La Grange du Moulin Child friendly gites & Toddler holidays

Aulnay de Saintonge on a Sunday morning

Sun, 31 Dec 2017 13:26:57 GMT

Hot chocolate, history, flowers and fruit de mer

The Sunday morning market in Aulnay de Saintonge in the Charente Maritime department of SW France has been a regular haunt of ours over our 20 years of living here and it's still as popular as ever.

This bar/restaurant 'Le Colombier' on the market square is where we sit and enjoy a drink and watch the world go by both on a hot summers day and a cold crisp sunny day in mid winter. The first time we went we asked for a croissant (or three) to dip in out hot chocolate, as all good French people do. To our surprise they did not (and still don't) serve croissant and suggested we pop over to the boulangerie on the other side of the square to purchase some - which of course we did and still do.

The market itself is quite small - I often tell guests they could hold their breath walking around it ! Its not quite accurate but it isn't a huge market - but it's quality not quantity that matters and in this delightful small market town you can purchase anything from a mattress to mussels, or fennel to flowers.

Over the years a number of British ex pats have started up businesses here, you can buy English books from Bens book store to beautiful hand painted cards from Angela Berry designs; even the famous 'Popsy' started out here selling takeaway Indian.

The Brits have not in anyway taken away from the French nature of the market at all, there is still a majority of very French owned stalls selling oysters and octopus; garlic and grillon, saucisse and snails.

The flower stall is one of our favourites and you'll always be faced with a long queue to purchase a beautiful bouquet for an amazingly low price, the owner does the Saturday morning market in Saint Jean d'Angely too. Just ask him to make up a bouquet for 20€ and you'll be amazed at what you get.

This is also the place to purchase your Sunday 'fruit de mer' platter, choose from an array of delicious seafood, fresh fish, oysters and mussels.

Aulnay de Saintonge was founded in the 1st century AD as a Roman Camp known as Aunedonnacum as it lies at the crossroads of some important Roman roads. Centuries later it became an important stop for pilgrims on the route to Saintiago de Compostela. The beautiful church was built in the mid 12th century but the graveyard surrounding it is much older and the discovery of over 1500 sepultres (tombs) under ground led to the inspiration for the garden.

The garden itself is actually two gardens in one - superimposed over each other. The most obvious is the medieval style garden with geometric shapes and built from materials of the era. It is planted with medicinal and herbal plants as well as fruiting trees and vegetables as it would of been in that period of history. The 'second' garden was inspired by the archeological finds of ultrasound of the area surrounding the church which revealed an unknown chapter in the history of ancient Aulnay.

The metal sculptures symbolise the sarcophagi in stone beneath your feet and the clusters of small bushes, the tombs made from materials such as wood which have of course since perished but their trace can still be picked up on the ultrasound.

After your hot chocolate at the market you could take a stroll along to the church and these gardens (to walk off the croissants !) then maybe head over to the little playground . An ideal Sunday morning outing when staying at our family friendly holiday cottages La Grange du Moulin and Les Vallaies here in the Charente Maritime, France. Then why not have a leisurely lunch at your holiday cottage with all the delicious charcuterie, fresh salads and seafood you have purchased before heading over to St Savinien 'port miniature' - an absolute must for families with young children.

Content by Wendy Blakeman

Ten reasons to love (and visit) the Charente Maritime

Sun, 31 Dec 2017 10:44:08 GMT

for families and kids

We love the Charente Maritime ! After more than 20 years here, it is most definitely home to our family and we thought you should know why we love it and why you should love it too - or at least visit ! Stay in one of our family friendly holiday cottages located centrally within the region - ideal for visiting all the fabulous places the Charente Maritime has to offer.

Top ten reasons to love and visit the Charente Maritime

10, WEATHER

The Charente Maritime has the most sunshine hours per year after the cote d'azur but it's a lot closer ! It is recognised as having a superb micro climate with mild winters and gorgeous summers with much less rain generally than the Loire to the north and the Dordogne to the south but just enough to keep it lush and green most of the year rather than the dry south coast.

It is usually warm and sunny from Easter until the end of October but rarely gets unbearable. June is our favourite month - all the crops are fully grown, the sunflowers are in full glory and the temperatures are just perfect; hot and sunny during the day but cool enough overnight to be able to sleep comfortably.`

9, FOOD

I can't really claim that the Charente Maritime is the only part of France that has great food; as all French people will tell you, France has the best food in the world ! I shan't argue, we love our food and we love French food ! We particularly love the local Charente Maritime food of course. Gillardeau oysters are a particular favourite; goats cheese from Melanie Boursin in La Villedieu, Pineau from the Cartauds in Corpeteau and the local galette with angelica dipped in honey from l'abeille galante in Cherbonniers (all just a few km from us)

Every town, however small, has a market at least once a week where the locals buy all their fresh produce - meat, fish, fruit, veg and of course cheese. The Charente Maritime is no exception. There is a market somewhere every single day. France has literally hundreds of cheeses. President Charles de Gaulle was famously quoted as saying (in French of course) ''How can you govern a country which has two hundred and forty-six varieties of cheese?" (others claim it's actually more like 450 !) The Charente Maritime is famous for its goats cheeses and we have a number of local producers who sell from their farms or at the local Aulnay and Saint Jean d'Angely markets.

France is renowned for its patisseries, it's pastries and of course its bread. Local bread deliveries are still made to the outlying villages that can no longer support a boulangerie. There's no experience that makes you feel more like a local than the bread van stopping to give you your daily baguette, you can also catch up on the local gossip !

France is also home to the Michelin guide which awards 'stars' to top restaurants around the world. The Charente Maritime boasts 45 Michelin selected restaurants, two of which have star ratings but we know of dozens more restaurants that are absolutely superb. One of our favourites is Andrés in La Rochelle.

Our local town of Saint Jean d'Angely has a great selection of restaurants from family friendly creperies and pizzerias to superb bistros and top class dining worth a babysitter too. Whatever your taste and budget you'll find something that suits you in the Charente Maritime.

8, LA ROCHELLE

Our county town, La Rochelle is known all over the world. It's where the rich and famous pull into port in their yachts and gather to eat in Michelin starred restaurants and shop for jewellery. It's also where you and I can watch the world go by whilst enjoying a coffee in one of the many cafés or eat moules frites in one of the hundreds of seafood restaurants.

Just an hours easy drive from our family holiday cottages, this beautiful city has something for everyone. Families will enjoy the great aquarium, a play on the beach and a walk through the park.

History buffs will enjoy the maritime museum, climbing the port towers and wandering the cobbled streets of the old town with its half-timbered medieval houses and Renaissance architecture and passageways covered by 17th-century arches.

Gourmets will enjoy the hundreds of restaurants, heavily dominated by seafood around the port but foods from around the world can be found down any street. The markets are overflowing with fresh fruit, vegetables and of course fish, oysters and mussels.

Find out more about La Rochelle here

7, WINE

This area is mainly known for it's Cognac and most of the vines you see in every direction will be used for the production of Cognac. However we are just a boat ride away from the top end of the Medoc, the vineyards for Cognac soon merge into the vineyards of Bordeaux and the top names of Pauillac, Margaux and Saint Emilion . The world famous city of Bordeaux is just a 1hr30 drive from our door.

Small independent wine producers can be found all over the Charente Maritime. We have a number of local wine makers within 30 minutes of our holiday cottages that we highly recommend; Chris has worked in the wine industry all his life so he knows what he's talking about too !

Whilst driving along the quiet country lanes you will often come across a sign to a local wine and Pineau producer (Pineau is the local tipple - an off shoot of the Cognac industry) Stop and taste their produce, meet the man (and/or woman ) who makes it and buy some as a souvenir of your holiday in the Charente Maritime.

6, COGNAC

A family holiday to the Charente Maritime would not be complete without a visit to the world famous town of Cognac - home to the celebrated brandy - All Cognac is brandy but not all brandy is Cognac - only the spirit produced in this area is allowed to given this prominent name.

Just cheating slightly Cognac is just a 30 minute drive from our family holiday cottages and centrally located within the Poitou Charente (it's actually just on the Charente side rather than Charente Maritime but I'm claiming it as it's so close !)

Cognac is home to renowned distillers such as Hennessy, Martell, Remy Martin and Otard.

All the houses offer tours to the public giving vistors an insight into the history, production and taste of their product. There may be other towns in the world called Cognac but this is the only one that can make it and it's (nearly) in the Charente Maritime !

Find out more about Cognac here

5, BEACHES

The Charente Maritime has literally hundreds of miles of coastline and sandy beaches. With the four islands, Ile de Ré, Ile d'Oleron, Ile d'Aix and Ile Madam that are also included in this department plus the famous beach resorts of Royan, Chatelaillon plage and Fouras to name just a few, you won't be short of beaches to relax on.

The mainland offers calm, shallow waters, ideal for families with younger children. For the older and more adventurous, just head over to the Atlantic side of the larger islands for body and wind surfing with big breakers.

Many beaches are protected through the Conservatoire du Littoral (the coastal protection agency) so remain unspoilt. The most popular beaches will have lifeguards on duty and the safer places to swim are marked .

Whatever your requirements for a day at the beach - be it sunbeds for hire, top restaurants, shade and toilets or natural beauty, peace and quiet you will find it on the beaches of the Charente Maritime.

Find out more about the beaches here

4, LOCATION

The Charente Maritime is located about half way down France on the left ! South of the Loire, north of the Dordogne.

We are just a 4hr30 drive from the port of St Malo; 6hrs from Caen or 8hrs from Calais - far easier to reach the sunshine and beaches than having to drive all the way to the south coast.

The region is well supplied with a number of airports - La Rochelle is our closest at just 1hrs drive, then Poitiers at 1hr20 and Bordeaux at 1hr30; all the low cost airlines fly to these cities during the summer months.

Our local town of Saint Jean d'Angely is on junction 34 of the A10 motorway so links to all the major towns and cities easily.

Find out more about the location here

3, SIGHTSEEING

The Charente Maritime has endless places to visit and things to do. You may of already heard of La Rochelle, the Islands of Ile de Ré and Ile d'Oleron (certainly if you've been paying attention you will of !)

Maybe you've also heard of Royan and it's beaches, Rochefort and the Corderie Royal (as well as the Hermione) Poitiers too but the Charente Maritime is also home to Saintes and it's Roman ampitheatre, La Palmyre and its animal park, the citadelle de Brouage, la cite de l'huitre, grottes de regulus, and numerous chateaux, ports and museums to visit as well as parks, churches (above is our local Aulnay 12th century church) woods and forests and endless country lanes and cycle paths.

All the towns have an office of tourism where you can pick up local information on where you are staying and what there is to do close by.

Find out more about what to see and do in the Charente Maritime here

2, FAMILIES

The Charente Maritime is the perfect location for families. The weather is just perfect - lots of sunshine but not unbearably hot. The location is perfect as it's not too far to drive and is well supported for airports too.

The French are so welcoming here in rural France. They love children and they are welcome in restaurants - even the 2 star Michelin restaurant in La Rochelle has a high chair !

There's something for all the family; beaches, animal parks and aquariums for the kids, history, culture and shopping for the adults but you can also escape to the peace and tranquility of the rural French countryside.

Relax by the pool or sit under the shade of the vine reading a book whilst the children play with new found friends here at our family holiday cottages.

Find out more about a holiday with children here

1, US !

We couldn't write a top ten list of reasons to visit the Charente Maritime without including ourselves ! Our family holiday cottages, gites and villas are ideally located within the Charente Maritime to take advantage of all the above reasons to visit.

Our properties are all owned and managed by ourselves so you know you will receive excellent, personal service - just read some of our reviews on our web sites and on trip advisor to see why families return again and again to stay with us in the Charente Maritime .

They love the Charente Maritime and we are positive that you will love it too.

Content by Wendy Blakeman

Coolongalook adventure park

Sat, 30 Dec 2017 12:20:20 GMT

tree climbing fun for kids and adults

For his 11th birthday Thomas requested a day at a climbing adventure park. We have previously been to one at Aytré near La Rochelle but had heard about Coolongalook parc and thought we'd give it a go .

Coolongalook adventure park, Royan

It's just under an hours drive to Coolongalook parc from our family holiday cottages here in the Charente Maritime and well worth the trip. We booked in advance as it was recommended but the day we went was very quiet and for the first hour or so we were the only family there which was great !

The main attraction of the park is the climbing. You get fitted into a climbing harness and then given instruction on how the system works.The adult and some of the teen courses are not for the faint hearted, if you don't like heights it may not be the day out for you.

Koala continuous belay system

At the previous parcs we had been to there was an element of risk with the climbing as you had to hook and un hook the carabinas at various points along each climb and unless you carefully followed the instruction of always being hooked on with at least one at any time there was always the possibililty of being 3m (or more for older kids and adults) above ground and not being hooked onto anything. At Coolongalook parc they have the 'Koala continuous belay system' where you hook on at the beginning and cannot remove the hook until you are safely on the ground again - far safer when you have adventurous kids to supervise.

