Information
Description inside property: Located within the beautiful walled garden of our own 19th century home, the cottage accommodation consists of an open plan lounge/kitchen, with stairs leading off to two bedrooms. There is one double bedded room, and a smaller room that contains a full size bunk bed.
Sorry - the gite is not suitable for children under 8, due to an unfenced goldfish pond in the grounds. Babies are fine, we can supply a travel cot and highchair - please bring your own baby's bedding.
By popular request, it's "non-smoking" indoors, please.
The kitchen is equipped for four people, complete with a gas cooker/oven, a microwave, and a full size fridge/freezer.
Outside is a complete set of patio furniture, plus two sunloungers, and a charcoal barbecue.
Complying with French law, the swimming pool is fitted with an approved alarm, and there is additional poolside seating.
There are electric convector heaters for those chillier evenings!
Description outside property: On your doorstep, you will find -
Two bakers, a butcher, a SPAR shop, a superb restaurant, a bank, a chemist, a hairdresser .......................
In short, everything you need for day-to-day living!
A short stroll down a country road leads to another restaurant, with a terrace overlooking a beautiful lake.
Additional Information
Description of local area and activities: A few minutes drive will take to to the nearest hypermarket at Chalais, which has an excellent open air market on Mondays.
There are many more "traditional" open air markets......lakeside swimming.......excellent walking......open air concerts......wine......really friendly "locals"......canoeing......horse riding......more wine......distilleries......quad biking......pretty villages......jet skiing......tennis......extensive fishing...... even more wine......river trips......ancient churches and beautiful country estates......you can even trek with llamas!
The list is endless!
Every local village seems to host its own festivities on different weekends during the summer!
For a great shopping experience, the cities of Angouleme (40 minutes), or Bordeaux (55 minutes), will not disappoint! Both have an interesting mixture of small specialist shops, and superb extensive shopping centres.
The ancient walled city of Angouleme also has annual events such as the Comic Festival, and an autumn Motor Cavalcade around the city ramparts.
Should you wish to have a day off from driving, both can be reached by train from the nearest railway station at Chalais.
A little further afield, Cognac will be a town familiar to most, being the centre of the "cognac trail", with many distilleries waiting to welcome you on their tours!
About an hours drive away will take you to the stunning Gironde estuary, with beautiful sandy swimming beaches a little further north.
Then there's La Rochelle, with its offshore islands, Futuroscope, Poitiers, the "Valley of the Apes".......!