A DREAM HOLIDAY IN SOUTH WEST FRANCE

Holidays used to be like this. La Bastide d’Armagnac is a magical mediæval village – ancient, beautiful, peaceful, friendly.  You can hardly believe it’s real when you first enter the picturesque 13th century main square.

Together our traditional house and wonderfully converted barn offer, quite simply, one of the best holiday self-catering places to stay in the region. Though we are right in the village, less than 100 metres from the central square, the views are of countryside and gardens and there is complete privacy for our visitors – a safe place for children and a haven for stressed adults.  It’s a wonderful place at any season (both properties are centrally heated and the house has a huge open fireplace).

The house and barn are both fully equipped for 6-8 people, and are ideal either as 2 independently-rented  properties (there’s plenty of garden space and privacy from each other, though of course the pool is shared); or two or three families can rent both for a joint holiday together; or one extended family can take both together. The exact number of bed-spaces depends on how many children there are in the party.

Thoughtfully-equipped, with everything from microwaves, TV and videos to a croquet set, from barbecues to ten bikes of various sizes, to a luxury hammock – you’ll find whatever you might need. And if it’s not there, Richard Freeth (who lives in the village) might well be able to find it for you.

The large garden offers views of distant oak trees, our stylish summer house (ideal for a little snooze or quiet reading away from everyone else) and a perfect 12x6 meter swimming pool – electronically purified to keep chlorine levels low.

It is two minutes walk to the village shop and the best home-made ice cream parlour in Gascony; nearby are cycling, tennis, golf, historic sites, local markets, good restaurants – and there’s even a frog sanctuary! Once you’re in the village, you don’t need to go anywhere else if you don’t want to!

La Bastide is a simple one hour drive from Pau airport where you can fly in on low cost Ryanair and pick up a reasonably priced hire car, or 1.5 hours from the airports of  Biarritz (Ryanair) or Bordeaux (and its wonderful wines).  BA and Air France as well as a number of low-cost airlines serve Bordeaux from various UK regional airports. You are only 1.25 hours from long sandy Atlantic beaches (with surf if you want it) or the delightful walking country of the Pyrenees. There are plenty of places to go… though as is often the case you may well stay put for most of the time at our place which has everything you need – for example with a book and a long cool drink, in a hammock or by the pool.

Get away from tourists and noisy night spots and enjoy peaceful rural France at its best. And like many of our tenants, once you’ve been, you’ll want to come again.