Sympathetically restored farmhouse , barn conversion with heated private pool

We arrived a little early so had lunch at fab hotel 'Le Rabelais' in Fontenay eating a buffet lunch on terrace whilst children played in gardens and looked longingly at the pool. Filled car with supplies at local supermarket then 3 Adults , 3 children 8,4,1 had a wonderful time arriving at property and jumping in pool due to heat! Property photographs do not do this place justice - it is spacious , well laid out with lovely pool area and lawns for children to play on / in. The family made us really welcome on arrival ( even accommodated our bodged up dates for changeover day !) and the caretaker was truly superb going above and beyond expectations - even down to negotiating a hire car locally when ours blew up.

The location is perfect - deep into France and good weather but only 4hrs drive from Caen port and @ 1hr from the Atlantic coast.

We visited lovely beach at Chatelaillon Plage ( better and quieter than La Rochelle) eating in local seaside cafes a couple of days - had lovely day out in Fontenay Le Comte, a pleasant old town with 2 good supermarkets within 9km. We also went to Mervent twice - a forest / lake area with many walks and picnic areas, also a 'Natur Zoo' - an amazing surprise with children - they can literally look a tiger in the eye - you get really up close and personal with the animals and children have a great time. We left out Puy de Fou, although everyone said it was a fantastic spectacle and day out , we felt the youngest 2 children would not yet appreciate it

Our 2 weeks here sped past in a haze of wine, cheese, pate, beer and BBQs and the whole family enjoyed the time to relax by the pool - the childrens table football improved as much as their swimming! . The added 'bonus' here is the creperie at the end of the road - you can walk out for dinner and have great salad / crepes, do not be put off by appearances here , its filled with locals eating too - always a good sign - he stocks 52 different belgian chocolates and will make fab crepes out of them. We and children loved it and were recognised and welcomed with free drinks second time around

Many thanks for a lovely holiday

We have just returned from France and spent 1 week in this beautiul gite. We are a family of 2 adults with 5 children (aged 9 - 16) and found the property well equipped, clean and spacious with lots of character.

The pool was great and used every day, with ample sun loungers and parasols provided.

The gite has a large garden to the front - great for ball games and very safe for the children.

When we were able to seperate the kids from the pool, we visited many places including La Rochelle, La Tranche sur Mer (a beautiful beach) The Indian Forest,

Puy du Fou (don't miss it) and Venice Verte in the Marais Poitevin where we hired a gondola and explored the canals.

We did most of our shopping in Fontenay le Comte - with lots of small shops as well as larger stores for groceries etc..

We flew into La Rochelle (approx. 40 mins from the gite) and were met by Barbara Mcguire in Pouille - I can't speak highly enough of this family who were so helpful with loads of advice on places to visit and directions.

We would have no hesitation in recommending this property to friends and family - we hope to return soon.

We have not long returned from a fantastic holiday at this superb gite. Upon arrival Frederick helped us settle in and gave us the information we needed on the property and the surrounding area - he was great. The gite was amazing. Very clean and characterful. We had fab weather - not a spot of rain in a week - so we spent most of out time lazing by the pool and having BBqs!!

Would definately recomend to others and hope to return!

We arrived in very warm sunshine and were all in the pool within 10 minutes! The heated pool is a fantastic feature of this lovely property and we used it literally every day (our young 5 year old son was swimming fantsastically by the time we left!)

Our holiday in July was an extremely pleasurable time and we loved this well appointed cottage. There were 5 of us in our party and needless to say we had more than enough space.

The location is ideal for cycling and we went on a number of rides, we encountered very few cars on the country lanes and found it very safe.

The local town of St Hermine is ideal for basic supermarket shopping and Fontenay le Comte, a much larger town, includes a large selection of shops and supermarkets as well as lovely restaurants and places of interest.

As far as eateries are concerned, there is an excellent creperie/restaurant within 50 metres of the house, where the owner, Pierrot, will provide pancakes of every sort as well as many other traditional dishes. We ate there 6 times in 14 nights and enjoyed it every time!

La Rochelle is within a 40 minute drive and we went across the bridge to Ile de Re, which is very pretty with many super beaches.

In summary a lovely relaxing holiday with good food, barbeques, cycling and sunshine which could not be bettered. We plan to return.

We have just returned from our 3rd holiday at the barn in 4 years and were quite surprised to read the July 2009 review of this property. Our party consisted of 4 adults and 4 children (from 8 years to 3 months) and a great time was had by all.

The stone chip area has a very useful, large washing line at one end and a BBQ, table and chairs at the other. We mainly used this area for reading in the shade and for meals outside. The rest of the time was either spent in the huge pool or playing ball games on the large front lawn.

As to the inside of the house, despite there being wardrobes in 3 of the 4 bedrooms, we tend to live out of our suitcases on holiday. The helpful provision of an iron and ironing board means crease-free clothing is never a problem!

When arriving at the property, Frederic the caretaker goes to great pains to try to ensure that you know where everything is and if there is anything you need, or any problems, a simple phone call to him can usually resolve the matter. For example, on a day trip to La Rochelle last week (highly recommended), we decided to pick up some mussels on the way home to cook for our dinner. We phoned Fred, spoke to his lovely wife, and asked if we could borrow a large moules pot. By the time we got back to the barn, the pot was waiting for us on the kitchen table. Nothing is too much trouble for this wonderful couple - but they cannot be expected to be mind readers, you do have to ask!

As for the downstairs bed, my husband is 6'2 and I am 5'10 - we know that a traditional French bed will generally have both a head and footboard and have had no trouble sleeping in it.

Whilst the restaurant at the end of the road may be well known for it's crepes, that is not all it serves – we had an enjoyable evening meal there last week (with ostrich being one of the more popular menu choices for our party). However, that said, we go to the barn for the peace and quiet of such a lovely, rural location and, accordingly, don't expect (or want) to find shops and restaurants on our doorstep. By making the effort to travel into Fontenay Le Comte (is 5 miles really so far?) you open up so many more shopping and dining opportunities. We have tried places in Fontenay from a cheap pizza restaurant to a high end bistro and have yet to be disappointed.

We are already arranging our next trip to the barn and cannot wait to see the wonderful Frederic and his charming wife again.