A membership to give
Give a place
Some gifts bring pleasure for a few hours. Others can accompany someone for a lifetime. Les Chevaliers de l’Astrée offers a lasting connection with a real natural place.
The membership is paid once and is valid for life, with no annual fee or renewal. Taking part in gatherings and activities remains entirely optional.
An original gift for a birthday, a birth, a wedding or retirement — and for anyone who loves nature, landscapes and stories that continue over time.
A surprising gift: who would expect a simple bag to contain a connection with an orchard, a meadow or an olive grove — and an invitation to join Les Chevaliers de l’Astrée?
One payment
No annual membership fee.
Valid for life
The connection has no expiry date.
Near or far
Everyone experiences it in their own way.
No ownership
Membership grants no ownership right or exclusive use of the land.
Somewhere in the world
Most gifts are something. Here, the gift is somewhere.
A path where the grass grows back. A pond where dragonflies return. An old apple tree flowering in spring. Olive and almond trees under a different light.
The gift begins on the day it is given, then continues through the seasons. The estate evolves, new stories are added and the connection remains.
Time is on their side
The gift can be experienced in person… or from afar
There is nothing to achieve, no deadline and no requirement to be present. Some people simply follow a place from home. Others may one day include it in a journey.
From afar
News and stories from the estate show what changes through the seasons and extend the discovery from home.
On site
A gathering, a harvest, a walk or a simple stop can become the moment when a place followed from afar finally becomes familiar.
A journey to imagine
In a few months or ten years from now, the gift may inspire a stay in the Berry, around La Roche-Posay or in Aragon.
Sometimes, simply knowing that a place continues to live somewhere can bring quiet comfort, day after day.
Three estates, three characters
Each estate has its own character, light and story.
Water and peaceful landscapes at Les Eaux de Velours. Orchards, hedges and paths at Les Mille Légendes. Stone, olive trees, almond trees and Mediterranean light at Les Terres d’Aragon.
Les Eaux de Velours
For those who love water, trees, birds and landscapes that seem to slow time.
Les Mille Légendes
For those who love living countryside, apple trees, paths and the memory held by old trees.
Les Terres d’Aragon
For those who love Mediterranean horizons, olive trees, almond trees and stone villages.
The gift continues after it is opened
A plot to find again. A Fellowship that continues to grow.
The QR code on the card or digital document allows the beneficiary, after accepting the charter of Les Chevaliers de l’Astrée, to discover the location of the plot or plots connected with the membership.
The beneficiary also receives a personal code. If they wish, it can be used to create a personal space and enter the Fellowship, with estate news, Carnets, gatherings and the Imaginaire de l’Astrée. Creating this space is entirely optional.
Not creating a personal space does not affect the membership or the connection with the plot or plots.
Membership also includes a personal, lifelong right to use the coat of arms of Les Chevaliers de l’Astrée, in accordance with the organisation’s charter.
Four memberships, two ways to give
The same lifelong connection. A different presentation.
The entry membership at Les Eaux de Velours is digital. The other three memberships are postal. Current prices are shown on the Join page.
Les Eaux de Velours — digital version
Personalised documents, the QR code and personal code are prepared digitally. You can pass them on at the chosen date with no postal delivery.
Three memberships — postal version
For Les Eaux de Velours, Les Mille Légendes or Les Terres d’Aragon, personalised documents are printed and gathered with the welcome letter, card, linen bag and seasonal discovery items.
The person placing the order chooses and personalises the gift. The membership is established in the beneficiary’s name: they become the member of Les Chevaliers de l’Astrée and may choose the honorary title of Dame or Chevalier if they wish.
In both cases
- Personalise. Choose the membership, add a personal dedication and indicate the date on which the gift should be given.
- Pass it on. Give or send the gift in the chosen digital or postal form.
- Activate — optional. With the personal code, the beneficiary may create their personal space and enter the Fellowship if they wish.
- Discover. With the QR code and after accepting the charter, the beneficiary can locate the plot or plots connected with the membership and follow the estate from afar.
A tangible form, without making it the heart of the gift
The bag accompanies the first day. The place accompanies the years that follow.
Inside the bag, the documents are gathered in a card folder that protects them and accompanies their discovery, page by page. The whole is protected for posting in a card envelope.
The card, certificate, letter and Pépins give the gift a tangible beginning. What matters most starts afterwards: the connection with a place, a community and a story that continues.
Non-contractual photograph. The presentation and contents of the bag and folder may evolve with the months, seasons and harvests.
Behind the gift
Real actions for real places
Each membership helps the non-profit organisation plant, care for hedges and orchards, preserve ponds, maintain paths, observe the living world and pass on the history of the estates.
Care
Trees, hedges, orchards, ponds and paths need modest but regular attention.
Observe
Seasons, species and changes are documented so they remain visible and understandable.
Pass it on
News, stories and gatherings connect people with the memory and future of these places.
A story that takes its time
The gift does not end on the day it is given.
Today
Someone discovers that their name is now connected with a real place in the story of Les Chevaliers de l’Astrée.
Through the seasons
The estate changes, new stories are added and the relationship develops without imposing anything.
Much later
The place is still there. It can be followed from afar, found again on a map or perhaps visited one day.
Give something other than an object
Some gifts do not gain value with time. They gain life.
Perhaps the finest part of the gift is not the moment of surprise, but the story that begins that day.
Membership connects the beneficiary’s name with one or more referenced plots within a real place. It grants no ownership right or exclusive use and does not constitute an official naming of the land.