There are 4 childrens courses suitable for those of 4 years and a meter tall (there are also some non harness courses for even littler ones; then another two courses for tweens of 1m30 or above and a further 2 courses for the adults. We had 6 courses of increasing difficulty to choose from having purchased the Junior ticket and Chris and I have to admit the last two were far too challenging for us !! Thomas and Benjamin managed them but at 12m above the ground and freely swinging blocks to cross it was tough going and both physically and mentally challenging - Thomas loved it !!

Skyfall

There are loads of zip wires included in courses - the final one is 250m long and starts at 13m above the ground. For adults there is also a 15m free fall jump called skyfall (we didn't do that one !!) included in the adult ticket

We spent around 2hrs30 completing the 6 courses and although you have unlimited time to do them all again we were shattered and ready for an ice cream at the café. The café does only sell ice creams, soft drinks, chocolate bars and crisps though, so take a picnic with you as there's no where to buy lunch. There are picnic tables located all around the park and it's a lovely woodland setting.

TOP TIPS

take a picnic, water and snacks
mossie repellant is essential
go early to avoid the crowds

Laser Battle

The park also has a small area set aside for a laser battle in the woods. We purchased an adventure pass which includes the unlimited climbing, one game of laser battle (20mins) and the 'man vs wild' orienteering course which takes about an hour. Individually we personally did not think the laser battle (10€ pp) and man vs wild course (6€ pp) were worth their individual prices but we were happy with the value for money of the adventure pass which included them.

For the laser battle you are given a laser gun each and put into teams, you then have 20 mins to shoot each other. It's a bit hit and miss as the only target that registers is on the gun (unlike indoor laser games where you get a jacket with various targets over the body) Benjamin loved it, Thomas got fed up as it was hard to target people - even still, I came last !

Man vs Wild

At 6€ pp this would be a bit disappointing on it's own and really should be included when purchasing a climbing pass in our opinion. However we did enjoy it. We were given a list of 12 questions and a compass. We had to pretend we were on a camping trip and various situations arise at each marker which you have to choose the correct response (eg you have very little water left, what do you do a, drink it all at once because you are thirst; b, ration it throughout the day; c, drink only at night ) You mark down your answer then have to use the compass to find the next marker and question.

We were quite tired and didn't think we'd actually follow through the whole course but actually it kept our interest as the woodland was quite thick, the trails quite small and climbing over fallen down trees etc made us feel as though we really were in the wild far from anywhere. We finished the whole course and checked our answers at the end (we got over half wrong so probably would of died !!)

We had a great day out, we survived with a few aching muscles, the kids loved it and we'd highly recommend giving Coolongalook parc , Royan a go. When staying at our family holiday cottages in the Charente Maritime, France we can reserve your place for you. Visit their web site here for full details of opening times and prices.

Content by Wendy Blakeman

cycling holidays in the Charente Maritime

Sat, 30 Dec 2017 11:10:49 GMT

Family cycling and cycling with kids

This region is ideal for cycling holidays, the Charente Maritime makes for the perfect base from which to explore this beautiful region of France. With gently rolling countryside, quiet country lanes and tracks and with the respect that the French have for cyclists, this region is ideal for a cycling holiday or just a relaxing holiday with a few afternoons cycling for fun.

The Charente Maritime region of France has literally thousands of km of bike paths exclusively dedicated to cycling and walking. The routes are designed with great care to ensure high quality rides along the coastline, waterways and on both the mainland and islands of Ile d'Oleron, Ile d'Aix and Ile de Ré. The network is subject to a regular maintenance and monitoring to ensure a trouble free ride. The 'green routes' are dedicated to horseriding, walking and cycling - guaranteed no motorised vehicles so great for children and families.

If you just want an afternoon out on your own, we have a couple of adult bikes you can borrow for free (although you'll have to pump up the tyres !); or bring your own, we have safe areas to store your bikes at all our properties or to take all the stress and hassle out of a cycling holiday in the Charente Maritime in France why not check out our local bike hire company - Bike hire direct who will deliver and pick up your bikes to our gites and cottages .

Bike hire direct are based in the Charente Maritime region of France and
offer free delivery of your bikes to your cottage, gite or villa. They can provide child seats and tag alongs, locks and helmets and even the car bike rack all at great prices. Go to Bikehiredirect.com to find out more.

There are a series of guidebooks and bike maps are available in tourist offices Some of these documents also detail the hiking trails accessible by bike (VTC) and also VTC circuits and mountain biking. The Departmental Committee of Cycling contributes to the implementation of these circuits in the form of organized hikes and tourism .

Whether enjoying a cycling holiday alone, with friends or with your family we have accommodation to suit your needs and budget. We often have discounted rates in May, June and September and will always discount for singles and couples, We offer full weeks or short and long breaks at some of our cottages. All summer from May to the end of September you can bring your family along to one of our family friendly villas, cottages or gites and they can play and make new friends whilst you enjoy your cycling in the surrounding countryside. For all our accommodation, please ask for 'activity' prices as we are able to offer discounts in June and September at certain properties.

HAPPY CYCLING

content by Wendy Blakeman

Fishing with kids at Migré

Wed, 27 Dec 2017 13:48:34 GMT

when staying at our family holiday cottages in the Charente Maritime

Fishing with the kids

We just discovered another great place ! One of our families recently asked where he could take his son fishing. They had no rods or tackle and wern't really into fishing, but fancied having a go. A friend had mentioned a place about 30 mins from our family holiday cottages where you could just go for a full or half day and the river was stocked with trout several times a day - it was pretty much guaranteed you'd catch something ! They hire out the rods and bait so you don't need expensive equipment so it's perfect for families with kids who just want to try it out. I got the details and sent them on their way. They came back with 3 trout !

This Sunday I took the boys there to check it out and wasn't disappointed , we also came back with 3 trout !

My father loved fishing but rarely had the time but when he fell ill he made time with the boys and they loved helping him tie the flies and land the carp. One of their last memories of him was catching a huge carp together at a local pond a few weeks before he died. They were keen to go fishing again.

Les Sources du Moulin

Les Sources du Moulin is in Migré a 30 minute drive from La Grange du Moulin and Les Vallaies. There is a restaurant which offers a lunch menu at 12€50 and is reported to be excellent . We took a picnic as did many of the fishermen. In the typical French way, they had sunbeds, chairs, tables, wine and even a fondue in the spot next to us whilst their 5 rods sat waiting for the fish to bite. We had a plastic bag to sit on and a bottle of water.

We had no equipment and had no idea what we were doing but the rods (long bamboo sticks) with line, hook and float were provided for a 10€ deposit; we paid extra for maggots and didn't pay the fishing fee of 5€ per child until later in the afternoon when the river was re stocked, so we could of fished for free - if we had we wouldn't of caught anything though ! (not through lack of fish, just lack of expertise - our neighbours despite sleeping off the lunch time wine on their sunbeds seemed to catch plenty !)

We want fish !!

We arrived at 1pm and were told the trout were released at 3pm so we had a 2 hour wait although we remained hopeful of catching something before then - everyone around us seemed to be landing fish (and an eel) every few minutes ! 3 o' clock came and went and despite our neighbours shouting 'we want the fish' (in French) he didn't turn up until 3.20pm (apparently it's all dependent on how busy the restaurant is that day)

We had to wait until then as everyone was saying how we need to be quick landing the fish and putting new maggots back on the hook - we were getting very excited ! At long last the owner started up his tractor and came along the track, scooping net fulls of trout into the river for each group. We had at least 5 placed right in front of our hooks but they all swam down to the 3m50 depths below and ignored our wriggling maggots.

Nibbles and success at last

However after about 5 minutes Benjamin got a nibble or two, his float went down but he pulled up too quickly (apparently) and the hook was empty of maggots and trout when it surfaced. This happened at least 3 times - we blame the hook, it must of been blunt !! Thomas on the other hand had a sharp hook and he landed a whopper within 10 minutes of the trout being released (this was after 2hrs 30 of sitting on the bank holding a bamboo stick) He was thrilled (of course) and wants to go again (of course !) Benjamins not so keen.

Team 'fishing' spirit

It's very much a team spirit and all the neighbours helped us - we would of been lost without the kind lady next to us removing the hook from the poor fishes mouth or the man on the other side getting the line untangled from the tree branch. It was very much an 'experience' for me and fun in an odd kind of way. I doubt any of us will become members of the Prince Albert fishing club (or its French equivalent) - although I was, as a child thanks to my Dad. We enjoyed the ice creams and will definitely try the restaurant at some point. If we fish again we will go more prepared (something other than a bag to sit on will be a minimum) but we came home with 3 trout on barbecue night and they were delicious (thank you 'you tube' for the gutting video )

Three trout - how ?

Well the family next to us caught 19 and felt sorry for the boys, so gave us 2 of theirs so we could come back home and proclaim huge success, they were all delicious. It was fun and a great experience for anyone who's not fished before. The owner recommended coming in the morning when it's cooler (it was 34c in the shade that afternoon) and just before the fish are released at 9am....

www.moulindemigre.com , 20 route du moulin 17330 Migré , +33 546240392

Content by Wendy Blakeman

Beaches along the Charente Maritime

Fri, 22 Dec 2017 12:08:46 GMT

from La Rochelle, Chatelaillon, Fouras, La Palmyre to Royan and beyond

The Charente Maritime department on the west coast of France boasts the second most sunshine hours after the south coast and has literally hundreds of miles of coast and safe, sandy beaches and they are all just an easy hours drive away from our family holiday accommodation (and please note that this is a driving time within the speed limits !) There are safe sandy beaches all along the coast from La Rochelle down to Royan and beyond but we shall just be mentioning the ones you can easily get to for a day out when staying with us.

The islands of Oleron and Ré are very popular for their beaches. They take slightly longer to get to particularly in summer as traffic over the bridge - particularly to Ile de Oleron, can be quite heavy. Top tip - go early ! The Ile d'Oleron is linked to the mainland by a road bridge, so you can easily visit the island and enjoy the beaches, the fishing or the forest. The three main towns of Saint –Pierre, Saint – Denis and to the south Le Chateau are definitely worth exploring. There are also two forests the Forest of Saint- Trojan and the Saumonard Forest which are both attractive to visit and being on the east side have more sheltered beaches suitable for the younger families staying at our child friendly holiday cottages, La Grange du Moulin and Les Vallaies . The Oyster farms provide the main source of income to the island and are a tourist attraction in themselves (Read about Gillardeau oysters in our blog) There are numerous footpaths in the forest where you can explore or a favourite with children - Le Petit Train Touristique Forestier which will take you along the dunes and the beaches and through the forest.

To visit the Ile de Ré requires you to pay a toll over the bridge. This makes it a much more peaceful and slightly less touristy island to visit. It has a wide variety of flora and fauna and boasts more than one wildlife park. St Martin de Ré is a beautiful small town - a mini La Rochelle with its port, restaurants and pretty shops. At the end of the island is the Phare Des Baleines is one of the tallest lighthouses in France (55 meters) and has 250 steps to the top, where you have a great view of the mainland and the islands salt marshes. The island's still produces around 2,000 tons of salt every year. The islands also boasts some fine churches and well preserved fortifications from the Middle Ages.

The Ile de Ré is a wonderful place to hire a bike (and tag along or child seats too) and take a leisurely cycle along the quiet cycle tracks and lanes. The whole island is set up for cycling with lots of places to hire bikes and lots of cycle routes. To visit the Ile de Ré requires you to pay a toll over the bridge. This makes it a much more peaceful and slightly less touristy island to visit. It has a wide variety of flora and fauna and boasts more than one wildlife park.

The Il de Ré has no shortage of beaches; the inland side tends to be more sheltered whilst the Atlantic side enjoys some great body boarding waves. Le-Bois-Plage-en-Ré , Plage des Gollandières and La Plage de la Conche are just a few choice and popular beaches.

Chatelaillon de la plage just south of La Rochelle is a popular place for its beaches and probably one of the closest. In summer it has a fun fair starting every afternoon, plenty of restaurants, bouncy castles on the beach, sunbeds to hire and always lots of activities going on for the children. You could spend a morning and lunch in La Rochelle then head down to Chatelaillon de la plage for a couple of hours on the beach.

The peninsula of Fouras stretches from Yves Bay to the Charente River. It is also historically interesting and has long been a heavily, fortified area. Originally the fortifcations were needed to fight off the Normans and then the British. Nowadays, the only invaders at Fouras are tourists ! There is a great view from the fort, along the coast to La Rochelle and across to the islands of Ile de Ré and Ile d'Oleron.

Just south of Royan on the coast road to Meschers are some lovely beaches. At Meschers you'll find the famous 'Grottes' well worth a visit but be warned there are lots and lots of steps ! The beaches south of Royan are far less touristy with fewer facilities but quieter and also because of the cliffs along that area of coast, there is some shade, large caves to explore and rock pools, ideal for when the tide goes out.

La Palmyre coast line north of Royan and of course Royan itself also have some excellent beaches lined with pine forests. At la Palmyre (just past the La Palmyre animal park) Dunes have been man made to provide salt water lakes, so when the tide is out
(it goes out along way) there is still water for the children to swim in and the adults to cool down in.

We have the local high and low tides listed on our noticeboard so you can plan the best time to visit the beach but be warned it really is very very busy in summer in the afternoon so unless you want to be stuck in a traffic jam looking for a parking space you really are better going first thing in the morning. After a fun filled, hot sandy day at the beach you'll be glad to get back to the peace and tranquility of our family holiday cottages here in the Charente Maritime department of France.

