We started holidaying in southern France about 8 years ago when we decided that we'd start taking our dogs on holiday with us. Our first such holiday was in Provence. As you would expect we had a terrific time, but we ultimately concluded the long journey from Calais down to Provence with 2 dogs in tow was really not ideal (and a stopover with dogs is logistically quite tricky). So for our next holiday we thought we'd aim for somewhere slightly closer to home - still in the south of France, but not the extreme south. We settled on the Lot region - and we loved it. We spent 3 glorious summers in that area, and enjoyed it so much we thought it was about time we started looking for our own place. We saw about 8 places over the course of 2 trips, but none really hit the spot. Then James came across this place in the heart of the Dordogne. James had been to the Dordogne many times as a child and young adult, and had always enjoyed the holidays, but had assumed that it would be far too expensive to buy a property there. On paper this old limestone barn and cottage looked perfect, but the price was low, so surely it was too good to be true.
We were staying in the Lot again and the drive to the neighbouring Dordogne department to do the viewing took about 45 minutes. As we transitioned from the Lot to the Dordogne the landscape started to change very subtly, from wild and unkempt, to lush and cultivated. The villages changed too, from sleepy and part-shut, to lively and most definitely open. We saw sunflower fields and walnut trees and tobacco fields. Oh and geese - lots of geese! Memories from James' childhood came flooding back and broad grins adorned our faces as we approached La Longere in the village of Saint Vincent De Cosse. It was a gloriously warm, sunny day and as we stepped out of the car to see La Longere for the first time it seemed that everything was absolutely perfect. And it was. We fell in love with it and bought the property. And here it is - ENJOY!