Oysters in all their forms at Domaine TarbouriechSleep among the oyster shells

Headboards made from recycled poles, forages and crates transformed into designer lamps2, all adorn the rooms at Domaine Tarbouriech. They are spread between a white château, a former Montpellier folly, and a barn topped with reeds. Florent Tarbouriech, the oyster farmer who created the premises, is concerned with the health of the 750-hectare lagoon, which shimmers between the pine trees. Hundreds of empty oyster valves whiten along the pathways and line the beds of the organic vegetable garden.

“My obsession is to serve Mediterranean oysters at the finest tables in France", says Florent Tarbouriech. At La Folie restaurant, close to the waters where they fatten for 14 to 24 months, chef Nicolas Leseurre offers them plain, with fennel foam, warmed with olive oil or other seasonal preparations. After an iodized aperitif at the “Les nacres” oyster bar, you can sample them on the terrace, in front of a monumental marble oyster, or among the restaurant's crates and works of art.

Housed in the old limestone cellars, the spa reproduces the pearly lair of a shell with frescoes and white curtains. Letting go begins with a massage using the bulging valves of oysters, followed by a session of balneotherapy. Ostreatherapy, Domaine Tarbouriech's unique concept, gives rise to lotions, dry oils and creams using the anti-oxidant active ingredients of oysters and marine principles. Designed in partnership with the Montpellier School of Chemistry, they are on sale on site.

It's hard to take your eyes off the Etang de Thau and its varying shades of blue. Between a beach and the Médithau oyster-farming site, Florent Tarbouriech's company, the cabanon St Barth extends over a long pontoon. Mussels and oysters swarm in three tanks, and shuckers are busy in the open-air site. The stars of the show are the large, pink Tarbouriech Spéciales, aged for over two years. Domaine guests reach the cabanon by pedaling through the vineyards.

“We were the first to master oyster farming by ex-ondation", says Florent Tarbouriech, who reproduces Atlantic tides in the Mediterranean. The flesh and shell of the mollusks, which are regularly removed from the water, are strengthened. By barge, with advance booking, we sail between the oyster tables. Thanks to wind turbines and solar power, the ropes supporting the shellfish rise and fall. Tying up nets against ravenous sea breams, paying attention to the slightest change in the pond, understanding the turbulent life of the oyster - the daily life of an oyster farmer is not short of salt.