100 to 110. A separate 150 m² hall serves drinks or an indoor secular ceremony, and a 60 m² room next to it suits drinks or a quiet space for children. The large seminar room seats 80 in conference style, and L'Annexe 30.
Accommodation
The site combines bed-and-breakfast rooms, studios, a guest house, a suite and a holiday apartment, with up to 66 beds in all. The wellness area has an indoor pool, a hot-stone sauna, a hot tub and a massage room for one or two.
Catering
The estate runs its own restaurant in the former barn, with 45 covers, three lounges and a 20-seat terrace. It opens Monday to Saturday evenings and at lunch by reservation for groups of 10 to 110. For larger receptions the hosts work with a partner caterer.
History and setting
Cédric found the farm buildings in 2009, after ten years of neglect, and spent three years restoring them himself before opening the guest rooms, the gîte and the reception room. The one-hectare wooded grounds lead directly to the village pond and its two old wash-houses, which give the place its name.
Getting there
The address is 27 rue des Lavandières, 02140 Fontaine-lès-Vervins, in the Thiérache countryside near Vervins. Free private parking takes 40 cars.
