Beautiful Charentaise Farmhouse - Home Rental Listing Details

The outstanding beaches of the Atlantic Coast are only a short drive away as are the beautiful Ile de Re and Ile d’Oleron. The totally unspoilt town of La Rochelle with its medieval streets, harbour side restaurants and bars, marina and aquarium is less than 30 minutes away.

Sandy beaches, fields of sunflowers, historic towns and excellent restaurants, welcome to La Retraite.

La Retraite is a traditional Charentaise farmhouse sympathetically renovated to an exceptionally high standard. It retains original features and stonework and has been beautifully decorated and furnished in a contemporary manner. The house can be cosy for two but can easily sleep up to ten plus two infants. The house has full central heating making it ideal for winter breaks.

La Retraite has a large lounge with leather sofas and chairs arranged around an original working fireplace (logs provided for winter lets). This room has a quality CD Stereo system and numerous board games.

Next door, the separate TV room has a DVD player and Playstation 2 (with a good choice of DVDs and games). English TV and radio are available through the Sky Satellite system.

The kitchen/breakfast room incorporates a fully fitted fridge and separate freezer, a glass induction hob, sizeable oven and dishwasher. The kitchen can seat up to seven people if desired.

The independent dining room contains a bespoke table which seats ten, there is also an additional sofa here overlooking the garden.

Upstairs La Retraite has four large bedrooms, two of which contain king size beds. There is a twin bedded room and a room containing a set of bunks and two single beds. All the bedrooms have shutters and blinds and due to the thick walls are cool even in the height of summer. There are also two cots and two highchairs at the property free for your use.

Also upstairs is a large bathroom incorporating a bath with shower. Two sinks are set into the tiled unit opposite. A further walk in shower is situated downstairs next to the laundry room which contains a washing machine, separate tumble dryer and ironing board/iron for your use.

The front and rear gardens are laid to lawn and fully enclosed, and are therefore extremely safe for young children.

Outdoor tables and chairs are available in both gardens.

Behind the garden gates there is secure parking for two cars. In the barn there is both a large barbeque and a number of bicycles for guests use.

If additional bicycles are needed these can be hired in Surgeres

La Retraite is available on the basis of a Saturday to Saturday changeover with a 4pm arrival time and 10am departure time. This allows the house to be fully cleaned and tidied before your arrival.

A welcome pack of provisions will await you offering:

bread
butter
cheese
tea
coffee
milk
water
beer
bottle of wine

Local supermarkets in Mauze and Surgeres are open until 7pm Saturday and Sunday mornings from 9am to 1pm. There are a number of shops including boulangeries, charcuterie and a newsagent selling English newspapers in Mauze just a few minutes drive away.

All pillows, duvets, bed linen, bath towels, hand towels and tea towels are provided and there is a hairdryer available.

The laundry room contains a washing machine, separate tumble dryer and ironing board/iron for your use.

There are two cots and two highchairs at the property.

Cool bags, ice packs and plastic picnic ware are available for your use.

A barbeque and a number of bicycles are located in the barn.

There are guide books/tourist information and restaurant recommendations in the bottom of the upstairs bookcase.

All utility bills are included in the rental price.

A babysitting/child minding service is available, please contact the owners for details

The Charente Maritime boasts the second longest hours of sunshine in France after the Cote D’Azur and summer here seems to stretch from April to October. With over 70 beaches to enjoy you will rarely feel crowded and you can almost have the place to yourself out of high season. The local seafood (oysters, mussels, crab and fish) is always fresh and plentiful and there are many good local wines, pineau and cognac to accompany your meal.

Surgeres is a picturesque market town just to the south of La Retraite. It has a wide choice of restaurants, supermarkets, shops and banks. It has a beautifully restored and preserved old walled town rich in architectural heritage and boasts a manor house and XV1c chateau.
The colourful covered market (Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays) offers a plentiful supply of local produce including the butter for which Surgeres is famous.
The town has a cinema, sports centre with tennis courts, and open air swimming pool.

La Rochelle is a beautiful old town less than half hour away. It is an excellent place to visit, either for a day, an afternoon, or just an evening at any time of the year. It has hundreds of restaurants to choose from ranging from quayside bistros offering moules and frites to the Michelin** restaurant Coutanceau recognised as one of the best restaurants on the Atlantic Coast.
La Rochelle comes in two equally alluring halves. The old port is full with yachts and guarded by medieval defensive towers, while the town centre has delicatessens and classy boutiques under the covered arcades of Renaissance houses and a colourful morning fish market.
During the summer months there is street theatre every day and a craft market alongside the port most evenings, when the roads are closed to traffic to make space for performers, craftspeople and artists.
La Rochelle houses Europe's largest marina on the Atlantic Coast and a fabulous aquarium. Its beautiful parks are worth a visit and the famous yellow cycles can be hired free of charge for the first 2 hours all year round. Boat trips are available from the Old Harbour, lasting a few hours, half a day or a full day to the islands of Re, Aix and Oleron.

Please see owner's website for photo galleries and full details of local information and activities.