By Wendy Blakeman

Cognac with kids

Fri, 22 Dec 2017 11:48:01 GMT

and it's distillery tours

All Cognac is brandy but not all brandy is Cognac - Cognac can only be made in a specific area surrounding this French town of the same name in the Charente department of the Poitou-Charente region of western France just an easy 30min drive from our family holiday accommodation.

The town itself is a prosperous one with medieval cobbled streets that fan out from a delightful riverside quarter. On the river is where you'll find the largest concentration of chais or cellars where the Cognac is matured. It's not hard to spot these world famous chais as their walls are covered with ''torula coniacensis'' a microscopic fungus which feeds on the vapours of alcohol, known as the ''Angels’s Share''. There are many Cognac houses to visit including Otard, Martell and Hennessy Cognac, which keeps 180,000 barrels in stock. Here (and in all the distilleries) you'll discover the fine art of Cognac making and the secret of blending, as all run regular tours throughout the year and all end with a tasting.

We highly recommend participating in one of these organised tours as even young children are kept interested. Cognac is what our area is all about and you should not miss learning more about it. The vineyards growing grapes for the Cognac industry are grown in 6 zones which all have differing 'terroirs' (soil/rock compositions) There are lots of tours to choose from but the main ones are below plus a couple of 'alternative' Cognac tours !

Hennessey Cognac tour
Otard Cognac tour
Remy Martin Cognac tour
Martell Cognac tour
Balluet Cognac tour
Cartaud tastings

These differing terroirs give the wines and subsequently the eau de vies, they produce differing properties - some giving body and depth, others giving longevity - essentially Cognac is a blended product and it is down to the expertise of each 'houses' master taster to ensure the specific character of their individual product year in year out . Our own family holiday accommodation is in the Fin Bois zone and we have our very own local Cognac producer 2 mins away from our cottages ! Eric et Marie-Agnes Cartaud are a small family producer. You can visit them and taste their wines, Pineau and Cognac too. Producers of Cognac must obtain an Appellation d'origine contrôlée meaning its production methods must meet certain quality requirements. In particular, it must be made from specified grapes such as Ugni blanc, which makes for rather an acidic wine - but is perfect for distillation, it is distilled twice in copper stills and aged for at least two years in French oak barrels from the Limousin or Tronçais forests but you will learn all about the ins and outs on your tour.

The Hennessey tour is quick moving and although lasting 1hr15 it never stops for more than 5 or 10mins in one place, with lots of exciting sounds and smells inside the chai to keep even the littlest holidaymaker entertained - there's even a boat trip across the river. We particularly enjoy the short film with the sounds and sites of the Vendange or grape harvest, as having participated in this experience every year since we moved here, we can vouch for the fact it is a very realistic view of how it is - children laughing and playing, the chatter of the pickers and yes even singing ! Recently Hennessey have revamped their tour making it very modern, they have unfortunately upped the price considerably too - probably to put off families with younger children, but we say if you want to go then go, as long as your kids are reasonably well behaved it's a good informative tour. The layout of the tour means you can always sneak out if toddler has a 'terrible twos' moment and rejoin when he's ready to carry on . You can also bribe them with a trip to the park afterwards - we always did when ours were tiny. However for a cheaper alternative do the Balluet 'alternative Cognac tour' - it's completely free and gives you a true insight into how Cognac is really made (sticky floors, cobwebs and not a laser or ipad insight !)

The Andre Mermet park in Cognac has loads of fun things for children and toddlers including bouncy castles and a splash pool in peak season. All the play equipment is free to use but for access to the bouncy castles and splash pool you will need to purchase a wristband but gives access all day long. You could spend the whole day there or pop to and fro perhaps spending lunch at the nearby La Courtine restaurant, set close to the river Charente. It has a 'pub' like interior, so it's informal dining but has a superb terrace , so a beautiful spot to enjoy a relaxed lunch on a warm summers day. We have eaten there several times and always had a delicious meal.

You can park for free along the river and walk up into the town itself where you'll find lots more restaurants of all flavours and budgets; there's lots of cafés, brasseries and fine dining, so something for everyone - you may prefer just to take a picnic and sit in the jardin public a lovely green space in the center of town, watching the world go by. There are lots of shopping opportunities and a morning market which is on Tuesday to Sunday and also lots of cultural sites to see too; museums, the church Saint Léger, the chateau des Valois and lots of beautiful French medieval architecture such as the Maison de la Lieutenance.

If you'd like to visit Cognac then why not take a look at our family holiday accommodation we have on offer close by. La Grange du Moulin toddler holidays and Les Vallaies holidays

Content By Wendy Blakeman

Paleosite

Fri, 22 Dec 2017 11:04:43 GMT

a neanderthal adventure

We had a lovely day out a number of years ago. Benjamin had won 2 free childrens tickets at a Christmas market for entry to Paleosite which is just 30 mins drive from our family friendly holiday cottages here at la Grange du Moulin and Les Vallaies , so we decided to go along during the Christmas holidays. Previously we had been when Thomas was just a baby and Benjamin just 3 years old, so they didn't really get much out of it first time but this time was great.

In 1979 the partial skeleton of a neanderthal female was discovered in St Cesaire, Charente Maritime. It was found to be approximately 36,000 years old. The young woman had suffered a large wound across her skull but bone growth proves she did not die immediately from the wound and must therefore of been cared for by the group. Tools were also found which had previously been thought to of only been used by the homo sapiens and this discovery is thought to prove co existence of the two species. The discovery was also incredibly important in proving that the neanderthals survived far later than was previously thought.

The site has been developed into a large visitors centre. You are 'closed in' to various rooms starting with the description of the 'big bang' and the development of our solar system and planet, next there is the ampitheatre of evolution (with headphones and an English translation). The 'science lab' is a detailed explanation of the discovery at St Cesaire, again with an English translation - certainly a little in depth for most children, but all the 'lock ins' are only for 10 to 15 mins maximum. There is also a good film with an interpretation of how Pierette may of lived which brings it all 'to life'.

We then went outside where we were able to try our hand at spear throwing which was great fun (although we would of starved in pre historic times !) luckily there is a good restaurant with such things as antelope and wild boar on the menu - large portions, good value and a childrens menu too.

The most fun part is the interactive hall where you can try your hand at arm wrestling a neanderthal man and morph your face and body into a neanderthal child or adult. Afterwards we watched the fire making display - really amazing.

All in all a great day out, really educational and really good fun.

Content by Wendy Blakeman

Saintes with kids

Fri, 22 Dec 2017 10:22:16 GMT

and it's Roman history

Saintes is just a 30 minute drive from our family holiday cottages here in the Charente Maritime region of south west France. Because of its noteworthy Gallo-Roman, medieval and classical heritage, Saintes is a popular tourist destination and a member of the French Towns and Lands of Art and History since 1990. It has several museums, a theater, cinemas, and organizes numerous festivals. A European center of musical research and practice is in its Abbaye aux Dames and in the summer holidays holds spectacular events in the fantastic ampitheatre.

Saintes ampitheatre

The ampitheatre is set in a residential area so although you can drive to it and there are some parking spots, it is not encouraged and subsequently there are no road signs. It's a bit of a walk from the Arch and park which is where most people park but is perfectly do able as long as you have a pram for the children. It costs about 4€ entry (free for children u18) . Our kids used to love running around being gladiators (especially after they had been to Puy du Fou and experienced how it would of been in Roman times)

Arch of Germanicus

The arch is likely the first thing you notice on driving into Saintes and is often where most people park. This is where you'll find a play park with a small animal enclosure and some swings, the Roman museum and the Batia restaurant . The Arch of Germanicus was commisioned by a wealthy Saintes citizen in honour of Germanicus, adopted son of Tiberius. It was originally the entrance to the city over the river but was moved a few metres from its original position to allow for a wider road. From this point you can take a river boat cruise to the Moulin de la bain restaurant in Chaniers .

Saintes Museums

There are numerous reminders of this towns past life as Roman Mediolanum situated on the Roman route between Lyon and Aquitaine. There is a small museum, free to enter and every roundabout seems to have a roman artifact displayed on it.

During the 11th to 13th Centuries many religious monuments were constructed in this area and the crowing glory is the Abbaye-aux-Dames.

This ancient town has today become a major economic centre as well as a desirable place for tourists to visit. Great restaurants, great shopping but still retains small town charm.

Saintes for children

the Roman theme is fun and educational, our boys when younger, adored running around the ampitheatre pretending to fight lions. There's also a lovely park with an animal enclosure, great for little ones. There's also an indoor play centre if you are unfortunate with the weather (Amusetvous play center) as well as two McDonalds (!) one of which has an indoor play area (I've sat here when my kids were little for hours as they played, all for the price of a drink - plus it's free wifi !

Saintes Market

There is a market every day of the week except Mondays and a massive monthly market on the first Monday of each month. Lots of restaurants and shops, cobbled streets and lovely cafés.

If you want to make a Roman themed day of it then stop off at the village of Venerand which is on the way. Here you will find one of the sources of the aqueduct that feeds Saintes. Saintes had a similar population in Roman times as it does now (27,000) so needed a good water supply for it's public baths and fountains.

All in all a great town to visit with thousands of years of history and just 30min drive away from La Grange du Moulin and Les Vallaies family holiday cottages.

Content by Wendy Blakeman

Valley des Singes (monkey valley)

Thu, 21 Dec 2017 15:34:54 GMT

monkeys monkeys everywhere !!

Created in 1998, Valley des singes (singes is a monkey in French), is a zoological park dedicated to primates. It aims to be both a place of entertainment and education of the world of primates and of environmental consciousness. The park's main objective has been to contribute to raising awareness in the protection of nature and of the environment.

Valley des singes philosophy

Valley des singes is home to 450 primates in 16 hectares. You will enter the world of primates with no fences, the vast majority of monkeys are free to roam and interact with the humans, only the more dangerous primates have water barriers - for your safety, not theirs !

The main aim of the valley des singes is awareness of issues affecting and endangering primates throughout the world. The park works throughout the globe, through its Conservatory for the Protection of Primates, for the protection of monkeys and their natural environment. Over the years, Monkey valley has become a leader at European level in the proliferation of primates and even worldwide with more than 700 births to date.

Our visits to valley des singes

We have visited valley des singes twice since the children were born. The first time was before Thomas, when Benjamin was a tiny tot of 2. It was a freezing February day, it took longer than we expected to get there (about 1hr30 as we lost our way - there's no major roads/motorways to get to it) ; most of the monkeys were hiding away in the warmth somewhere and the café was closed - so it wasn't a great success. Still, Benjamin enjoyed running freely around the walkways and we did see the odd monkey that we got really close to.

The second time was for Thomas' 10th birthday. He had heard one of the guests in our family holiday cottages talking about how much fun it was and decided that is what he wanted to do for his birthday treat. This time it was a hot August day and we knew the best way to get there so we were off to a better start !

Valley des singes prices and opening times

It's 19€ per adult and 13€ per child age 5 - 12yrs (free under 5). It takes a good 1hr15 to get there, (80km drive in the middle of nowhere) so you really need to love monkeys ! Personally I think the animal park in La Palmyre (about the same drive time) is far better value and far more interesting plus you can tie it up with a few hours on the beach afterwards too. However for our families who have 'done' all the usual sights, it's definitely a good alternative day out.

It's well laid out, there are plenty of toilets and nappy change facilities and you are given a map so you can pick and choose which direction to take. It's set in a woodland location so there is lots of shade around although some areas are very exposed, like the Bonobo feeding time seats - so take sunscreen, hats and water. I would highly recommend watching the feeding times. Its more like an informative show. The handler gives you lots of information about the primates and they are very entertaining without being forced into any silly tricks - just their natural behaviour is fascinating.

It's open 7 days a week from April to the end of October and from 10am to 7pm in July and August. Full details can be found on their web site

Restaurants at Valley des singes

The eating options at least have improved slightly over the years. Being high season both the 'restaurants' were at least open and they were offering more than a sandwich and crisps, however as with most tourist attractions the food is pricey and basic but the kids enjoyed the peacocks wandering around ! It may be a better option to take a picnic. There are plenty of picnic areas to choose from. You can also leave the park to eat - just make sure you get your hand stamped so you can come back in.

We had great fun on our second visit to Valley des Singes. It's a great place for families. Young children can run freely around (it's unlikely they'll actually catch a monkey - they arn't tame despite being surrounded by humans most of the time) and it's lovely to be in such close contact with them. There's also a petting zoo and play park. The feeding shows are very informative (in French but with audio translations available).

Content by Wendy Blakeman

Chateau des Enigmas

Thu, 21 Dec 2017 14:58:29 GMT

a day of puzzles around a beautiful chateau

We spent a lovely day at the Chateau des énigmas (Chateau of puzzles ) with my two boys, 14 and 12 and my niece (11) and nephew (9) . It was a fun day that kept us all interested and would of been suitable for much younger children and toddlers too with mum and dads help.

