Charente sunflower

Luxury gite holidays with the wow factor

Luxury Vendee Villa

La Caillère-Saint-Hilaire, Vendée, Pays de la Loire

LuxuryVendeeVillapoolThis luxury self- catering modern manor house in the Vendée area of France is the perfect holiday rental choice for large families or friends staying together.

This beautiful French gite offers a modern interior with tasteful furnishings throughout, being newly built and set in two acres of peaceful private grounds, providing garden space for all the family.

It benefits from a south facing sun terrace and a gorgeous heated salt-water pool.

It sleeps 14 plus babies in 7 bedrooms with 6 bathrooms, including 2 master suites with ensuite & private balcony/terrace.

A welcoming village with shops and restaurant are within easy walking distance. Breathtaking sand stretched beaches within a convenient drive through the French countryside.    Offering all year round accommodation, modern technology, highly insulated with underfloor heating throughout

Prices start from £3450 to £4950 per week.  Find out more about Luxury Vendee Villa.

 

La Grange Gite, Dordogne

Razac-de-Saussignac, Dordogne, Aquitaine

La Grange gite, DordogneLa Grange Sud – a beautiful farmhouse, in a stunning area of the Dordogne, close to the pretty towns of Bergerac, Duras and Eymet.

The location is a golfers heaven as the villa overlooks the fairways of Vigiers, one of the best golf resorts in the South West of France.

With four en suite luxury bedrooms, the villa can accommodate up to eight adults, two children and two infants.

Facilities include a very affordable optional chef with a range of dining experiences, heated pool with retractable cover, complimentary WIFI, UK satellite TV with full sports package, air conditioning, safes, supersize trampoline, plasma TV, hundreds of DVD’s, large selection of new bikes and helmets in 3 sizes, golf trolleys, clubs and bags, book library, board games, flat screen TV’s in bedrooms.

A heated pool is at the centre of the private pool area. A retractable cover and night lighting ensures the pool can be enjoyed continuously from Easter to the end of October, with a guaranteed minimum temperature of 24 degrees.

Guests can choose whether to relax by the pool, enjoy a range of beauty treatments without leaving the farmhouse, cycle through the large network of quiet lanes, taste the famous local wines of St Emilion and Monbazillac, visit the colourful Issigeac market, enjoy Canoeing and go karting, sample the delights of L’Imparfait in Bergerac, one of the many wonderful restaurants, or enjoy a peaceful round of golf at Chateau Vigiers, followed by a golfers massage at the house – La Grange Sud is a wonderful holiday venue with something for everyone at any time of the year!

Holidays at La Grange Gite, Dordogne start from £1000 per week.

 

Roussillon Farmhouse

Vilallonga dels Monts, Pyrénées-Orientales, Languedoc-Roussillon

RoussillonFarmhousePoolThis stunning converted Farmhouse in the Roussillon area of France, near the Med, overs stunning views and fabulous facilities.

The character French Farmhouse sleeps 10 + cots. 5 bedrooms & 4 bathrooms. You have exclusive use swimming pool and private garden.

There are also smaller gites available in the same grounds, sleeping 2 to 32 +
Cots, ideal for large families, Anniversaries, Special Occasions, Group / Activity Holidays / Zumba-BootCamp (Health & Fitness).

 

 

Château de Seguin

Lignan-de-Bordeaux, Gironde, Aquitaine

Chateau de Seguin

Take over this superb castle of the eighteenth century fully renovated as holiday cottage.

Just 15 kms from the center of Bordeaux, its location in the heart of a vineyard of 170 hectares is simply perfect!

With 6 bedrooms, all equipped with a bathroom, and many rooms with high volume (veranda, lounge, games room and reading room, billiard room, large kitchen, dining room), the castle can accommodate up to 13 people.

You can also relax in the swimming pool and take your tackle down to the private fishing lake.

Holidays at Château de Sequin start from £417 per night.

 

 

Pagel

Catus, Lot, Midi-Pyrénées

Pagal

Pagan offers a cluster of 9 gites and lodges in the Lot, Midi-Phyrénées.

Perfect for family holidays with young children, you’ll find an  abundance of baby/toddler and children’s toys and facilities including pools, playbarn, pirate ship, teepee, fort and all in the most beautiful garden setting.

Gardens and pools are fully enclosed so the kids can run free whilst parents have a truly relaxing break meeting like-minded families who are all about creating magical family moments.

In each child and baby friendly gite/self catering apartment we provide all possible practical items that a Mum or Dad could want in a home from home, so you can relax knowing that the bed guard, baby monitor or steriliser or indeed anything you ask for, is provided. The toy box and English books allow us to move away from placing televisions in the gites and holiday friends encourage interactive play. Child friendly holidays in France are rarely this practical and magical for kids and adults alike.

For adults we offer a ‘Chef for the Night’ service, a weekly BBQ, massages, manicures and pedicures, mid stay cleans, welcome baskets, wine, adult seating areas, shaded areas with sofas near the pool, English baby sitters and COOK food.

