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Direct booking, independent holiday breaks throughout France, in privately owned self catering country houses, cottages, gites and apartments, villas and traditional farmhouses, or in a choice of delightful Bed and Breakfast Chambres d'Hôtes. | |
Holiday Homes In France 1998-2008 |
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Traditional Fully Restored Farm Cottage with Pool
Near Penne-d'Agenais in the Lot Valley, Southwest France
Sleeps 4/6 in 2 twin-bedded rooms and 2 beds on a mezzanine
Petit Trel
Petit Trel is a traditional, stone-built cottage of character with a very attractive swimming pool (shared with the English owners), near Penne d'Agenais in the Lot Valley of South West France. There is no other hired accommodation on the 60-acre estate. It is situated in the ancient province of Agenais which, like neighbouring Dordogne and Quercy, is essentially rural in nature in a region much loved for the beauty of its undulating limestone plateaux and smiling valleys with verdant farms and orchards. Architecturally many of its fortified, hill-top villages (bastides, some built when the region was under the English Crown) have preserved their medieval character, and they still have their ancient markets.
The house, dated 1864, has been modernized in such a way as to preserve its traditional character (stone walls and exposed beams), and it enjoys a view of the valley from its south-facing windows. The accommodation comprises an entrance hall, two twin-bedded rooms, a bathroom with bath and shower fitting, hand basin and toilet, a second, separate toilet with hand basin, laundry room, glory hole, living-cum-dining room with kitchen, mezzanine with two additional beds and bedroom furniture, comfortably furnished with full, gas central heating. A child's cot and high chair are available.
The house is extremely well equipped with gas cooker, microwave oven, dishwasher, fridge with freezer, washing machine and dryer, and all the kitchen equipment you are likely to need, down to the last skewer and apple corer. We will send you a list so that you don't need to bring things needlessly. All bed linen and towels, including kitchen towels, are provided. The beds are provided with duvets. A TV set with combined video and DVD player receives French programmes and can be used to view a small library of English video cassettes and DVD's. There is a little flower garden with views across the valley, an enclosed courtyard that is frequently used as an outdoor dining area, with garden furniture (table, chairs, loungers, parasol), and a barbecue. There is covered parking. The building is adjacent to barns and outhouses. The main house, the former farmhouse, is nearby, screened by trees and quite separate. The site, part of a 60-acre estate, is served by a drive 100 yards long leading off a single-track, lightly used country road. It is very tranquil, and indeed `tranquillity' is one of the most-used words in our guest book. Guests are free to roam the extensive grounds surrounding the two houses. The pool, measuring 11m x 5m and with steps, is shared with the owners, who are accommodating if and when exclusive use is desired. It is a feature of striking design and greatly admired, built within the lowered, roofless walls of an old barn. The basin itself is surrounded by a generous area paved in natural stone for sun bathing, with solar-heated shower, sun loungers, a table, chairs and a large parasol. The water flows over the end of the pool overlooking the escarpment and the valley below. A children's paddling pool can be erected. The Area
For some of our guests, especially those with children, the pool and its surround seem to be irresistable and fill their days. For the sporty or merely energetic there are tennis courts, a golf course, riding stables, fishing in the lakes and rivers, canoeing on the rivers Lot and Dordogne and their tributaries, numerous, way-marked country walks, small, little-frequented country roads. Bicycles, with gears appropriate to our hills, may be hired locally. For the less `physical' there are farms that accept visitors, museums, including one for model trains and others for gastronomy and, of course, to tempt you to buy (foie gras, pruneaux), a very popular children's amusement park (40 minutes drive and not for the very young), and evening concerts (mainly in August). The nearest shops are in Penne d'Agenais (6 km) and, on the other bank of the river, St Sylvestre, where there is a supermarket and a farmers' market on certain days. There is a bigger supermarket and a bigger market, and an ancient bastide full of shops and restaurants, in Villeneuve-sur-Lot (16 km). The region is much loved for the beauty of its rural, limestone scenery of undulating plateaux incised by deep, smiling valleys with wooded slopes, mixed farms and fruit orchards. Local produce consists of the freshest of seasonal fruits and vegetables (best bought in the markets), and famously, foie gras, confit and magret de canard. A very local speciality is the pruneaux d'Agen: prunes more lightly dried than the Californian variety, used much in cooking and also delicious either as they come, stuffed, or encased in chocolate. The locality is in the middle of an extensive wine-growing region (the Bordelais, Bergerac, Montbaillac, Cahors, Buzet, Duras, Gaillac) though the property is not actually in any of those appellations. Many of the local restaurants serve these regional specialities of food and wine; others cater also for people with wider gastronomic enthusiasms. There are large and romantic castles (real ones, châteaux forts) to be visited. The countryside is liberally besprinkled with little, pale or honey-coloured, romanesque churches (of the style called Norman in England), larger ones, equally old with probably some of the best pre-Gothic sculpture in France, old towns and villages, and an astonishingly extensive wild-life population. Very many of the villages and towns are bastides: medieval new towns having in common a grid pattern of streets and arcaded squares. The houses, streets, churches and markets, dating from the 13th and 14th centuries, are still there and used. Travel Information
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Prices and booking information
The above prices are for one week, Saturday to Saturday, arriving after 4.30pm and departing before 10am Bed linen, bath towels, kitchen towels and bathing towels are included In the weeks 28/04 to 07/07 and 01/09 to 15/09 there is a discount of £50 per week for parties limited to two adults. A deposit of 20% is requested on booking with the remainder paid 6 weeks before arrival, together with a damage deposit of £150.
Telephone/Fax: 05 53 41 48 38 (International + 33 5 53 41 48 38) Please mention Vacation France when contacting the owner
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