Extra-person charges may apply and vary depending on property policy

Government-issued photo identification and a credit card, debit card or cash deposit may be required at check-in for incidental charges

Special requests are subject to availability upon check-in and may incur additional charges; special requests cannot be guaranteed

On-site parties or group events are strictly prohibited

Host has indicated that there is a carbon monoxide detector on the property

Host has indicated that there is a smoke detector on the property

Safety features at this property include a fire extinguisher, a first aid kit and a deadlock

Cash transactions at this property cannot exceed EUR 1000, due to national regulations; for further details, please contact the property using the information in the booking confirmation

A car is required for transport to and from this property

Paul and I both had busy lives, too much stress, unhealthy lifestyles and not enough 'together' time. We would longingly watch all those TV programs about changing your life, moving to the country, renovating a dilapidated barn into a designers dream, all whilst Kevin McCloud peered into the camera wringing his hands in despair - if only that could be us! We decided to leave our London lives behind, we put our furniture in storage, rented out our property, packed our Clio with all our essential worldly belongings and set off for France with a map and a gite booked for 7 weeks. Fourteen years later we are still here and loving the french life! We (meaning Paul) have gained many skills along the way - plumbing, electrics, stonemasonry, joinery, roofing and landscaping to name but a few! We can also now speak very reasonable French (starting from a baseline of no french at all), Paul was a member of our village council for 7 years and we taught English for 4 years to the children in the local school - although to be honest I think we learnt more French from them than they learnt English from us! We have two stray french ginger cats who gave adopted us and two non egg laying chickens!

We started our search for a property further south towards Saumur and Tours but on a day trip north we chanced upon the department and river of Mayenne and absolutely fell in love with the area - like a huge Devon but without the people!! Family, friends, eating and socialising are the main focus for everyone here so there's never any hurry and nothing is ever too busy or too much trouble. It's great to just relax, unwind and enjoy the everyday beauty of the surrounding landscape, the abundance of fantastic wildlife and listen to the quietness. Although we live on a hilltop with great views all our local amenities are just down the road including small village restaurants who provide great ‘plat de jours’ at very reasonable prices. The river Mayenne is just 7kms away with great walks and cycle tracks, its never busy and parking is free and easy! In addition the coast is only an hour and a half away for those days when we fancy some sea air, a run on the beach and a plate of really fresh shellfish.