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Garrigue is
an ancient stone house which was a farm; it has peaceful and private 3 hectare (7 acre) grounds bordered by a stream and a
woodland walk and is surrounded by varied working farms - cattle, poplars, sunflowers, maize, vines, etc.
It
is in SOUTH-WEST DORDOGNE, 20 kilometres south of the ancient town of BERGERAC on the Dordogne river; 6 kms north of the medieval
bastide town of EYMET which boasts that it has held a market every Thursday morning since June 1270, and 4 kms west of the
tiny village of FONROQUE, an English bastide village during the time of Eleanor of Aquitaine and the 100 Years War, and on
one of the pilgrim routes to Santiago de Compostela.
LOCAL
AMENITIES : Sports include canoeing, fishing, golf, tennis, biking, hiking, riding, hot-air ballooning, flying club, karting,
quad-biking. There are countless châteaux, abbeys, medieval towns and villages, prehistoric caves and dwellings to visit,
and many inviting local vineyards offering tastings ! or maybe you would prefer to just bring your soothing bottle of the
local Bergerac AOC wine back to our peaceful surroundings and enjoy the birdsong !!
A word about the GOLF - Sadly
for Charles and me (Elizabeth) our golf clubs just gather dust but our gîters report enjoyable rounds less than 20 minutes
away at our nearest course, Le Château des Vigiers with its grand backdrop of the château and its restaurants
in which to restore oneself - www.vigiers.com. There are other courses of varying price and length such as the 9-holer at
Tombeboeuf just south of us, Villeneuve where you can play 9 or 18, and Périgueux - 18 holes par 72 and over 6,000
metres. Now that our games barn is established with its ping-pong and billiard tables, July 2006 saw the First Round Ever
being played on the informal 9-hole Pitch and Putt Golf course we have laid out for our guests at Garrigue !!!!
Apart from the weekly markets, which are always a joy to hunters of under-packaged smelly cheeses and non-standardised
stinky saucissons, oh and mouth-watering peachy-coloured canteloupe melons and big plump artichokes and ... and ..., there
are some really excellent supermarkets and hypermarkets in the region. Also, within only a very few kilometres, we now have
some good family-friendly restaurants and some rather excellent piggy-wiggy restaurants for gourmets and gourmands alike !
THE
GITES : We have 4 gites which can each accommodate and are equipped for up to 6 people. An extra child's bed and a cot may
be available. The gîtes can be booked together or individually and can be interconnected - handy when you want to go
on holiday as a group but might perhaps want the opportunity to get out of each other's hair !
The ground floor
layout of kitchenette, living/dining room; double bedroom and bathroom means that each gîte is equally suitable for
occupation by just one or two people for whom special rates may apply off season. The three gîtes in the old barn wing
of the house have two twin-bed bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs. The pigeon tower gîte has a double-bed bedroom upstairs
and twin beds in the mezzanine bedroom; it has a twin-bed bedroom and its two bathrooms downstairs. In each gîte, one
of the bathrooms has a bath with shower and the other bathroom has a shower cubicle.
The equipment in each gîte
includes electric cooker, refrigerator, clothes-washing machine, tv/radio/video. Household linen and towels are provided.
Electricity and water are included in the rental. We prepare the gîtes for arrival - beds made, fridge and hot water
on and check that the previous gîters have left the gîte nicely for you. Outside, each gîte has its wooden
garden table and chairs, parasol and large barbecue.
THE
POOL : The swimming-pool is 10 metres by 5 metres and has roman steps for easy access; it has a natural saline system and
is cleaned regularly. The pool has a nice big surround paved with heat-control tiles so that feet, whether little or large,
don't get burned. It is set in a grass area with a wooden fence and gates. There is a small paddling pool for babies and toddlers
and the green loungers and parasols are easy on the eyes in bright sunlight.
THE GAMES BARN : Our all-weather
ping-pong table and our old billiards table are in the old barn, together with badminton kit, a small croquet set, and various
balls and boules. There is also a music machine available and some coloured lights. It makes a pleasant place for getting
together with the other gîters after a day out exploring the region and a good alternative to the swimming pool.
In 2007 we bought 6 bicycles for our gîters to borrow - please bring your own helmet if you wish to wear one.
We live here (lucky us!) in the other part of the house with our twin cats Ninja and
Nebi, and our dogs Pickles and Pepper - the cats are often busy in the barn and the dogs are always sociable and ready to
walk round the grounds with you. We are usually about if you need us. We have a video library for weather-not-up-to-it days,
had-too-much-sun days, too-tired-to-go-out evenings etc ! Oh, and, usually we can babysit and it is normally possible to get
in provisions for your arrival ...... The Fonroque baker comes by four mornings a week with fresh croissants, pains au chocolat,
baguettes and brown country bread and sometimes on other days Elizabeth goes to the bakery with everyone's orders !
A NOTE TO HOUSE-HUNTERS & WISHFUL THINKERS : We should be happy to be quizzed on our property purchase and renovation
experience if you think this might help you.
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HOW TO GET HERE :
BY AIR : We are
90 minutes from smallish BORDEAUX Airport - British Airways and Air France - and we are only 20 minutes from delightfully
small BERGERAC Airport to which FLYBE (British European, their website is www.flybe.com) fly regularly from Birmingham, Edinburgh, Exeter, Leeds, Manchester, Southampton and Gatwick and RYANAIR (website is www.ryanair.com) fly from Liverpool, Nottingham and Stansted. Flights are around an hour and a half. Bergerac now has several car hire firms
on hand with their cars waiting for you in the Medium Term Vineyard! We have heard that the english-speaking Bergerac-based
hire firm Buggs Car Hire (website is www.buggscarhire.com ) is very helpful and also good value.
BY RAIL : We are 25 minutes from Sainte Foy la Grande railway station with connections to Libourne (preferably)
or to Bordeaux and thence to the TGV speedy trains up to Paris, if you want a "free" day there or Lille if you want
an easier journey, and then the Eurostar to Waterloo. It is around 8 hours from Waterloo to Ste Foy, depending on connections.
BY CAR : We are about 8 hours from Roscoff and Caen, 7 hours
from St Malo, maybe 10 from the Channel Tunnel - quite a long way, yes, but long enough to appreciate the driving in France
when compared with the dear old M25 !
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MAPS : On receipt of bookings, I shall
be happy to send out little maps to bring you to our door - we haven't lost anyone yet ! For more information, Brittany Ferries
travel discount, car hire and itinerary suggestions, availability and to make a reservation : please contact Elizabeth Clarke
at Garrigue, preferably by telephone or email - contact details on HOME page and links at foot of HOME page.
FLEXIBLE CHANGEDAYS for BETTER TRAVEL OPTIONS :
In response
to airline and ferry schedules and pricing, we now have a flexible approach to arrivals and departures, when possible even
during peak holiday times - try asking us !
We have done this because:
- air and ferry rates are more reasonable
on week-days
- airports and aeroplanes should be less crowded
- ferry terminals and ferries ditto
- motorway
service stations ditto
- this would avoid peak road traffic days in France and, once here
- it should be easier
to find food shops open on arrival
- restaurants should be easier to get into on arrival
- Eymet's weekly market
is on Thursday mornings
- Eymet often has "happenings" on Saturdays
- Eymet's summer evening market is
on Tuesdays
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