The web site describes the Le Château des Énigmes as ” a new kind of theme park , which is both fun and educational: come and discover this splendid Italian Renaissance Chateau with your family or friends. You will take part in a journey adventure in the castle, the wooded park and its little farm.” This year, the chateau d’Usson , registered as historical monument invites you to join Willy the pirate in his treasure hunt to seek for the enigma of the castle and have fun learning how to be a pirate whilst following the trail.

The trail at the Chateau des énigmas

There are 27 puzzles or tasks to complete. The tasks are usually quite simple and allow younger children to feel as though they are participating fully in the puzzle without it being too complicated. With the pirate them these tasks involve pirate skills like knot tying, walking the plank, climbing etc You are free to do the skills or not as they do not constitute part of the puzzle.

The real puzzles vary in difficulty but not so hard that the children get bored. Each puzzle has an answer. At the end of the trail you enter these answers into an interactive screen. It’s not the end of the world if you have a few wrong as you can correct your answer. Each correct answer will give you a clue. When you have all these written down you have to work out the ‘énigma’ – there are three levels of difficulty. You could do all three to help but there were queues for the screens so we didn’t want to hold up others from entering their answers.

At the end you give your answer and receive a certificate (even if it’s wrong !) plus a 2€ voucher off your next entry. It was a really fun day which we all enjoyed. We would definitely recommend it as a good family day with the whole family.

Location of Chateau des énigmas

There are two Chateau des énigmas in France. Our closest is situated in Pons in the Charente-Maritime (Poitou-Charentes or Nouvelle Aquitaine as the region is now known),

The Château des Énigmes is less than 30 minutes from Saintes / Cognac / Royan , and within an hour of several of our larger towns – Bordeaux, Angoulême, Niort and La Rochelle . So from our family friendly holiday cottages here at Les Vallaies and La Grange du Moulin it’s about a 50 minute drive.

The second is in Fréteval in the Loir-et-Cher, at the heart of the Val de Loire and registered as a site of UNESCO the Château de Rocheux is host to this chateau des énigmas park.

History of Chateau des énigmas

In 1536 Jean de Rabaine commissioned one of the greatest architects of his time, Nicolas Bachelier, a pupil of Michelangelo, to build a château. The Château d’Usson, with all the characteristics of a classic Renaissance château was built in the village of Echebrune in Charente-Maritime, 8km from it’s present site. It has had a troubled but interesting history best described on the web site here but needless to say it eventually ended up in it’s present position . During the 1980s the Château was stripped of some of its ornaments by its then owner. The State intervened and put the Château up for sale.

1998 that Philippe Lapouyade bought the Château d’Usson with the idea of creating a giant treasure hunt which would allow visitors to discover this lovely Renaissance château and its grounds : The Château des Enigmes Activity Park opened its gates the following year. The chateau now welcomes more than 50,000 visitors a year, making it the most visited château in Charente-Maritime!

Practical info for Chateau des énigmas

We would recommend taking a picnic with you. The course lasts around 3 hours but longer if you stop for a break or enjoy wandering the grounds. There is a small snack bar which is open in July and August; offering chips, crisps, sandwiches, ice creams and drinks but we had to wait a while even eating at 3pm so I expect at lunch time the queues and wait would be a bit on the long side. There are plenty of shady picnic areas and if we go again that is what we shall do. There is also this little play park at the café

The chateau des énigmas is open daily non-stop from 1st April to 5 November 2017, from 10am to 7pm (8pm in July and August). We paid 14€ per adult and 11€ for the 4 to 12 yrs (under 4 yrs free)

There is a small wooden toilet block (3 loos) so go when you are passing as it’s a long hike with a child that needs a wee from the other end of the park (although there are plenty of trees and bushes for a quick toddler wee !) No baby changing facilities or disabled facilities as far as we could see.

There is plenty of parking immediately outside the park. Take a pen unless you want to pay 50c for the souvenir one. You will need one to fill in your answers.

All in all a good day out for all the family when staying at our family friendly holiday cottages

content by Wendy Blakeman

Aquarium in La Rochelle

Mon, 18 Dec 2017 14:09:37 GMT

Kid friendly day out when staying at La Grange du Moulin

During the Spring bank holidays my sister and family came to stay with us. The weather here in France has been absolutely beautiful for months, clear blue skies and mild temperatures so we had a day trip to the coast and the aquarium at La Rochelle our county town here in the Charente Maritime.

The aquarium in La Rochelle has been a regular place for us to visit over the years with the children, ever since they were really little, it has been a firm favourite ever since and often the choice for a birthday treat. It is also one of our top ten recommended places to visit for our families who stay in our holiday accommodation during the summer months, tying it in with a stroll around this famous French city and a delicious seafood meal.

We booked our tickets online as there is a slight reduction in the price and on very busy days (and it can get really busy during the summer) this avoids the need to queue, so definitely worth doing. Here at La Grange du Moulin and Les Vallaies We are happy to print your tickets for you but you can access the confirmation bar code on your phone too.

Our visit was in the morning, at this time of year it opens at 10am and is not too busy; in summer you really need to get there before it opens as the queues can extend out of the building and down the street if you arrive later - to be honest, if this happens it really isn't worth queuing as it will be so busy inside you'll have difficulty viewing everything and its no fun for anyone - far better to go for lunch, visit the town then go back in the afternoon or evening when it will be much quieter. In July and August it's open until 11pm !

The visit starts with a descent to the depths of the ocean (in the lift); when our two were very young (1 and 3yrs) this bit scared them as the 'submarine' lift shakes a bit and the 'windows' show the water level rising. So hold onto the little ones. The doors open into an underwater tunnel filled with jelly fish - water surrounds you, below your feet and above your head it's a lovely start to the 'tour' .

The direction of the visit is well signposted and the different areas well laid out, so although you can wander freely and view as much or as little as you want, following the route means you'll see everything on offer. The visit around La Rochelle aquarium is split into five main areas: The Atlantic coast; Mediterranean; Caribbean; Indo Pacific and Tropical rain forest.

Many of the tanks reach down to the ground, so ideal for younger children . There is lots of information about all the fish and sea creatures and their habitats if you have time to read everything but we found the most popular thing with the children is just being able to run around freely.

There is a lovely childrens tunnel that takes them behind a huge tank so you can take a photo of them from the other side pretending to be a fish; or the interactive projection on the carpet is another firm favourite where they can try and chase the 'fish'. We also enjoy sitting on the benches in front of the shark tank just watching these magnificent fish gliding by.

The final tropical area is also popular with our kids as although there arn't many fish (a piranha tank with a big warning sign not to put your hands in !!) the wobbling rope bridge to access it is fun, as are the bamboo tubes with different tropical smells to guess. There is an audio guide designed for children aged 4 to 10 years and an app you can download before your visit to get them excited about it and prepare them for the experience.

Practically wise there is good disabled access and lots of toilets along the route (always a necessity with young children) Lighting is quite low so at busy times you'll need to keep a good hold of little children so you don't lose them - we'd always recommend visiting the aquarium at quiet times if at all possible with young children and toddlers as it is far more fun if they can run around discovering things for themselves.

At the end of the tour there is the ubiquitous gift shop - we always know when our families have been when they return with cuddly Nemos and sharks ! On previous visits we have eaten lunch in La Rochelle at one of the many seafood restaurants on the port (usually Andrés) but this time because it was already quite late for lunch we decided upon the aquarium restaurant /café .

This was a really pleasant surprise. It has stunning views across the port, is light with windows all around and the service was excellent. The choice of food was very good, several fish dishes and steak too. All simply but well presented, even the childrens steak haché frites (burger and chips) was served with wrapped green beans and the chips were homemade. Very reasonably priced, particularly considering the location - take the boat taxi across the port and you'll be paying twice as much. Highly recommended.

After your aquarium visit take the electric boat over to Andrés restaurant and the rest of the town, read more about it here . A superb day out when staying at our family friendly holiday cottages in the Charente Maritime in France.

content by Wendy Blakeman

Andrés seafood restaurant

Mon, 18 Dec 2017 13:46:28 GMT

in La Rochelle

t is set on a pedestrianised cobbled square centred on a large anchor (which the children love to play on inbetween courses) We love
to sit on the terrace in summer and watch the world go by as we tuck into our Gillardeau oysters (grown just down the road and considered the best in the world )

There is a very relaxed atmosphere, high noise levels and informal table settings. High chairs can be provided and we have always
found the staff to be extremely friendly and welcoming towards our children (and we have been taking them since they were born) Our
boys particularly enjoy the 'space dust' sprinkled on the ice cream which pops in their mouths.

Considering the location we have always found it excellent value. You are of course sitting in a central position in the third most visited cities in France with over 3 million visitors each year - so yes - you will pay a bit more for the location than sitting in a back street café. However they do a superb three course 18€ lunch menu which is delicious and excellent value. What we love most, apart from the food and location is they do a delicious 'grown up' childrens menu which incorporates a beautifully cooked piece of fish in a divine butter sauce and they will bring crayons and colouring pages for the little ones and also (if you sit inside) sit you next to the live lobster tank which will help keep the little ones amused whilst you dig into your own cooked lobster or crab !

Apart from the superb 'fruits de mer' platters and world renowned Gillardeau oysters they also do an amazing fish soup which is a complete meal in itself being served with the traditional croutons, grated cheese and rouille (named for it's 'rust' colour) a spicy (chilli)
garlic sauce that gives a great kick to the already hot and tasty soup - perfect for a winters day or a meal in itself if you don't have time for more courses and at just 9€50 for a massive tureen full - can't be beat for value. Long tables, great for family meals, bustling and good noise levels (so no one hears when the toddlers shout a bit too loudly !

We always recommend a full day out to take in the sights of La Rochelle. With an early start, visit the aquarium first to miss the queues in summer then take the electric boat taxi over the harbour (fun for the kids and costs about 70cents for adults) which drops you off right at the tour de la chaine next to Andrés. Enjoy a delicious seafood meal - taking it in turns between courses to let the children play on the anchor then stroll along the promenade under the trees and browse the market stalls and watch the street entertainers making your way through the town. In the heat of the sun you can walk protected by the ancient overhanging buildings (good if it rains too !) window shopping (or buying !) in the hundreds of independent stores.

After your stroll around the shops, having walked off your lunch then you must stop at Ernests le glacier - homemade ice creams and sorbets in
every imaginable flavour - choose just a cone or a bucket full, the kids won't forgive you if you don't !
To make it a full day out (and perhaps to kill two birds...) you can then take a walk along the city walls to the town beach. Always bustling and with several cafés from which to enjoy an afternoon coffee, the children will get a few hours playing in the sand and jumping the wave if the tide is in (if not they can hunt for crabs and tiddlers in the rock pools) whilst you sit and sun yourself gazing at the boats sailing in and out of the harbour.

A perfect day

content by Wendy Blakeman

La Rochelle with kids

Mon, 18 Dec 2017 12:30:55 GMT

Our regions capital and a beautiful city to visit

When staying with us at our family holiday cottages in the Charente Maritime region of western France, La Rochelle is a 'must see' and very probably number one on our list of family days out.

The area has been inhabited since before Roman times. The Romans used the area for the production of salt (still produced today on the salt flats of the nearby Ile de Re and Il d'Oleron )and of wine. It became an important port in the 12th century; became
English for 12 years in the 14th century and then became an independent protestant republic in the 16th century. More recently it was an important German stronghold during the war with a submarine base and was the last French city to be liberated. Today La Rochelle has a population of around 80,000 and is an important tourist centre being the third most visited city in France.

Being just an easy one hour drive from our holiday cottages, La Rochelle has so much to offer for a full day out. Before you start, pop a bottle of wine in the fridge for later.

We recommend starting the day early (particularly in peak season) and arriving at the La Rochelle aquarium at around opening time (9am in summer) You could quite easily spend several hours visiting this popular attraction, so to get in early before the crowds is highly recommended particularly if you have young children.

The tour starts with a descent to the depths of the ocean in a submarine disguised as a lift and when the doors open you are immediately surrounded by fish, rays and even sharks. The aquarium is divided into the oceans and waters of the world, so you'll travel from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic, to the Pacific, the Caribbean, the Indian ocean, lagoons and finally to the tropics giving a great insight into the flora and fish found in these very differing waters.

Why we love the La Rochelle aquarium so much is that it is so child friendly and we mean toddler and baby friendly too. We have been taking our children here since they were tiny and they loved crawling up to the huge tanks that rise from floor level, so even on hands and knees your baby will get a great view. The star attraction is the three story shark tank where you can sit and watch these majestic creatures to the sounds of classical music; however my two adore their own star attraction which can be found in a hallway ! Its an interactive projection of fish swimming on the carpet - when you walk or jump and 'splash' in the projected water the fish scatter to your movements - we love it and the boys will happily spend 20mins trying to catch the fish !

The tour ends in the obligatory gift shop where you can purchase large fluffy turtles and sharks if you wish. There is a restaurant there too which is very good but we prefer to move onto our next La Rochelle highlight - Andrés seafood restaurant.

