Holidays in the Dordogne Valley, France.

The house is a "village farmhouse" around 200 years old. Originally the downstairs would have been used to house the animals and store the farm tools and the family would have lived in one half of the first floor with the other half being used to store food and seed. The farmhouse is shown on the "Plan Napoleon".

The house is built of the local limestone and the walls, some two feet thick, keep the house relatively cool in summer.

At some time in the past, a modern roof has been added, most probably because the roof timbers were unable to support the old stone tiles that are a feature of the area. A picture taken around 1910 hanging in the living room does show the original roof

The house is approached by a drive from the "route touristique" from Souillac to Cahors and is set well away from the road in around one third of an acre of enclosed garden, laid mainly to grass with fruit and other trees. There are views of the surrounding wooded hills. There is plenty of parking space within the grounds.

The house is approached by a drive from the "route touristique" from Souillac to Cahors and is set well away from the road in around one third of an acre of enclosed garden, laid mainly to grass with fruit and other trees. There are views of the surrounding wooded hills. There is plenty of parking space within the grounds.

The Dordogne Valley in this area flooded regularly every winter until, in the 1950’s, a series of 5 dams were built further upstream to control the flow of water down the River. Because of this regular flooding, many houses were built with the main living accommodation on the first floor. Many houses, including our own, have now extended the living accommodation to the ground floor to take advantage of its relative coolness during the summer. As can be seen from the plan below, have created a self contained “suite”. Although the two parts are never let separately this arrangement does provide a number of benefits:

• Although there are four bedrooms with beds to sleep eleven (although eight is more comfortable), you never feel as if you are rattling around if there are less than eight in your party.
• The two living rooms as well as the layout of the garden mean that you can easily find a “space of your own” during your holiday.
• The lower accommodation is ideal where grandparents may be joining the family for the holiday.

The Ground Floor.

On the ground floor there is a large living room with two sofas, two armchairs, a dining table and chairs. Large patio windows open onto the garden. The kitchen / utility room is ideal for preparing outdoor meals with a gas cooker, washing machine and a fridge/freezer to keep the drinks cold. There is also a shower room with lavatory and wash basin downstairs.

Bedroom four on the ground floor has one double and one single bed and a small sitting area with french windows.

There is no internal staircase between the ground and upper floor; we have an external covered stone staircase connecting the two floors.

First Floor Layout

Living / dining area viewed from the kitchen.

Kitchen viewed from the living / dining area.

On the first floor we have a living room with three piece suite, dining table and chairs and a high chair and CD music centre. There are two television sets, one to receive French television (great for checking the weather forvast at around 7:50 pm in the evening) and the other to receive English television! Leading off the living room is a well equipped kitchen with a gas hob and electric ring, electric oven, microwave, dishwasher, fridge/freezer, food processor and an English toaster and kettle.

Bedroom one has a king size double bed and cot, bedroom two has two single beds and full size bunk beds and bedroom three has two single beds. All bedrooms have bedside tables and lamps, hanging and drawer or shelf space.

There is also a modern bathroom with bath, basin and lavatory.

THE GARDEN

There are garden tables, chairs, parasols and sun loungers. There is a built-in barbecue for your outdoor meals and plenty of enclosed garden for youngsters to run around in. The trees provide shade for those days when it gets too hot in between cooling off in the 8m x 4m pool. The pool has underwater lighting to enable you to enjoy a dip before bed and is cleaned regularly. The garden is enclosed and, provided the gate has been closed, should be reasonably secure for small children although you must check yourself to make sure that your children cannot find a way of getting through!

The pool is 8m x 4m and about 1m deep at the shallow end and about 2 m deep at the deep end. It with a 1.2m high fence that conforms to what is currently available on French legal requirements for swimming pools. There is a "bouledrome" and boules to use on it and a badminton net with four racquets - serious players might want to bring their own!

Although the house is in the centre of the village it is relatively private. During the day, there is an abundance of wild life, especially birds. At some times of the year we have counted as many as nineteen buzzards and black kites circling above. We also have red squirrels, hedgehogs, rabbits, glow worms and it is rumoured that there are wild boar in the hills above the village! On a clear moonless night, amateur astronomers can have a spectacular view of the stars because of the relatively low levels of light pollution.

The garden and the barbeque area.

The garden and the barbeque area.