You can holiday in France at Pagel from £960 per week.

 

Domaine de Peyrecraty

Belvès, Dordogne, Aquitaine

peyrecatypool

Peyrecraty offers nine beautiful cottages in the Dordogne.

These fully equipped detached houses, farmhouses and French Villas each have a garden, barbecue & alfresco dining areas.

They are surrounded by fields, meadows, orchards and woodland with wonderful views across the valley and countryside.

Facilities include a heated pool (28°) and paddling pool, an indoor toy barn, adventure playground, sand play area, toys, bikes, climbing frames, slides.  For the grown ups you can have a go at tennis, badminton, table tennis, football, pétanque.

There is a bar on the grounds plus a weekly barbecue. Croissants are delivered fresh each day for breakfast plus you can head to the bar for freshly brewed coffee served in the mornings

There’s also free Wi-Fi and extra services such as massage and babysitting.

Domaine de Peyrecaty is surrounded by award winning villages (Belves, Beynac, Domme, La Roque Gageac, Castelnaud, Limeuil, Monpazier & St Leon sur Vezere)

Domaine de Peyrecaty from £1125 to £2925 per week

 

Le Helleguy

Quistinic, Morbihan, Brittany

Helleguy

LE HELLEGUY is a peaceful hamlet of detached, thatched Breton cottages, nestling in the heart of the beautiful Blavet Valley, in Southern Brittany.

Surrounded by scenic countryside, meadow fields, woodland & quiet country lanes, the hamlet has a lot to offer, including its accommodation in two spacious luxury cottages, LA CHAUMIERE and LA GRANGE

Renting the cottages together under the hamlet name ‘LE HELLEGUY’ provides in total 7 bedrooms (3 king-sized, two of which have en-suite facilities & 4 twins, each with two twin divan beds). One of the master king-sized bedrooms with en-suite facilities is on the ground floor in La Chaumiere – ideal if managing stairs is a problem or if ground floor accommodation is required.

Everything you need is provided including modern facilities such as WIFI internet access, IPod Docking Station, large LCD flat screen TV, HiFi & DVD/Video players.

The undercover heated swimming pool has a security fence enclosing its patio area, sun lounges, cushions & parasols. Outdoor games, swings, slides, table tennis etc. are provided
SPA treatments are also available.

The coast is an easy 30 minute drive to the nearest recommended family beaches

Le Helleguy from £1225 to £3700 per week

 

Les Chardonnerets

Mouzeuil-Saint-Martin, Vendée, Pays de la Loire

Chardonnerets gite, pay de loire

With 12 bedrooms and sleeping up to 24, Les Chardonnerets was created from a farmhouse and adjacent barn, joined to form a single property, and provides an ideal holiday venue for large family parties and groups of friends.

Located in the village of Mouzeuil St Martin in the South Vendée, Les Chardonnerets is holiday rental property that is equally appealing to multi-generational and all-adult groups. T

he social heart of Les Chardonnerets is the large kitchen / dining area.
The kitchen is arranged to make catering for large groups easy, with two hobs, two large ovens, two dishwashers, ample fridge space and, of course, plenty of pans & crockery plus tables seating 24 in comfort. Outside, but next to the kitchen is a large covered dining area with a view of the pool.

This also has tables seating 24 (or more!) with a gas BBQ and outdoor “kitchen” including a fridge for al fresco dining. A further charcoal BBQ is available. Off from the kitchen is the smaller of the two sitting rooms. Seating 10, this has TV/DVD (including English language channels) and Hifi equipment plus bookcase and sideboard full of games & toys.
An attractive oak staircase leads from here to five of the 12 bedrooms.

In total the property has seven bath / shower rooms, three of which are en-suite. Les Chardonnerets is a very child-friendly property. Stair gates are fitted top & bottom of staircases. We provide several high chairs, sterilisers, a bottle warmer, change tables and plenty of children’s crockery for your use.

Outside, the large swimming pool (12 by 6m plus a paddling pool to the side for younger children) is heated for comfort and fenced for security. There is a play area with swings, slides, playhouse, trampoline, etc, and plenty of space for games. The rear of the property is enclosed. There is also an enclosed front garden. Car parking is available front and rear for up to ten cars.

Les Chardonnerets from 7200€ to 7200€ per week

No-fly Family Holidays

 

An interesting question was posed to me earlier this year… is it possible to take a no-fly family holiday in the south of France?

Answering the question became this year’s summer family holiday.

The children and I discussed the question over supper late one evening in May; whether we jump in the car, or sit back and let the boat or train take the proverbial strain. And at this stage, I’ll be honest with you, I have taken many road trips through France and love exploring the country by road, but the thought of driving 9 hours to the south of France this summer – even with an overnight stop – didn’t thrill me.

So here was the challenge, could we catch the train? How long would it take? Where would we arrive? How much would it cost?

Some research later, our journey was laid out in front of us, London St Pancras to Paris Gare du Nord, taxi transfer to Paris Gare de Lyon and 3 and a half hours later, we’d arrive in Aix-en-Provence.