From the aquarium you could walk around the port or take the electric boat across (which happens to drop you just in front of Andrés)

Andrés in La Rochelle is by far and away our most favourite restaurant in the Charente Maritime. Found at the entrance to the old port, it is
easy to find and is the centre of all the best restaurants in La Rochelle - our theory is the further away from this point you get along the harbour, the further you get away from top class seafood ! If you want moules frites then feel free to choose anyone of the hundreds of seasonal restaurants that pop up as soon as the sun starts to shine, but if like us you love seafood and want top quality and freshness served with professional and friendly staff then Andrés is a great choice for all the family.

There are long tables and it's always busy so noise levels are high, great if you've got a chatty toddler or hungry baby. They have high chairs, there are baby changing facilities and a child toilet in the bathroom. The staff have always been very friendly towards our children and they have a great kids menu too.

After an enjoyable lunch at Andrés or one of the many other great restaurants La Rochelle has to offer, take a stroll through the old town. Old buildings, steep slate roofs, covered pedestrian walkways and many plazas where you can sit, enjoy a cup of coffee and watch the world go by. It's definitely a people watching town. Even in mid winter the locals wrap up and sit in the sun sipping a Ricard or a hot chocolate watching the yachts pull out of their moorings and into the deep blue sea beyond.

Shopping is a popular French pastime too and the streets are lined with small boutiques, jewellery shops and some gorgeous baby clothes shops.

Parking is usually not a problem. The large St Jean d'Acre car park is centrally located between the beach and Andrés restaurant and is our recommended car park if you arn't going to the aquarium (which has it's own large car park) In June though St Jean d'Acre is closed due to the Francofolie music festival so you can go to Place Verdun parking (underground) or use the park and ride system.

Content by Wendy Blakeman

La Palmyre animal park

Mon, 18 Dec 2017 11:56:04 GMT

a must see when staying at kid friendly la Grange du Moulin

The word 'Zoo' has some very negative associations and so I try to avoid using the description to our guests before I have described what a fantastic place this is to visit when staying at
our family holiday cottages and stick with the 'animal park' which doesn't sound so controversial.

Every year, millions of people visit zoos around the world, some are amazing others should be closed immediately; La Palmyre is one of the former. They have assumed an active role in the protection of rare species threatened with extinction and are a 'centre of education and environmental consciousness-raising'

La Palmyre are a member of the European Endangered Species Program, where global coordinators are given responsibility for different endangered species. Their goal is to optimize a species’ 'reproductive conditions by setting up groups and avoiding any
inbreeding. This may involve sending a particular animal to another zoo, so a primate born at La Palmyre might end up starting a family in Tokyo.'

La Palmyre Zoo is also a founder member of CEPA (Conservation of Animal Species and Populations), which was founded in 1997 to focus on species that are both seriously endangered and generally neglected because little known, such as the Amur leopard or Tahiti monarch. There is particular emphasis on the wild animals of France’s overseas departments. Further information on their missions can be found on their site here
www.zoo-palmyre.com

Everyone who visits the La Palmyre zoo always returns with glowing reports, most saying it is the best zoo they have ever visited and we agree.We ourselves go every year, our boys never tire of running around the shady paths getting really close to so many animals, having the huge wet tongue of a giraffe lick over your hand to eat popcorn (provided by the zoo) and goats run around you feet and nudge your bottom to get the last crumbs from your pockets left by the giraffes. Its a full day out and in peak season we recommend leaving early to get there as the gates open, to avoid the crowds. It does get unbearably busy later on, so its best to keep ahead of the crowds by starting early (I'm talking about an 8am start from your gite) In May, June and September this isn't such an issue as the French children are still at school - just avoid weekends and Wednesdays when the school children are off at any time of year. Its a great place to be with toddlers when its quieter as they can run around freely, chasing peacocks and shouting out all the animals names as they see them.

There are a few 'snack bars' but we recommend taking a few sandwiches and sitting on one of the many benches under the shade of the huge pine trees for a leisurely picnic or if you have really little ones who arn't worried about reading every bit of info about each
animal, then you could be out by lunchtime and have a meal in nearby La Palmyre town.

Toilets are dotted regularly along the trail but be warned, many of the smaller blocks are still the old fashioned hole in the ground - doesn't bother my boys but my nieces arn't so keen to use them ! There are baby changing facilities too.

All in all a fantastic day out for all the family and in our top ten sites to visit when staying at La Grange du Moulin or Les Vallaies family holiday cottages.

content by Wendy Blakeman

Top ten free things to do

Mon, 18 Dec 2017 11:41:35 GMT

when staying at our family friendly holiday accommodation in France

1, Saint Jean d’Angely – our local town has a great history and some lovely buildings and cobbled pedestrianised streets. It’s not huge with a population of 8000 so is lovely and quiet on most days but bustling with life on market days. Wander around the Abbey cloisters (now housing the centre of European culture), the IX century Abbey and the church and visit the library with it’s beautiful ’sistine’ like ceiling.

2, Play Parks – our local one is just 10 minutes drive away, the ‘loisier’ is located on the river Boutonne and has a lovely lake with ducks to feed your old bread to, there is a large playing field and a super childrens play park with spider web rope climbing frame, climbing blocks, slides, tyre swings, sand pit and much more. A great place to sit in the sun and watch your children making friends with the local French children. In fact every town has a great park and they are all different and all within a reasonable driving distance.

3, Cognac – a beautiful town with cobbled streets and dozens of ’Cognac’ houses, take a stroll along the river and see Otard, Hennessey and Martell all within a few hundred metres. See if you can spy their storage houses or ‘chai’ where the evaporation of the eau de vie (or angels share) creates a black mould on the buildings. You don’t need to do a tour (although we have buy one get one free entrance cards for Hennessey) but you can freely enter the shops and look at the bottles of ‘Paradise’ at thousands of pounds a bottle (keep hold of the kids hands !) afterwards you could walk/drive down to the huge play park located on the river.

4, Beaches – the Charente Maritime has literally hundreds of miles of beaches and the ones from La Rochelle down to Royan are all within 1 hrs drive of our family friendly gites at La Grange du Moulin. They are all safe, shallow and sandy and vary from small and quiet to large and touristy – there is a beach for everyone. In La Rochelle the town beach is plenty large enough to please the little ones and is close to the town, so you can tie up the beach with a day sightseeing this beautiful town and save on petrol. The beaches close to La Palmyre have been designed so that when the tide goes out (and it goes out a long way !) there are sea water pools left for the children to play in. Along the coast south of Royan are cliffs and rock pools – another great activity that will keep the kids happy for hours at no cost.

5, La Rochelle – our departments capital and a world renowned city, a definite must see when visiting our region. There are thousands of restaurants (including Michelin starred ones) but when on a budget there are plenty of small family restaurants you can eat at and enjoy the ‘moules frites’ at very little cost , better still, take a picnic, sit in the park or on the beach and watch the world go by. The city is filled with beautiful buildings and we recommend a stroll around it’s busy streets, the tourist info office will give you a walking tour with information on the various historical buildings; go on a Sunday and one of the towers is free to climb (but the shops will be shut – probably a good day to go if you want to avoid temptation)

6, Local markets – All the towns will have a market at least once a week. In our area these are still very much how the locals do much of their weekly shopping, so you will find a huge array of fresh fish, meat, cheese and fruit and vegetables and much fewer ‘handbag’ stalls. You could just browse and soak up the atmosphere but we highly recommend buying your fresh fish from the twice weekly market in St Jean, there is good competition between the stall holders, prices are keen, the produce is very fresh and there’s a much better choice than the supermarkets – pick up some oysters to enjoy at our seafood evening. A great way to practice your own French and encourage the children to say a few words too.

7, Ile de Oleron - there are several islands off our coastline but this one is free to get to (the Ile de Ré has a toll) it’s larger and a bit busier than the others of course, but you can still find unoccupied beaches, woodland trails, cycle routes (if you’ve brought your bikes) and visit the lighthouse (under 6yrs go free)

8, Walks – There are lots of lovely walks around our La Grange du Moulin family holiday gites. Wander up past the sunflowers and maize to the woods where you will find lots of tracks to discover, spot wild flowers and you may even see a deer if you are up early. You have the freedom to roam along all the tracks which criss cross the fields, the lanes are very quiet and you would be unlucky to see a car. One of our favourite routes is up to the woods and along the edge of the vineyards then back along the river Nie where we can stop at the ‘old stone bridge’ where the trolls live. You can cycle these routes too.

9, Saintes Roman ruins – Park close to the Triumphal arch of Germanicus located on the river Charente, wander around the free museum close by which has a collection of stone carvings, parts of Roman buildings and statues too. A stroll through the town and past the two abbeys (also free) will take you to the ampitheatre – it is in a quiet residential area and although there is a small charge to enter, you can easily walk around the outside and see just as much. In summer they often have free concerts in the ampitheatre itself but you have to be quick to get tickets, so join the tourist office web site to keep informed. On your way home if you are still in the ‘Roman’ mood stop at Venerand, a small village en route where there is the start of the aqueduct that fed Saintes with spring water.

10, and finally – have a day at the holiday cottages here at La Grange du Moulin. You can sit back in the sunshine, reading a good book and sipping a chilled glass of wine whilst your children play in the safely enclosed play garden making new friends. Our weekly Teddy Bears picnic is completely free and all the children really look forward to the bubbles, Teddy cake and balloon animals.

Remember these are just the free things to do, proving you can have a lovely holiday without breaking the bank.

content by Wendy Blakeman

Money saving ideas

Mon, 18 Dec 2017 11:32:38 GMT

to make your family holiday to France better value

The last thing you want to be is worried about money whilst on holiday so how can you have a great family holiday and keep to a budget ?

1, Travel – take advantage of the offers. Holiday and travel companies often have early booking deals – Brittany ferries always increase their standard 20% discount to 25% during the month of October (we can give you a code when you either like our facebook page or make a booking with us) Lots of companies start to advertise deals straight after Christmas, so sign up to follow their twitter and facebook accounts so you see the offers as soon as they appear. Check out your supermarket loyalty cards as points can sometimes be exchanged for tickets for the tunnel or ferry crossings. Check out the price comparison sites like http://www.skyscanner.net/ and Martins money tips for deals on cheap car hire and flights.

2, Shopping – on a self catering holiday it is one of my favourite parts wandering around the ‘foreign’ supermarkets and markets, but just as in the Uk there are cheap ones such as Lidl, Ed, Leader Price but they often do not have the same range or quality products that the larger hypermarkets do and although you may be happy to shop around and buy certain things from certain shops at home, who wants to spend time doing it on holiday ! In a study last summer of the larger hypermarkets in France E.leclerc was found to be 20% cheaper than the highest priced supermarket which is great news for us since our nearest supermarket happens to be E.Leclerc ! They now have a good range of ‘premier prix’ own brand products many of which are good value, but unlike UK supermarkets these are not placed at eye level but down on the bottom shelf, so rather than automatically picking up the obvious ‘BN’ brand kids biscuits at 0.94€, look down to the bottom shelf and pick up a packet of own brand for 0.46€.

Another thing about shopping is that some things are cheaper than the uk but others are a lot more expensive. For example a pack of 68 Pampers 4+ active fit in Tescos is £10 or 11.15€ – in E.leclerc it is 21.19€ !! A huge difference, so worth bringing all you need from the uk if you are driving (but a bit harder to do if flying !) However wine is another matter – as long as you are happy to drink French (and why wouldn’t you be when coming to France on holiday !) You’ll find incredible value not only in the local supermarkets but also in small local producers too.

3, Petrol/diesel – is a huge expense both in the UK and in France but it is still cheaper here and if you are driving down this can be a considerable cost on your holiday. Today a litre of diesel in France is approx. 1.00€, in the UK 1.50€ ; for unleaded it is 1.30€ in France and 1.45€ in the UK. So don’t top up in the Uk, top up when you get to France. Another point about fuel is, just as in the UK it is more expensive on the motorways and at branded stations such as Esso, so if possible fill up in the supermarkets before your journey. Tolls are another consideration when travelling through France. This site http://www.autoroutes.fr will plan your journey and give you an estimate on not only the tolls but the fuel cost too, giving you a good idea before you leave. For example, you may decide the tunnel is much cheaper than a ferry crossing but make sure you factor in 130€ of tolls (65€ each way) and a similar amount in fuel, plus it is a long drive to the west and south coasts so you may need to stop en route, especially if you have young children.

See our top ten list of free things to do

Content by Wendy Blakeman

Les Gours plan d'eau

Mon, 18 Dec 2017 08:45:43 GMT

swimming lake and beach just 30 mins away from our family holiday cottages

After 20 years here we are still discovering new places.

Just 30 minutes drive away from our La Grange du Moulin and Les Vallaies family holiday cottages, Les Gours plan d'eau is in the middle of no where and you can't even see the lake from the road so you'd never come across it by accident; there is a small sign but if you blinked you'd miss it, so you definitely need directions to get there. Consequently it's not busy - just those 'in the know' have reserved tables in the restaurant.

We arrived at lunchtime so were pleased to find the restaurant serving steak frites for just 9€50 including an ice cream for dessert. They also offer a full menu of tomatoe salad, paté or melon followed by steak frite (a very nice piece of faut filet and a huge platter of homemade chips), cheese, ice cream cone, caraf of wine, water and bread - all for 13€50; no wonder most tables were reserved. Apparently this menu is only offered on a Sunday but the bar is open throughout the week in peak season offering drinks and snacks such as waffles. It's very simply done so keeps the costs low - very French actually - paper table cloth, thin plastic plates and cups and the food served on platters for you to help yourselves.

