Stylist’s deputy editor Susan Riley devours every wine, cheese and crêpe in her path as she tours the vineyard-rich region of Burgundy

If you’ve ever harboured a desire to buy a crop of dilapidated outbuildings in rural France and slowly convert them into a series of swanky crashpads, then I’d recommend going to steal a few ideas from Le Domaine des Prés Verts first, because they’ve been there, done that, and done it very well indeed.

Located in the sleepy hamlet of Pochey, deep in the heart of France’s Burgundy region (half way between Paris and Geneva, so a perfect stop-off driving south), finding said outbuildings – now four years old – is all very Penelope Pitstop. Too off the grid for sat nav, you pootle through one village, then the next and are about to turn round when out of nowhere, you spot – like a giant doorstop – a fully restored Citroën 2CV car, majestically black and shiny with the words Bourgogne Chic emblazoned down the side. It’s a stylish welcome, especially when your own car is now so scattered with croissant crumbs that it’s like travelling in a mobile bakery.

Escape routes: live the rural dream in one of France's famed wine regions