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Château de la Preuille joins the Dakar Rally in 2021

The Dakar Rally, renowned for being the biggest and toughest off-road race in the world, will have one of our very own Vendéen châtelains among its participants in 2021. In just a few day’s time, Paul Las van Bennekom of Château de la Preuille will be joining the Dakar Press Team for the 7600 kilometer race, a dream come true for the Dutch expat! Founded by Thierry Sabine in 1978, the race formerly known as Paris-Dakar is now called “The Dakar”. From 2009 to 2019 it was forced to move to South-America due to security threats. Since 2020 the drivers face the arduous adventure in Saudi Arabia. Is Paul ready for the challenge?Chasing dreams is par for the course in the life of Paul Las van Bennekom and his wife Sandra. Last year they bought the lovely Château de la Preuille in Saint Hilaire de Loulay located in beautiful Montaigu-Vendée …

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A radical life-choice and a patrimony restoration project

For 15 years we were happy on the east side of Paris. My husband, Paul, with his international career for Disney, and I myself was happy as a full-time mother of our four children. Life was good, stable, and every project in the house was done. But when our children became teenagers, Paul had seen too many airports, and I myself needed new challenges. More and more, we discussed what new adventures we could experience. For both of us it was clear: we wanted a change in life. On our wish list was: living in a sunnier area, closer to the sea, old building with character and a terrain with endless possibilities, close to a big city and a train station nearby. It seemed like searching for a needle in the haystack. In the spring of 2019 we made a road trip that started in Biarritz. In advance we made …