After lunch we headed across the lane to the lake. It's a beautiful situation - surrounded by mature trees giving lots of shade. Lots of benches and lots of space. There's a good sized man made beach with lovely soft sand which leads down to the paddling and swimming areas. The paddling area is a maximum 80cm depth and has a rope to define the area, as does the swimming area which goes from 80cm to 3m50. The swimming area is surveyed by a life guard from 2pm until 6pm most days during the summer holidays. The rest of the lake is reserved for fishing.

A nice play area is provided too with swings, slide and a see saw.

We had a lovely few hours, the children didn't come out of the lake until it was time to leave, they had so much fun. We highly recommend it as an alternative to going to the beach for the day - it's much closer and there's no low tide !

content by Wendy Blakeman

Scuba diving at La Grange du Moulin child friendly holiday cottages

Sat, 16 Dec 2017 15:33:53 GMT

for kids aged 5 to 99 yrs

PADI have developed special training courses to introduce youngsters to just how much fun and exciting breathing underwater can be. Scubaschool.fr and their British instructors have joined up with us to offer a range of diving options for all the family at our family holiday cottages here in the Charente Maritime, France. So make your holiday a bit special and try scuba diving with us !

Geoff and Wendy taught Chris to dive and pass his PADI open water course which enabled us to spend a week on a live aboard boat off the Barrier Reef and Chris then passed his advanced open water. Unfortunately I'm not allowed to dive but had a great time snorkelling !

A few years ago Geoff and Wendy started teaching Benjamin to dive and enjoyed it so much came to us with a proposition to offer 'try dives' to our guests, both children and adults - we jumped at the chance ! Scubaschool.fr was born !

Scubaschool.fr now visit both La Grange du Moulin and Les Vallaies each week . Children from 5 years old to adults up to 99 years + are offered try a dives or PADI approved courses. The basic course lasts one hour and costs 30€. This is a great way to see whether you like the idea before perhaps moving on to more advanced courses here or at home.

All sessions are held in the heated swimming pools onsite at our properties. All equipment is provided and once the basic safety lessons are learnt you'll be off around the pool collecting 'treasure' and they may literally have you diving through hoops !

It is quite amazing how quickly children get to grips with 'breathing' underwater and we have had several children opt to then take the full 'junior open water course' available which even involves an exam ( they must have really loved it to study on their hols !) For those interested in going further Geoff can offer referral courses . This means that you can take all the 'closed' (meaning swimming pool) work and tests for a course and any coursework required whilst on holiday and Geoff will then give you a contact for a dive centre close to you at home in the UK to complete the necessary 'open' (non pool) tests. The benefits of doing this are that firstly it is a lot cheaper, from only 300€ which is way cheaper than doing the pool work in the UK plus you get to do most of the work in a lovely warm pool in lovely sunny weather !

However most people just want to 'give it a go' and experience this amazing sport in a safe and familiar environment and as a bit of fun on their holidays. The kids absolutely love it and are far more daring and adventurous than their parents !!

But what do you do if you have an eight year old who's having a fab time diving for treasure and a six year old who is desperate to try it because it looks so much fun? Well - they can. Geoff and Wendy offer a try dive for younger children too - they don't even need to be able to swim ! They'll be restricted to the shallow end where they can stand up and the tanks will be held for them.

The scuba diving activity has proved so popular that often the children have to be staggered into different time groups depending on their abilities.

Some children and adults like the look of doing it but arn't really sure - no problem, you can have a 15 minute session for 15€ to see whether you like it or not then carry on to do the full hour if you want to.

Everyone is given a certificate of achievement at the end, a fantastic souvenir of your holiday at La Grange du Moulin and Les Vallaies.

For full details of the courses and try dives avalable, prices and contact details of scubaschool.fr

Available to guests at La Grange du Moulin, Les Vallaies and our other family friendly holiday accommodation in the Charente Maritime, France.

We also offer Dive holidays where you and a group of friends or you and your family can stay a whole week and learn all the scuba diving techniques and take your closed water section of your open water or advanced open water course in a group with other divers. Specific weeks are set aside in our availability to host scuba diving holidays here at la Grange du Moulin and Les Vallaies in the Charente Maritime, France. Alternatively contact us at wendyblakeman@gmail.com to make a booking.

A medical questionnaire must be completed beforehand by the parent, some medical conditions may mean that you are unable to dive so contact us beforehand if you are unsure as you may simply need another certificate authorised by your GP. (things like asthma, diabetes, epilepsy plus others)

Content by Wendy Blakeman

St Savinien

Sat, 16 Dec 2017 15:03:58 GMT

Idyllic family afternoon out

Saint Savinien in the Charente Maritime department of the Poitou Charente region of France, just an easy 30 drive from our affordable family friendly holiday cottages

It has a weekly market and an annual wine fair. Wander the small winding streets up to the church, buy some fresh oysters and fruit for lunch and then picnic by the Charente on a hot summers afternoon. However, you must not miss the 'port miniature' and the children would never forgive you if you did !

In the park is a large lake with two mini canals. Here you will find the'Port Minaiture' where over the last 20yrs the vision of l'ATELIER DU MARTIN PÊCHEUR has been achieved through his own hard work. All the boats have been carefully constructed from scratch, beautifully designed and painted and put to work (on sunny days) on the lake which he alone has modified with hand dredged canals and handmade Japanese bridges.

There are a flotilla of different boats from cross channel ferries, to tugs and the rainbow warrior. Each boat is chosen for its captain and crew depending on their age and number. From 9yrs and over you can captain your own low sided tug boat, for the toddlers with mum and dad in tow, you'll get the high sided Britanny ferries cross channel ferry (with a life jacket too).

When staying at our family friendly holiday cottages in Charente Maritime, France, St Savinien is a lovely afternoon trip out where you can play in the park, relax with an ice cream and cold drink in the shade, have a meal in a restaurant or picnic by the side of the river and the whole family can enjoy a ride out on one of these beautifully crafted electric boats.

Content by Wendy Blakeman

Travelling to France

Sat, 16 Dec 2017 14:18:11 GMT

Plane, train or automobile

When we first arrived in France some 21 years ago, 100% of our guests drove their car - there wasn't really a choice. Our family holiday cottages are located in a peaceful, rural environment and a car is essential, not only to get to the shops but to make the most of your holiday it would be a shame not to discover all this beautiful region of the Charente Maritime has to offer. You could take the train but with young children in tow and a suitcase of swimwear and t-shirts it really wasn't and still isn't practical.

In the early 90's this all changed with the European Unions deregulation of the air industry giving carriers the right to operate services between other European states. This gave the likes of Ryan air and Easyjet a huge opportunity to expand their markets and the cheap airline to France was born. Since this time the percentage of our families who choose to take to the air rather than to the road has increased dramatically - I'd take a guess that it's now about 50:50 It seems that smaller families with perhaps one child or a young baby tend to fly rather than risk a long car journey with toddlers in tow; families with slightly more children or older children are more willing to drive, especially in this day of seat back dvd players, tablets and electronic games to keep them happy (no more eye spy or spotting the registration year on cars) These families also often choose to take the longest route possible from Calais and take advantage of the tunnel.

The tunnel was another reason for the boom roughly ten years ago in travel and holidays to the continent of families. Opening in 1994 it provides a quicker route to France even than the airlines making you feel like you are already on holiday even with an 8 hr drive south to go ! Together the cheap flights and tunnel route lead to a increase in overseas property ownership as well as holidays to France in general.

So which, with all this choice we have now, is the best way to travel to our own family holiday cottages here in the Charente Maritime. This is the most commonly asked question after 'can I babysit ?' (yes I can by the way !) For our family the best way to travel in our opinion is using our own car and driving. When we return to the UK it is our holiday so we make the travel part of the holiday plus I'm not brilliant on a plane and we need a car when in the UK . We also love to stock up on a few things

1, wine (yes wine !! You should realise how lucky you are living in the UK - the choice is amazing; no New Zealand Cloudy Bay here !)

2, foods (cheddar cheese and sausages) and

3, clothes for the kids (cheap kids jeans in Asda £3, cheap jeans here €35 !!)

Obviously these are not the same reasons you would choose to bring the car here - or not quite...

1, wine - you can't take much back on Ryan air, but you can fill your boot of the car with French wines and the prices are fantastic, just don't expect Cloudy Bay !

2, food - again, difficult on the plane, but guests of ours stock up on confit de canard and other such delicacies

3, convenience - having your own car means you can bring as many suitcases as you need. There is something very appealing to me about being able to load everything into the car next to my front door and not touch it again until I arrive at our destination, no loading in and out of a taxi, checking in, waiting at the carousel, loading into the hire car, then unloading all again an hour later !

As you may of guessed, I enjoy taking the car !

To be balanced though, if you get a good deal on the flight and the car hire, flying can be a much cheaper option and if you live further north than Oxford, may well be much quicker.

Things to remember if you are driving to our family holiday cottages are

1, what ferry port to choose - If you are close to Dover then the obvious choice is P&O ferries or the tunnel, but if you are closer to Portsmouth, Poole or Plymouth then there are good ferry routes with Brittany ferries to northern France. P&O also do Portsmouth to Dieppe. We can offer a 20% discount off Brittany ferry crossings when booking with us or liking our facebook , google+ or pinterest pages and can also give you a link to get 5% off P&O ferries too . Being on a decent ferry can be like a mini cruise - the Portsmouth to St Malo route on the Bretagne ship (Brittany ferries) is our favourite and has a superb restaurant and the lovely Commodore cabins - it costs more but gets us 4 hrs drive closer to home than the Dover Calais route and the 60€ + of tolls and a potential stopover.

2, Whichever route you take to our family holiday cottages you'll end up on a toll road. Many of the motorways are free - around large cities usually, but you have to be pretty determined to avoid the ones that arn't free. A good web site to use to give you an idea of current charges along your route is just enter your route and it will give you an estimate of petrol costs and toll charges. They do take uk credit/debit cards, but have some euros handy just in case.

3, Another consideration would be the time of year you are travelling. In peak season (July and August) there are several weekends that are terrible for traffic. To avoid spending hours sitting in a traffic jam visitwhich will tell you what the traffic is likely to be like on your date of travel. They have black days (standing traffic) red days (bad) and orange days (heavy) - avoid the black and red days on certain routes if possible.

4, Fuel is still cheaper in France than the UK but the difference these days is not as much as it used to be. As with the UK avoid filling up on the motorways if possible as fuel will be a lot more expensive there than in the supermarkets.

5, There is no excuse to have a regular break on French motorways, there are rest stops pretty much every 20km or so; they may not be full services, just parking, a loo and a picnic area usually, but a definite plus when you have an active toddler who needs to stretch their legs.

and then things to remember when flying...

1, shop around and keep an eye out for the deals. Most airlines (and ferry companies for that matter) use twitter, facebook and google+ to let everyone know about the deals they are offering, yet its surprising how few people follow them to be first in the queue, by the time you hear about the deals they've gone - so start following your favourite airline to get the deals.

2, baggage charges are the biggest bug bear of cheap airline clients, so check the small print, how much can you carry, check the bag sizes and hand luggage allowances and remember to check in and print off your boarding card before you get to the airport.

3, car hire is very competitive and all the big companies offer deals just like the airlines, at different times during the year (usually early on before Christmas to get early bookers and then later in the season to rid themselves of empty seats/cars) Its probably wisest to check for the best deal through a price comparison site. Make sure you check the small print too - things like having to return the car full (or empty ) of fuel, cleaning it thoroughly (we've had guests think they've cleaned it yet still been charged) and charges for car seats (and whether there is anyone qualified to fit it for you)

4, time of year - some of the cheap airlines only operate a service to certain smaller airports in peak season, so check first .

Whichever way you decide to travel, make it part of the holiday.

As always if you have any questions about any of our family friendly gites, travel, the Charente Maritime or anything else, do not hesitate to contact us.

By Wendy Blakeman

Travelling with kids

Fri, 15 Dec 2017 10:06:57 GMT

top ten things to pack

Travelling and young children don't always mix. Long journeys with young children can be fraught with problems. Travelling long distance is tiring for anyone but particularly so for younger children who don't have a grasp on time and how long an hour is never mind 5 or 6+ . We've all experienced the 'are we there yet' 10 minutes into your trip to Grandmas so although it's unlikely to be stress free there are a few things you can do to make it easier for everyone.

Preparation is key - as with any task with toddlers, even the day to day routine tasks such as a trip to the supermarket is far easier when you've prepared. It depends on the age of course, older children will no doubt have their tablets, phones, Nintendos and of course books to keep themselves occupied :-) but you may need a bit more preparation for younger children and toddlers.

So with a few years experience of long car and plane journeys with two boys behind me, this is what I'd recommend ....

My top ten handy things to pack are

1, portable/in car DVD player - However much you hate it, a car dvd player on a long drive is a life saver. We have rules for ours, the main one being not for journeys less than 1 hour and no watching it earlier than 1 hour into the journey. Don't forget headphones so you don't have to suffer Frozen again.

