The perfect Ardeche holiday cottage!
Christiane and Jean-François are amazing and very friendly! On arrival we received a very warm welcome from them and they gave us a basket of freshly picked cherries and a lovely bottle of red wine. During our stay they were very helpful in suggesting places to go, sites to see, markets to visit, walks to do and the best places to canoe. On our last but one night Jean-François cooked us a lovely French desert and Christiane gave us some more fresh cherries that had been picked from the trees in the garden that afternoon.
The cottage is delightful and perfect in every way! It has charming character with a modern twist. The stones walls, tiled floor, wooden stair case, cosy living room area and feature fire place blend perfectly with the modern open plan kitchen area. There is a large wooden dining table, perfect for lavish French dinners, and the living room area has a TV and DVD player with a selection of great films to watch. Upstairs you have two bedrooms - a double bedroom with an en-suite bathroom and a twin bedroom, also with an en-suite. The bed in the large double bedroom where we slept was very comfortable! All in all the cottage is exceptionally well maintained, very clean and has everything you need for your holiday.
The pool and pool area is excellent - great for cooling off on a hot summers day, or lounging about reading books or eating lunch. We even spent a few evenings star gazing by the pool side with a glass of wine. We also ate outside on the lovely terrace at the back of the cottage a couple of times.
As for the Ardeche area of France, its beautiful. If you haven’t been before you absolutely have to go! The mountains, valleys, rivers and gorges are breathtaking. We went walking and hiking every day. There are walks you can do right from the cottage or a short drive away you can go on hikes down into the Gorge de l'Ardeche, up into the mountains or down through valleys and vineyards. We even tried canoeing for the first time on the Chassezac river through some amazing gorges. There are also lots of historic sites and ancient caves (and cave paintings) to see and the little villages throughout the Ardeche are beautiful, with lots of great markets for delicious fresh food.
I highly recommend Christiane and Jean-François and their holiday cottage in Lablachere, Ardèche. We can't wait to go back!
Steve & Claire