Their next chapter grows around family, hospitality, old buildings, wine, nature and time.<\/p>\n
At Le Moulin, in the Lot region of south west France, time moves differently.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur motto is pleasure, not pressure,\u201d Deirdre says.<\/p>\n
The Le Moulin Collection<\/a> of villas, currently centred on Le Moulin and Le Malbec<\/a>, is designed to feel effortless, but the ease has been carefully engineered before guests\u2019 arrival.<\/p>\n Le Moulin sur C\u00e9l\u00e9 – a villa for 10 guests<\/p>\n Behind the old stone, soft beds, refitted kitchens and charming French interiors is a huge amount of instinct.<\/p>\n The heat pumps, modern bathrooms, air conditioning and USB points are tucked quietly away so the place still feels homely and rustic.<\/p>\n Guests are given time because someone else has already spent it carefully.<\/p>\n \u201cLuxury, to me, is about feeling cared for,\u201d Deirdre says.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s about somebody having thought about what the guest will experience.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s what we\u2019ve always tried to do. In a simple way, not in an ostentatious way.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The sunset view from Le Malbec, overlooking the vineyard at Le Moulin sur C\u00e9l\u00e9. Photo by Rachel McLaughlin<\/p>\n Le Malbec, a former winemaker\u2019s barn transformed into a romantic retreat for two at Le Moulin sur C\u00e9l\u00e9.<\/p>\n At Le Moulin, guests can be left completely alone if that is what they want. Or they can ask for help with dinner deliveries, massages, private chefs, and maid service.<\/p>\n It is self-catering, but with the instincts of a hotel behind it.<\/p>\n Marc and Deirdre live just up the lane in a cottage also under conversion.<\/p>\n The ap\u00e9ro is also where guests get to know the family, and the family get the opportunity to endear them to their story. The connection is part of what keeps Le Moulin turning.<\/p>\n Deirdre McGlone serves ros\u00e9 during the Wednesday evening ap\u00e9ro at Le Moulin sur C\u00e9l\u00e9. Photo by Rachel McLaughlin<\/p>\n Guests gather for the weekly ap\u00e9ro at Le Moulin sur C\u00e9l\u00e9 in June. Photo by Rachel McLaughlin<\/p>\n The Gysling\/McGlone family at Le Moulin sur C\u00e9l\u00e9: Carl, Marc, Deirdre, Christina and James. Photo by Rachel McLaughlin<\/p>\n Below the old mill, the C\u00e9l\u00e9 flows gently past, framed by striking limestone cliffs that characterise the Causses du Quercy natural park.<\/p>\n \u201cContinuous improvement, both in the property and in people, was always our philosophy at Harvey\u2019s Point too,\u201d Deirdre says.<\/p>\n \u201cThe river runs past but we can\u2019t sit still and wait for something to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n Each Friday morning it\u2019s all hands on deck to changeover the 5-bed Moulin villa for the next arrivals.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re back to the basics of how we first met,\u201d Deirdre says.<\/p>\n \u201cMarc was in the kitchen at Harvey\u2019s Point and I was on reception. We both started by doing all the basic jobs.<\/p>\n \u201cNow we\u2019re back doing that ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n Deirdre McGlone and Marc Gysling walk down the walnut tree-lined lane to Le Moulin for Friday changeover. Photo by Rachel McLaughlin<\/p>\n The Friday changeover team at Le Moulin sur C\u00e9l\u00e9: Patrick Velu, Audrey Rizo, Sabrina Carteau, James Gysling, Karen, Marc Gysling and Deirdre McGlone. Photo by Rachel McLaughlin<\/p>\n Patrick Velu begins gardening maintenance at Le Moulin sur C\u00e9l\u00e9 during changeover day. Photo by Rachel McLaughlin<\/p>\n On changeover day, Le Moulin moves to a different rhythm. There is a flurry of linens, toolboxes, gardening, flower arranging, replenishing the tower bar.<\/p>\n \u201cIt takes a village to make a village\u201d, says Deirdre.<\/p>\n Deirdre and Marc are in the middle of it, alongside their three children now aged in their 20s. Christina, who has studied hotel management, helps with the ap\u00e9ro, while Carl, who studied architecture, and James, who studied business, are both about to graduate and have contributed to the business in many ways. Everyone has a role.