Archival
10/10 Excellent
8 Jun, 2011
Excellent value for money/wonderful location
We really enjoyed our stay at this property. The accommodation was more than adequate for our needs - nothing fancy but well-equipped and functional. It was great value-for-money and certainly not over-priced - some of the places we thought about were charging twice as much! The house is in a wonderful location and we enjoyed some great walks into the mountains and down to Olette. Breakfast on the bar terrace in Olette on a sunny morning was lovely. We also had some lovely meals on the terrace, watching the sunset. Although its tempting just to sit and read (e.g. beside the river), make sure you get out and about because there are some fabulous places to visit - Villefranche, Prade market, St Thomas les Bains, Mont Louis etc. If you have time, its also worth driving down to the coast - the beaches are great but the small ports are better for restaurants (e.g. Port Vendres). We also got up early one day and had a full day in Barcelona (you can get there in under 3 hours). Like the other reviews have said, the neighbours are really friendly and were very patient with our basic French! The tourist office in Olette (in the corner of the square) has some helpful information. Driving down, we followed the owner's advice - got an early ferry and then went via the Viaduc de Millau / Massif Central motorway - it was a lovely drive, not at all crowded and no tolls to pay (except to cross the Viaduc) - so much better than the Lyons motorway route! If you are confident, you can drive around the peripheric in Paris (to get from the Calais motorway to the Orleans motorway - which links to the Massif Central) or you can cut around Paris to get to the motorway that goes down through the centre of France. The whole drive took us a full day (using 2 drivers) but it is such a lovely, relaxing route that we did not feel at all tired! Others we met locally had flown down - but said that car hire in Spain (e.g. from Gerona airport) is cheaper than in France (e.g. from Perpignan airport) and you can then take the car from Spain into France (but check with the car hire company as this is only what we were told - we have not done this - yet!). We had a great holiday and can thoroughly recommend this house as a great base to explore a beautiful part of France.
