TREEHOUSES : LIVING THE HIGH LIFE | 1 Jour 1 Doc | M6

Sleeping in treehouses more than five meters off the ground, whether luxurious or rustic, has become the latest trend to win over the French.

There are now thousands of them across the country, and in 2025 people in France spent nearly €4.5 billion to sleep under the stars. Families like the Martins, who are getting ready to spend their first night up in the trees with their children.

And yet… when Emmanuel and Gaspard launched their venture 25 years ago, people thought they were crazy. Treehouse hotels would never work, they were told; it was just a passing fad. A quarter of a century later, Coucoo Cabanes has firmly rooted this kind of getaway in French travel habits, fueled by a love of offbeat weekends, unplugged vacations and a return to nature. This October, the two pioneers, now leaders in the sector, are opening their eighth treehouse hotel, near the Château de Chambord in the Sologne region. From massive construction work designed to protect the forest to opening day, we followed the first steps of this one-of-a-kind hotel, complete with spa, hot tubs and breathtaking views over the canopy.

Rémi, meanwhile, always has his head in the clouds, constantly racking his brains. In the middle of a forest in the Lot, he designs treehouse models and the walkways that will attach them to the trees without harming them. Some even look like castles. It’s a childhood dream that some homeowners are willing to spend tens of thousands of euros on, just to have one in their own backyard. A far cry from the treehouses of our childhood, knocked together with a few old planks and nails…