8/10 Good
Mark L.
15 Aug 2018
A fabulous property with a few niggling issues
We had some trouble locating the property as the sign is only on one side of the road and we only noticed it after turning round and driving slowly back the other way.
Because I had been communicating with the owner in French (with help from Google translater), the owner must have thought I was fluent and we were met by a lady who knew very little English. Apparently, if she had realised none of us were fluent she would have brought her daughter that spoke good English.
We did manage to understand each other however and were suitably impressed with the layout of the property. The children were very pleased to discover there was Wifi as this was not shown on the original listing. I had asked the owner whether towels were provided, but did not get a reply to either request so we brought our own. It was a good thing we did as none are included - surpringly not even a dish towel. There is a dishwasher so this wasn't a major issue.
After settling in, we explored the gite and were disappointed to find the drumkit had no drumsticks or cymbals. No Phil Collins impressions would be possible. The children quickly attached their phones to the wifi and were horrified to discover it didn't work. So much for Orange 4G. A week with no social media would be difficult to bear so they immediately went about finding how far away the nearest McDonalds was - not far as it happened (Bressuire).
Another issue was the number of flies that would not be deterred by near death experiences. These were most likely due to the presence of cows in the neaby field. Good use was made of the fly swatter that was provided.
We had noticed that most French properties keep the shutters closed during the day and found out why in the evening. The large window on the side of the building acts like a greenhouse and heats the place up with no way of closing off the top section. Keeping the bedroom doors and window shutters closed during the day and cracked open at night helped keep the bedrooms cool enough to sleep without soaking the bed in sweat.
Apart from these niggling issues we did still thoroughly enjoy our stay and were grateful for the local information provided by Len who lives nextdoor but one. He advised us to visit Puy du Fou and we were so glad he did as it was amazing. He also told us of a nice 'all you can eat and drink (including alcohol)' chinese buffet called Panda Wok in Parthenay - well worth a visit.
Mark L.
Stayed 7 nights in Jul 2018