<\/p>\n For Deirdre, a local girl from Ballintra who first worked in catering from the age of 13, hospitality has always been about people. Marc, the Swiss-born hotelier who set up his home in Donegal with his late brother Jody, helped build that ethos over three decades.<\/p>\n \u201cCompared to Harvey\u2019s Point, this is a doll\u2019s house,\u201d Marc says of Le Moulin.<\/p>\n Marc Gysling gets to work during Friday changeover at Le Moulin sur C\u00e9l\u00e9. Photo by Rachel McLaughlin<\/p>\n Patrick Velu below and Deirdre McGlone above during changeover day at Le Moulin sur C\u00e9l\u00e9. Photo by Rachel McLaughlin<\/p>\n There\u2019s still work to be done daily, but the weight and worry of running a renowned 77-room family hotel with 160 staff has lifted.<\/p>\n In hindsight, the timing of the sale before the Covid-19 pandemic brought another kind of relief<\/p>\n \u201cWe would have been under the bus, emotionally as well,\u201d she says. \u201cI would have been so concerned for everybody\u2019s mortgages, not to mention our own,\u201d Deirdre says.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a small family-run business, even though we were getting bigger and busier, we were still just the two of us with the bank.<\/p>\n \u201cLike any business, it always needed further investment.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery summer, the business did well and we put money away for the next project.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were still doing that, but we were still in bed with the bank.\u201d<\/p>\n Deirdre McGlone chooses wildflowers from her garden to decorate Le Moulin ahead of the next guests\u2019 arrival. Photo by Rachel McLaughlin<\/p>\n The finishing touches at Le Moulin sur C\u00e9l\u00e9, where Deirdre McGlone prepares a welcome basket and personalised card for incoming guests. Photo by Rachel McLaughlin<\/p>\n With growth came huge personal risk.<\/p>\n \u201cWe remortgaged our house twice, twice, and that really annoyed me,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the first things we did after we sold was get our house back into our own names.\u201d<\/p>\n Looking back now, she says they did not always realise how close they were to danger.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were so naive,\u201d Deirdre says.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were on the edge of the cliff so many times and we didn\u2019t know how close we were.<\/p>\n \n You may also be interested in\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThen the recession came and we realised, \u2018This is serious stuff. If this goes wrong, we are in trouble.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI remember our bank manager saying to me one time, “You are running that hotel with your heart, not your head,” because we were all about the customer and we were not looking at the profit.\u201d<\/p>\n That heart-first approach was part of the magic of Harvey\u2019s Point<\/a>. The hotel was crowned TripAdvisor\u2019s No. 1 hotel in Ireland for five consecutive years, while also ranking 10th in Europe in 2017.<\/p>\n The hotel gave them a remarkable story, but it took a lot too.<\/p>\n \u201cHarvey\u2019s came first,\u201d Deirdre says.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is no doubt it came first many times.\u201d<\/p>\n Marc, she says, was the stay at home parent, while Deirdre was often travelling for Harvey\u2019s Point, doing sales and marketing, representing Donegal tourism or volunteering with female entrepreneurs through Acorns and the Donegal Women in Business Network.<\/p>\n Deirdre McGlone and Marc Gysling at Ch\u00e2teau de Haute-Serre in the Lot region of southwest France. Photo by Rachel McLaughlin<\/p>\n The French chapter has now given the family moments to cherish together.<\/p>\n Deirdre describes it as a \u201ccommon purpose\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was every chance or possibility that, once we had sold the hotel, Marc and I would slide off into retirement and the kids would go off to their different corners of the world. And nothing wrong with that. That happens in a lot of families,” Deirdre says.<\/p>\n \u201cBut it just happened that the kids are following their own dreams and we haven\u2019t burdened them with the headache of a big property like Harvey\u2019s Point was.