The founder of L'Académie, Pauline BOUSSAC, has a wealth of professional experience in the hospitality sector. She first supervised the operation of large corporate restaurants. She then took on marketing functions to promote the Elior Group's corporate catering services. Subsequently, she worked to develop the loyalty of major customers of the Compass group (contract catering). In 2016, she set up her own hospitality consultancy. This led her to work with Interface, a company specializing in corporate hospitality and F&B venue programming.
In the course of her career, guided by her passion for passing on her knowledge, she has also forged close links with various schools, including Savignac and Ferrandi. Her aim is to share her entrepreneurial experience with students. Finally, in 2023, she opened the doors of her "heart" project, L'Académie.
An exceptional setting in southern Burgundy
Located in Leynes, a village of 500 inhabitants, L'Académie takes full advantage of the charm of the Burgundy countryside. Leynes is located in the immediate vicinity of the Roche de Solutré, an iconic site for hikers and heritage enthusiasts. Easily accessible from Paris, Lyon or Geneva, its location makes it ideal for companies and individuals looking for a change of scenery... close by!
The venue itself boasts a hanging garden and ornamental pool, perfect for a refreshing dip in the heart of nature. What's more, the building housing L'Académie, with its 420 square meters spread over four levels, offers a breathtaking view of the 12th-century Romanesque church of Saint Vital de Leynes.
The Academy: a place focused on people
L'Académie offers a new type of hospitality, in a natural and inspiring setting, perfect for activities linked to work, reconnection and well-being. Much more than just a place to stay or hold corporate seminars, L'Académie is positioned as a hybrid space, halfway between a hotel and a family home. With a focus on letting go and creativity, L'Académie welcomes corporate employees by exfiltrating them from their daily environment to stimulate innovation and team cohesion.
Pauline BOUSSAC sees L'Académie as an artists' residence... for companies! As such, it is destined to play the role of a decentralized workplace, where employees can take part in one-off retreats throughout the year. They could take advantage of the opportunity to take stock of their strategic situation, while at the same time forging closer ties. "Finally, L'Académie is intended as an extra-urban dependency of the company. Employees would come here to work just as comfortably as at home, except that they would all be together.
The Academy is based on a simple but powerful idea: to put people at the heart of a shared experience. Here, everything is designed to encourage encounters, exchanges and personal and professional development.
The Academy aims to take employees away from the daily grind of the company
Pauline BOUSSAC named the atmosphere of her place after her observations. She notes that, "in the professional sphere as much as in the private sphere, we all need 'elsewhere'. In these 'exotic' places, we can cultivate, recharge, share,
create, federate, celebrate and more. The challenge at L'Académie is to satisfy all these needs in a single location. The aim is for employees to make the most of their stay at L'Académie to become more effective ".
In keeping with the etymological origins of the term, L'Académie remains a place for the transmission of knowledge and skills, as part of a corporate seminar, for example. But it is also a place for personal development through activities centered on art, gastronomy and oenology. In such a propitious setting, it's only natural that everyone should give of their best. What's more, the name of the place is a nod to "La Star Academy". In the château where the show was filmed, multiple spaces allowed each candidate to express themselves through a variety of artistic forms.
The Academy is an integral part of the local economy
As part of a drive to revitalize rural areas, L'Académie plays a full part in local economic circuits. As Pauline BOUSSAC explains, L'Académie works with some thirty local partners on themes related to art, gastronomy and wine. Thanks to this network of partners, L'Académie offers a wide range of events and activities.
From aperitifs at the foot of the Roche de Solutré to local wine tastings in the presence of the winemaker. In such an enchanting setting, why not take a bike ride together along the vineyard paths? Or take part in a cooking or pastry-making workshop led by a Michelin-starred chef? According to Pauline BOUSSAC, "the idea is to reconnect different worlds. That's the whole point of this rural environment, which ultimately brings us back to our fundamentals.
Read also: Bureaulogie: the workplace of the future according to founder Simon VERGEOT.
A tailor-made experience for employees who need to let go
The Academy offers companies an immersive experience. Whether for strategic meetings, team retreats or training courses, each stay is tailor-made. Professionals benefit from a private setting and take advantage of the various spaces
spaces for exchange and creativity. Among the latter, Pauline BOUSSAC cites the music room equipped with a grand piano. Or the 18th-century cellar, ideal for conviviality. Or the large kitchen for collective culinary experiments!
The founder recalls the stay she recently organized for a large Lyon-based SME. "The staff were totally up for it, and the management committee managed to let go completely. The chairman even ended up cooking a boeuf bourguignon with the housekeeper at L'Académie. Afterwards, she published a LinkedIn post explaining that her DirCom had held its best strategy meeting in years! The post was illustrated by a photo of the assembly gathered around the grand piano in the music room.
As Pauline BOUSSAC admits, "It's a wonderful gift they've given me. This convivial atmosphere, this intimate, personal and professional side at the same time perfectly embodies the kind of atmosphere that is L'Académie's signature!"
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With L'Académie (Leynes, Mâconnais, South Burgundy), Pauline BOUSSAC reinvents hospitality
for companies and individuals. In an enchanting setting, she offers activities
art, gastronomy and wine. In this way, employees reconnect with each other and
become more productive, while letting go of their worries... far from their usual work environment!
work environment! Photo: (c) L'Académie. Video: (c) LaTDI and L'Académie. Music: (c) ES_Live Jam in
Polynesia - Arc De Soleil + (c) Jungle by Back on 74.
Author : Géronimo