2, non sticky snacks - no chocolate as you will end up finding it melted down the seat cracks. Things like raisins in a small box kept our toddlers happy for a surprising amount of time. Fruit bars too.

3, Sticker books - the ones which re stick are good so your two year old doesn't suffer a tantrum because he stuck the sticker in the wrong place. Or activity books for older children.

4, Crayons/pencils and plain paper for drawing (not felt tips as they end up in the same place as the chocolate having first leaked all over the seat)

5, Baby wipes - forever useful even if your child is out of nappies. (cleaning grubby hands, chocolate faces, emergency bottom wiping in the motorway loo with no loo paper, cleaning sick off the clothes, car seat, car etc) My kids are 13 and 10 now and I still take wipes with me wherever we go.

6, Antibacterial hand washing gel - ideal for those wee stops in the middle of nowhere

7, Plastic bags for being sick , sick covered clothes and for rubbish

8, Tissues - for snotty noses, as an emergency loo roll, for wrapping the half eaten service station sandwich in to save for later

9, Easily accessible kids spare clothes (a top at least, so they can turn up reasonably smart looking at your destination - a full set for kids prone to sickness)

10, A head full of 'old fashioned' games when everything else has been tried, (adapt for the childrens age) some favourites of ours are
- how long can you be quiet for (we did 1hr30 once and its always our first suggestion ! )
- points for car colours eg 50 points for a purple car, 20 points for a gold car, 10 points for a yellow car; or points for animals in the fields
- I spy with my little eye (a classic)
- Registration plate Letters eg Registrations starting with a C

My kids are 14 and 12 now and I still make sure these things are in my bag on a long journey.

A few other tips are to

ration the treats and entertainment, try to have breaks in between of quiet time - length depends on the age of the child, any age child should be able to spend 10 minutes quietly.
take regular breaks. No need to spend an hour running around at a motorway service station, it's far better to have lots of short breaks as it breaks the time up for the child. A couple of petrol stops, a couple of wee stops. 5- 10 minutes is plenty to let them stretch their legs, unless of course you yourself need the break from driving.
Talk about time in periods they understand ie short - in 10 minutes we are going to stop; have 10 minutes quiet time, you can watch the dvd in 10 minutes and relate the time/distance to other events such as the time it takes us to get to the supermarket (if that is 10 mins)
If they fall asleep (which toddlers and babies often will) let them and get as many miles under your belt as you can whilst they sleep
if flying long haul request to take the childs car seat onto the plane and let them sit in that (they will but you do need permission first) The car seat is secured using the plane seat belt. The baby/child will often feel far more comfortable in their own seat that they are used to and are far more likely to sleep)

HAPPY TRAVELLING

content by Wendy Blakeman

Ten essential things to pack

Thu, 14 Dec 2017 13:45:04 GMT

when travelling on you family holiday abroad

Essential things to pack - well many of these things will seem obvious but in the last 20 years we have experienced families who have forgotten at least one of these things - new baby passport is the most common ! But as well as remembering to take them away - don't forget to bring them back home too !

1, Current passport

- check all passports are in date at least 3 months before travelling to give time to renew if necessary. Don't forget new baby needs a passport too.
To renew or apply for a uk passport go to www.gov.uk/apply-renew-passport

2, Tickets

- whether this be a printed email ticket, a barcode on your phone or just a reservation number its easy to forget these days as few people receive 'old fashioned tickets' but you'll definitely need something ! Many of the cheap airlines require you to check in online and print boarding passes before arriving at the airport, so make sure you check your airlines requirements before getting to the airport to avoid extra costs

3, EHIC card

- European Health Insurance card . This will cover 100% of emergency treatment and 70% of other treatment when in France (at the time of writing - this may change after Brexit) . Apply free from the www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/Healthcareabroad/EHIC/ there is no fee so stay away from web sites that charge

4, Driving papers

- if hiring a car you'll need your passport, details of your car hire reservation and your current drivers licence including the paper part for those who still have one, if taking your own car to France you must have a current drivers licence, current car insurance document, GB sticker, warning triangle and headlamps must be adjusted, a breathalyser is 'compulsory' but you cannot be fined (at present) for not having one . For full information on other European countries, motorcycle requirements and more in depth information about driving in France visit drive-france.com web site

5, Travel insurance

- if you have taken out travel insurance (highly recommended) remember to bring your contract number and contact information for emergencies

6, Accommodation details

- an address, a contact number and name and directions, you'd be surprised how many people have no idea where they are meant to be staying and end up in all sorts of places ! Don't completely rely on the sat nav. There are many villages with the same name, roads that have changed, new one way systems - have a back up.

7, Essential prescribed Medication

- such as inhalers, birth control, or any pre existing medical conditions. Bring prescriptions with you, so if you lose what you need, it can easily be replaced. Pharmacies will often honour a European prescription but if not we can get you a Drs appointment to re prescribe the correct medecine

8, Mobile phone

with charger and travel adapter and roaming set up with your service provider

9, Clothes !

check out the forecast before you leave to help you pack. Remember it will always be easier and cheaper to pick up extra t-shirts and shorts on holiday if needed than jeans and fleeces

10, Credit card

- if you forget everything else or disaster strikes at least you can buy what you need with your card. Maybe have a few euros available too, not essential but may come in handy for an emergency coffee or pay loo !

MAKE A LIST, TICK IT OFF, ENJOY YOUR HOLIDAY !!

content by Wendy Blakeman

Top tips for booking your family holiday

Thu, 14 Dec 2017 12:26:16 GMT

How to go about booking your holiday to France

Planning a trip abroad or more specifically to France ? Then here are a few tips we’ve picked up over the years that may help you plan your trip saving you time and money and hopefully make the experience less stressful and more enjoyable.

1, Budget range

This must include travel to your destination, accommodation and any extras eg if its a self catering property are linen and towels extra or included, if its a hotel is there any food included, if not what are the prices of the hotel or local restaurants. Luxury 5* or camping or something in between ? If you are taking your kids out of school make sure you include the fines in your budget. Also consider what entertainment there will be and whether this is free (walks, beach, on site activities) or not (aquariums, zoo, water park)

2, Travel options

plane, train or automobile ? Don’t forget the cheap flight may be turn out not so cheap when you look at the car hire , insurance and getting to/from the airport, airport parking plus tolls and petrol if the airport is a long way from the accommodation; the tunnel may be handy for those living nearby but the cheap crossing to France may be outweighed by the tolls and petrol and maybe even an overnight stop in a motel if you are traveling to the south or south west of France.

What ferry port to choose ? If you are close to Dover then the obvious choice is P&O ferries or the tunnel, but if you are closer to Portsmouth, Poole or Plymouth then there are good ferry routes with Brittany ferries to northern France. P&O also do Portsmouth to Dieppe. We can offer a 20% discount off Brittany ferry crossings when booking with us and can also give you a link to get 5% off P&O ferries too (read on to find out how to get these discounts without booking !) Being on a decent ferry can be like a mini cruise – the Portsmouth to St Malo route on the Bretagne ship (Brittany ferries) is our favourite and has a superb restaurant and the lovely Commodore cabins – it costs more but gets us 4 hrs drive closer to home than the Dover Calais route and the 60€ + of tolls and a potential stopover.

3, Region of France

there are now just 13 regions in France rather than 22, (as of 1st Jan 2016) The Charente Maritime will just no longer be part of the Poitou – Charentes region. instead it will be part of the Aquitaine Limousin Poitou-Charente region – a bit of a mouthful so they have until the summer to decide the permanent name . Maybe an acronym such as the ALP region but maybe that would be confusing !

Anyway enough politics – most tourists are more interested in 3 main things :

a/ whats the weather like – do you have to have ‘guaranteed’ sunshine or are you happy in your wellies and raincoats as long as you are with your loved ones

b/ how easy is it to get there – how far is the nearest airport and is there a link to your nearest airport in the uk; how far is it to drive and which is the best ferry port to travel from

c/ is there anything to do – what do you enjoy doing ? Are you after non stop activities or just want to chill out on the beach; do you just need to entertain the kids or do you need grown up activities too ?

4, Time of year

Everyone hates it but the price of holidays in the summer school hols can double (or more) and with schools fining parents for taking children out of school its a difficult decision . Unfortunately it’s a supply and demand thing – we can let our cottages in peak season 20 times over yet in June we have to fight to compete to get bookings; since the season is so short in Europe nothings going to change – even if school holiday dates are made more flexible, most people want sunshine and a tan so will still choose to go in July and August so it’s always going to be more expensive. My advice is if you are able travel out of season – do, May half term perhaps if you have school aged children, with pre school kids travel in June or September when prices for accommodation and travel are much cheaper – the weather at those times is just as good and just as reliable as the peak months.

Some of the cheap airlines only operate a service to certain smaller airports in peak season, so check first.

Another consideration on the time of year you are travelling is In peak season (July and August) there are several weekends that are terrible for traffic. To avoid spending hours sitting in a traffic jam visit http://www.bison-fute.gouv.fr/trafic-routier-2016.html which will tell you what the traffic is likely to be like on your date of travel. They have black days (standing traffic) red days (bad) and orange days (heavy) – avoid the black and red days on certain routes if possible. Some holiday accommodations have different changeover days so search out ones which will give you options for cheaper travelling days (like ours !!)

5, Motorway driving

Wherever you go or whichever route you take to our family holiday cottages you’ll likely end up on a toll road. Many of the motorways are free – around large cities usually, but you have to be pretty determined to avoid the ones that arn’t free.

A good web site to use to give you an idea of current charges along your route is www.autoroutes.fr just enter your route and it will give you an estimate of petrol costs and toll charges. Also drive-france.com and headlampconvertors.co.uk provide useful info on driving in France. Motorway tolls do take uk credit/debit cards, but have some euros handy just in case.

Fuel is still cheaper in France than the UK but the difference these days is not as much as it used to be. As with the UK avoid filling up on the motorways if possible as fuel will be a lot more expensive there than in the supermarkets.

There is no excuse to have a regular break on French motorways, there are rest stops pretty much every 20km or so; they may not be full services, just parking, a loo and a picnic area usually, but a definite plus when you have an active toddler who needs to stretch their legs.

6, When Flying

shop around and keep an eye out for the deals. Most airlines (and ferry companies for that matter) use twitter, facebook and google+ to let everyone know about the deals they are offering, yet its surprising how few people follow them to be first in the queue, by the time you hear about the deals they’ve gone – so start following your favourite airline to get the deals. Follow us on our social media then email us to get the 20% discount code for Brittany ferry crossings, you don’t need to of booked with us but we are sure we can tempt you for another year when you see what a great time families have.

Baggage charges are the biggest bug bear of cheap airline clients, so check the small print, how much can you carry, check the bag sizes and hand luggage allowances and remember to check in and print off your boarding card before you get to the airport.

7, Car hire

is very competitive and all the big companies offer deals just like the airlines, at different times during the year (usually early on before Christmas to get early bookers and then later in the season to rid themselves of empty seats/cars) Its probably wisest to check for the best deal through a price comparison site. Make sure you check the small print too – things like having to return the car full (or empty ) of fuel, cleaning it thoroughly (we’ve had guests think they’ve cleaned it yet still been charged) and charges for car seats (and whether there is anyone qualified to fit it for you) Consider taking your own car seats, If your child has their own airline seat with permission you should be able to take your car seat on board and your child can sit in it which makes them more comfortable and secure – you then have your own seat for the car which you know how to fit safely.

8, Accommodation

do you want 5* all the way in which case the large online companies are good ways of finding a place and the best deals – we find booking.com very handy when searching for hotels as they only show you hotels with family rooms/can accommodate your sized family which saves time – we then often book direct with the hotel as its said that a hotel will treat you better if you book direct as they havn’t had to fork out the commission !! (Whether that’s true or not I don’t know) we treat all our families the same and we advertise with booking.com too but are happier when families book direct !! If considering camping or a mobile home then think about the alternatives too, we have had numerous families come to us after camping and cannot believe they have a whole house slightly inland for less than a tent near the beach !

9, Safety and comfort

when traveling with young children then you need to be organised. Babies and toddlers need lots of equipment to make their lives comfortable and your life easier but it’s a lot to carry so look for places that offer family rooms, cots, high chairs, booster seats at the very least. Our own properties offer so much more as we specialise in accommodating families with young children. All our properties are equipped with stair barriers, full sized baths, high chairs, cots and booster seats, plastic crockery, cutlery and even hand blenders we can also offer steam sterilisers, play mats, change mats, pottys and toilet seats – just ask, if we have it, it’s yours ! Safety is also a consideration with young children, a campsite or holiday camp may be fun but you can’t allow your little ones to run to the swings alone, you’ll need to be with them all the time. A stand alone property may be more your style but then the kids will need entertaining and so that means you’ll have less time to relax . A small complex (like ours !! ) at here at childfriendlygites.com and our sister site www.lesvallaies.com may be just what you need.

10, A little planning

and discussion of all these issues before searching for this years holiday will save a lot of time and will make sure the holiday you pick is right for you and your family.