<\/p>\n \u201cBut they have got something here that they can mix as a holiday and a business and a lifestyle.\u201d<\/p>\n The children now \u201cdip in and dip out\u201d, while Marc and Deirdre continue to run the operational side.<\/p>\n The Tower Bar at Le Moulin, with James Gysling pictured in the background. Photo by Rachel McLaughlin<\/p>\n Christina Gysling with guest Marisa during the weekly ap\u00e9ro at Le Moulin sur C\u00e9l\u00e9. Photo by Rachel McLaughlin<\/p>\n Life in France has also forced a different pace.<\/p>\n Deirdre describes this corner of the Lot as \u201cmore rural than rural Donegal\u201d.<\/p>\n It has taken time to adjust.<\/p>\n \u201cI never used to be able to really relax,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n \u201cIf I\u2019d go for a walk, it would be to get the walk done. Now we go for a walk to really experience nature.<\/p>\n \u201cThe slower pace is beginning to suit me. I\u2019m not there yet!\u201d<\/p>\n In the local community, they are neither locals nor tourists.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re kind of in between and accepted as the mad Irish people from down the road,\u201d Deirdre says.<\/p>\n They worked to build that trust from the beginning.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the first things we did was invite the whole community down to the big house for a party by the river,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n \u201cBit by bit, they saw the project evolving.<\/p>\n \u201cI think there\u2019s a certain pride in the area when people see an old house being maintained, and lived in and loved.\u201d<\/p>\n Relax by the river at Le Moulin sur C\u00e9l\u00e9. Photo by Rachel McLaughlin<\/p>\n Le Moulin, which sleeps 10 across five bedrooms. Photo by Rachel McLaughlin<\/p>\n The terrace at Le Moulin sur C\u00e9l\u00e9, overlooking the peaceful French countryside. Photo by Rachel McLaughlin<\/p>\n Le Moulin sur C\u00e9l\u00e9. Photo by Rachel McLaughlin<\/p>\n That sense of stewardship has become part of the project.<\/p>\n After buying Le Moulin in 2020, Marc and Deirdre continued to invest in nearby buildings. In 2021, they bought Le S\u00e9choir, a former tobacco drying building, and La Cave, an idyllic old house with shuttered windows, which includes La Grangette, where farm animals were once kept.<\/p>\n Le Moulin itself sleeps 10 across five bedrooms, while Le Malbec is the newest property to be offered for guests this summer – a one-bedroom romantic retreat for two overlooking the vineyard.<\/p>\n The bedroom Le Malbec, a luxury retreat for couples at the Le Moulin Collection in southwest France.<\/p>\n Harvey, the Gysling family dog, pictured at Le Malbec. Photo by Rachel McLaughlin<\/p>\n A successful harvest from their own vineyard has produced 300 litres of wine – more than they know what to do with, but there was plenty of cause for toasting a glass or two in the home of the malbec grape.<\/p>\n Deirdre says they are not wine experts and make no claim to be. Groundskeeper Patrick Velu brought generations of local winemaking knowledge to the first bottling experience.<\/p>\n Their own wine is not for sale yet. Deirdre laughs that it is \u201cnot that good\u201d and is mainly for gifts.<\/p>\n \u201cIt makes you feel all warm inside,\u201d Deirdre says. \u201cIt\u2019s a full-bodied wine rather than a light one. Not in terms of the alcohol content, but in its make-up.<\/p>\n \u201cI find it fascinating that, by chance, we found ourselves living in the home of a wine we love.\u201d<\/p>\n The first wine harvest to be gathered by the Gysling and McGlone family. Photo by Rachel McLaughlin<\/p>\n Sip Malbec and slow down at Le Malbec. Photo by Rachel McLaughlin<\/p>\n But the meaning is in the making. The wine, like much of the project, has taught the family that not everything moves according to schedule.<\/p>\n The first two years brought disappointment. The grapes grew beautifully, but by the time they thought about harvesting, it was too late.<\/p>\n \u201cThe grapes disappeared almost overnight because the birds and wild animals treated themselves first,\u201d Deirdre says.<\/p>\n They moved earlier last autumn.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/lsquo-the-biggest-gift-is-time-rsquo-deirdre-and-marc-on-family-life-abroad-after-harvey-rsquo-s.jpg\")
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