With both rail journeys booked with Voyages-sncf.com, return via Lille instead of Paris, we set out to plan the rest of our holiday.

All aboard…
Passengers for the 09.30am Eurostar were being called to proceed to check-in when we arrived at St Pancras, spending 10 minutes through security and passport control, left us with enough time to grab a coffee and croissants before boarding. For those of you who have yet to experience the Eurostar, boarding is by a set of escalators that take you up and on to the platform, tickets are always sold with seat reservations so it’s just a case of finding your coach and seats.

My only suggestion to Eurostar would be to find a way to inform passengers on how and where to store their luggage when boarding. I found too many people trying to wedge their cases within the racks at the entrance to the coach, including us, only to find there is more luggage space within the carriage.

My two; my 12 year-old daughter and 10 year-old son, had come prepared with magazines, iPad, phones and headphones and were quite happily passing the time on the train. I had my own passé-temps and quite happy to read. So far so good.

Feeling hungry as we arrived at a busy Paris Nord station at lunchtime, we decided to get a taxi to Gare de Lyon and eat there. Tip: Always ensure you pick up an official taxi from the taxi rank outside the station (turn right as you hit the main concourse from the platform) and ignore the often heard ‘taxi?’. The trip across the city via taxi to the Gare de Lyon is around 20 minutes and costs around 13€. With time to spare we had lunch.

Our TGV from platform thirteen left at 14.19h, a majestic double-decker train with a final destination of Marseille. A smooth ride that left us in Aix-en-Provence at 17.45h – we had arrived in Provence – and just in time to pick up our rental car.

We stayed the night in Aix, a historically important city dating back to Roman times, famous for its natural hot springs and home town of Paul Cézanne and Émile Zola.

We dined that evening in the centre, amongst the Aixois dancing in the streets, sipping pastis or a local rosé before heading off to one of the many restaurants that adorn the Cours Mirabeau.

Fayence
Our base for our 9-day holiday was the area around the picturesque hilltop village of Fayence, just north of Fréjus. We had booked ourselves a two-storey holiday home within the Domaine de Fayence holiday village run by Lagrange Holidays.

66072First impressions were of a clean, well-organised, pretty village with multi-coloured houses typical of the area. First stop… the pool, just before they closed for the evening at 8pm. A large pool, perfect for adults and children, swimmers and non-swimmers and lined with palm trees.

Our home slept 6, in 2 bedrooms and a sofa bed in the main lounge. A small kitchen and dining area enabled self-catering and a well-sized terrace allowed us to dine alfresco. With cars parked outside the main village centre, it was quiet and we had no problem sleeping after our day of exploring.

The French Riviera stretches from the border with Italy near Monaco to St Tropez/Hyeres in the west, and it was this area that I wanted my two children to explore and get to know.

During our stay we had lunch in St Tropez, a former 1960-70s ‘jet set’ destination, picked fruit and vegetables to bring home with us from the market in Fréjus; took an evening stroll amongst the lights of St Raphael and discovered Monte-Carlo – the luxurious district of Monaco.

We ventured further into the mountains on a few occasions, taking a dip in the warm aqua blue waters of the Gorges du Verdon and discovered the magnificent medieval village of Chateaudouble. On the one day it rained, we drove to Grasse, famed for its creation of perfumes and visited the workshop of its oldest creator, Fragonard. The workshop is free to enter and a guide explains the process they take to extract oils from plants from the region and around the world to create their famous scents. Did you know there are only 50 ‘noses’ in the world?

Our last full day was saved for Cannes, a personal favourite of mine and it didn’t disappoint. Boulevard de la Croisette looking as beautiful as I remember and the beaches and sea inviting us in – every wave that came in almost apologising for spoiling the tranquility. Driving in, parking and out again does take time, so prepare this time into your day, but it is well worth it.

We had an early start to our departure home, leaving our home in Domaine de Fayence at 7.30am, and catching the TGV from Aix at 9.30 bound for Brussels. This leg of our journey home, from Aix-en-Provence to Lille, was 5 hours in duration and gave me an opportunity to speak to some of our fellow passengers and particularly why they decided to take the train. Amongst many families, we met a Belgian family who live in Los Angeles and who had spent their holidays in the south of France. They were returning to Belgium before flying back to LA. They decided to take the train as a relaxing way for them all to see more of France. We also met a lady on her way home from a yoga retreat who had decided to make the trip by train to extend her relaxation break. A theme was beginning to take hold.

Further details:
Accommodation: Domaine de Fayence from Lagrange Holidays or call their reservations team on 020 7371 6111.   For guidance, prices started from £289/house/week, based on accommodation-only this summer (August 2016).

Book your train journey with Voyages-sncf.com The golden rule with booking rail travel is that the earlier you book, the lower priced the tickets will be. London to Aix en Provence starts from £121 return for adults and from £108 for children under 12 years of age. 12-24 year olds are classed as youths and their lead fare is from £118 return.

Fragonard Workshops: https://www.fragonard.com/en/factories