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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 9-hole Pitch and Putt Golf course we have made
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 cat Ziggy and our dogs Pickles and Pepper
- Ziggy is normally pretty aimiable 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 Bergerac-based hire firm Ucar
Apolo sarl (website is www.ucar.fr ) 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. Alternatively, we are 2 hours from the car train
at Brive-la-Gaillarde.
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, 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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