Wherever and Whichever way you decide to travel, make the choosing, planning, booking and traveling part of the excitement and enhance your holiday enjoyment. Remember to follow/like our social media pages to get your Ferry discount.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

content by Wendy Blakeman

Originally Posted on January 2, 2017

St Jean d'Angely our local town

Tue, 12 Dec 2017 16:33:35 GMT

Our local town

Just a 10km easy drive from our family holiday cottages, La Grange du Moulin and Les Vallaies lies the market town of Saint Jean d’Angely. With a population of just 7000 it has a surprising number of great facilities. There are two large supermarkets plus several smaller ones; providing a good array of produce including fresh milk, big familiar names (Kelloggs, Nescafé and even PG tips in the foreign foods section)

The town also boasts a thrice weekly local market (Wednesday and Saturday mornings and a smaller Sunday morning one too) Here you can wander the cobbled medieval streets with the locals and pick up fresh fish, oysters and mussels, home grown vegetables, as well as local wines and cheeses.

History of Saint Jean d’Angely

The town of Saint Jean d’Angely has had a long and brutal history. The Abbey is the main feature of the town. It was founded in the ninth century to house a relic of Saint John the Baptist, and rebuilt in the 14th, 17th and 18th centuries because of repeated destruction. The Abbey was then abandoned and is now a listed building.

Saint Jean d’Angely is situated on the pilgrim route that led to Santiago de Compostela ] the edifice still constitutes a major stopping-off point for pilgrims. Since 1989, the Royal Abbey has housed the Centre of European Culture, which has breathed new life into the Abbey by restoring it as a historical and cultural site and as a place for the exchange of ideas.

Restaurants, cafés and bars

After practicing your French chatting to the producers and picking up some local delights for your evening meal you can relax in a café bar and watch the local life go by. There are dozens of bars where you can sit outside and soak up the atmosphere of a small French town. ‘Ellis park’ and ‘Rum runners’ are two of the most central ones, located on the place du Pilori. The children can run in and out of the tables and peer into the ornate Pilori well (don’t worry it’s covered !) whilst you enjoy a morning coffee. When my two were young, they used to enjoy dipping their croissants a large hot chocolate – very French !

The town also boasts a good selection of restaurants from simple bistros to top class cuisine. Le Scorlion and La Goule Beneze are two restaurants worthy of a babysitter. Enjoy a night out whilst I (a registered childminder) look after your children in your holiday cottage. Alternatively enjoy one of the many family restaurants the town has to offer – L’Annexe and Le Cabanon bistros, Les Jacobins pizzeria, Le Mareyeur fish restaurant or La creperie de l’Abbeye for some simple crepes. All the restaurants do however not open until 7pm in the evening and many are closed on Sunday and Monday. We can make reservations for you.

For a small town it has a great selection of fun family things to do:

Atlantys swimming pool centre

Again for a small town, we are privileged to have such a great indoor swimming centre. The Atlantys swimming pool center boasts a 25m sports pool, a 5m deep diving pool and most importantly a large kids pool with fountains, hot tub, baby pool and huge slide.

On Saturday mornings (10-12) outside school holidays (so June and September) the pool is exclusively open for the under 4’s, the temperature is turned up, change mats and pottys are supplied by the pool and the pool is filled with balls, floats, mats, climbing frames and all manner of fun stuff for little ones – I went every week with my two when they were toddlers, this is where they learnt to swim at such a young age.

In summer holidays it is open every day. The doors open up into a sunbathing area and play area for the little ones. There’s also a café for snacks. There’s no time limit on how long you stay. Clean changing rooms, lockers (need a 2€ coin- refunded after) toilets and showers. Be warned – men and boys (even toddlers) MUST wear tight fittening swimwear – no loose swim shorts allowed and this is enforced. Suitable swimwear can be purchased from a vending machine inside but may be cheaper to buy them beforehand.

The Atlantys swimming pool center is just next to the Saint Jean d’Angely park, so you can easily spend the day here.

Saint Jean d’Angely park

located next door to the Atlantys swimming pool center (follow the signs for the hospital and the urgences until you pick up signs for the Base de Loisirs or Plan d’eau (both mean the park) there’s plenty of parking but only one toilet next to the café so go before you walk over to the other side of the park to the play area !

Located on the lake you can hire canoes and pedaloes and it’s linked to the river Boutonne, so you can take your canoe further afield if you wish. There are some (signposted ) lovely walks, there’s a café /restaurant open in summer, a football pitch, ping pong table, mini golf, skateboard parc, childrens play park and rope climbing web. Take a picnic and feed the ducks. It’s a very easy and pleasurable afternoon out.

Saint Jean d’Angely itself

The town itself is a pleasure to walk around with its cobbled streets and medieval buildings. The tour de l’horloge is worth a look – push open the door and climb the steps. (open mid june to mid sept, tues- sun, 10.30-12.30 and 14.30 – 19.00 & FREE !) wander around the old abbey, take a look at the ceiling in the library and the beautiful old herb market too (now the indoor market) On a rainy day maybe pop into the museum des cordeliers which among other things has a fabulous exhibition of the expeditions of Citroen in Africa in the 1920’s (open tues – sun, 10.30 – 12.30 & 13.30 to 18.00 from mid june to mid sept, see web site for openings at other times)

All in all our local town of Saint Jean d’Angely has a wonderful history and although small is a bustling, vibrant town (just don’t go on a Monday when it’s asleep !) and has everything you will need for an enjoyable self catering stay at our family friendly holiday cottages here in the Charente Maritime region of south west France.

Content by Wendy Blakeman originally Posted on March 4, 2017

Water parks and swimming in Charente Maritime

Mon, 11 Dec 2017 17:13:52 GMT

We are well served here in the Charente Maritime for fun filled water parks. From babies and toddlers to teens, every child loves the water. Our own two have always been more than happy to jump into a freezing puddle in winter or an unheated pool in autumn never mind a heated pool with water slides in mid summer !

Our two closest water parks/swimming centres are Atlantys in Saint Jean d’Angely (10 mins drive) and Nautilus in Angouleme (40 mins drive) and les Iles de Jonzac, (60mins) and a little further afield we have Ileo on the Ile d’Oleron (1hr15)

We are regular visitors to Atlantys as it is so close and being all indoors it’s good all through the year. Nautilus is more of a summer day out as much of the really fun stuff is outdoors so you need a nice hot day. We havn’t tried Les Iles de Jonzac or Ileo but they’ve got good trip advisor reviews.

Atlantys swimming centre

We’ve been swimming at Atlantys since the children were babies; On Saturday mornings (10-12) outside school holidays (so September to end June) the pool is exclusively open for the under 4’s, the temperature is turned up, change mats and pottys are supplied by the pool and the pool is filled with balls, floats, mats, climbing frames and all manner of fun stuff for little ones – I went every week with my two when they were toddlers, this is where they learnt to swim at such a young age. Volunteers give advice on how to get your toddlers confident in the water.

In summer holidays it is open every day. The doors open up into a sunbathing area and play area for the little ones. There’s also a café for snacks. There’s no time limit on how long you stay. Clean changing rooms, lockers (need a 2€ coin- refunded after) toilets and showers. Be warned – men and boys (even toddlers) MUST wear tight fitting swimwear – no loose swim shorts allowed and this is enforced. Suitable swimwear can be purchased from a vending machine inside but may be cheaper to buy them beforehand.

The Atlantys swimming pool center is just next to the Saint Jean d’Angely park, so you can easily spend the day here.

Nautilus water park

We first visited Nautilus water park when the children were little. It wasn’t a great day out, in fact we only stayed about an hour. There was a shallow toddler area but most of the ‘fun’ was outside with rapids, and huge water slides with big teenagers running around. If you’ve got little kids we’d recommend Atlantys instead or we have heard that the Iles de Jonzac is great for younger children and has more facilities than Atlantys with a wave pool too.

We next went when the children were much older and good swimmers and we were able to let them run around freely whilst we relaxed on a sunbed – It was our kids that were the big kids now ! They loved it. The slide is huge, theres an outdoor water slide with about 5 lanes and you wizz down really fast then the wave pool is always fun for everyone and the rapids are fun too but if your kids are a bit younger / smaller then go on with them as the teens can be a bit excitable in pushing past.

There’s loads of parking, clean secure changing rooms with lockers and of course toilets. There’s a restaurant and a snack bar and an ice skating rink too open every afternoon from 3pm in summer (July/August) The pools are open every day from 10am in July and August. Again tight fitting swimmers must be worn.

Other swimming options

Of course you don’t really need to leave ‘home’ to enjoy the water experience. Both our family friendly holiday sites have heated pools. At La Grange du Moulin our main pool (10mx5m) is heated to 28c and the toddler pool (4m diameter and 60 cm deep) is heated to 30c. The toddler pool is filled with floats and watering cans and is shaded from the heat of the day too.

We also have a hot tub at La Grange du Moulin, in it’s own secure area Mum and Dad can relax at the end of the day after the children are in bed and watch the stars with a ‘glass’ (plastic champagne flutes are provided !) in 38c and massage jets.

At Les Vallaies holiday cottages the heated pool has a sloping beach entrance which starts at 15cm so ideal for toddlers and young children to paddle in. There’s also a bubble pool.

Just a 30 min drive from our holiday cottages is Les Gours plan d’eau. A swimming lake with a sandy beach, café bar, life guard and playground. An ideal swimming place if you don’t fancy driving to the ‘real’ beach

The Charente Maritime also has hundreds of miles of sandy beaches. for sea swimming and fun. Even in peak season you’ll be able to find a beach that’s not crowded. The mainland beaches have shallow gently sloping beaches, so great for families; the islands on the Atlantic side have rougher waters, great for older children who love waves.

Whatever your swimming preferences there’s something for everyone when staying with us at our family holiday cottages La Grange du Moulin and Les Vallaies

Content by Wendy Blakeman originally Posted on March 15, 2017

Restaurants near our family holiday cottages

Sun, 10 Dec 2017 12:47:04 GMT

Great restaurants near our family holiday cottages

We love our food and wine and love to eat out. We are very lucky to have some excellent restaurants in the area, some we regularly visit, some are for really special occasions and others have been recommended by families who have stayed with us at our family holiday cottages here in the Charente Maritime region of France.

Restaurants for a special occasion

Le Scorlion restaurant, Saint Jean d’Angely

Le Scorlion is a superb restaurant located in the centre of Saint Jean d’Angely and overlooking the Abbey cloisters. Perfect for an intimate dinner for two. Excellent service, delicious food and superb price. Listed in the Michelin guide. Well worth asking me to babysit so you can have a grown up meal out one evening whilst staying with us.

menus from 27€ to 40€

Read more about Le Scorlion restaurant here…..

La Goule Beneze restaurant, Saint Jean d’Angely

Located just on the edge of Saint Jean d’Angely, La Goule Beneze is a small family run hotel and restaurant. Subsequently it offers a superb childrens menu and there may be families present who are staying in the hotel; however it still offers a grown up atmosphere with linen tablecloths and lovely table settings, so worth a special occasion.

The couple have travelled extensively and speak excellent English if you are struggling with the menu. The menu itself is well thought out, changes regularly with the season and has unusual flavours mixed with classic dishes.

menus from 26€ to 40€

childrens menu

Read more about La Goule Beneze restaurant here….

Les Pigeons Blancs restaurant, Cognac

Located on the edge of Cognac in beautiful grounds, Les Pigeons Blancs restaurant offers a lovely setting for a sunny outdoor meal or an intimate evening meal inside. The cheese platter is fantastic and you have to choose a minimum of 3 desserts – so make sure you are hungry !

menus from 27€ to 60€

childrens menu

Christopher Coutanceau, La Rochelle

With 2 michelin stars, this is one for a very special occasion. I’d say it would be difficult to find a restaurant in the UK of such a high standard at such a reasonable price and pretty much impossible to find one with a high chair !

Located overlooking the beach in La Rochelle and at the entrance to the port area, you can watch the yachts sale in and out of the harbour whilst enjoying a superb meal.

Businessmen and woman frequent this establishment to impress their clients but we have eaten here with the children (because they love their food as much as we do !) and they are treated with the same respect as everyone (but they are very well behaved of course !)

menus from 68€ to 230€

Read more about Coutanceau restaurant here ….

Restaurants for all the family

The closest restaurants to our family holiday cottages can all be found just a short drive away (10mins) in Saint Jean d’Angely. All our local restaurants welcome families with well behaved children. All the following restaurants have a childrens menu.

Le Petit Bouchon restaurant, Saint Jean d’Angely

Le Petit Bouchon restauarant is located in the centre of our local town, Saint Jean d’Angely, just next to the indoor market ; so the perfect spot to eat after an hour or so browsing the market stalls on Wednesday and Saturday market days.

We have so far never eaten there but many of our guests have. One said he always eats there as it’s the best steak he’s ever eaten – quite an accolade. It has good reviews on Trip advisor

Le Cabanon restaurant, Saint Jean d’Angely

We have eaten here at lunch and dinner and also for a coffee in the morning. The great thing about this restaurant is it’s open on Monday evenings when everything else is closed ! Plus it’s open all day for coffee. We experienced great service (as do most of their clients according to the excellent reviews on Trip advisor )

Le Moulin de la Baine restaurant, Chaniers

This has been a favourite of ours for many years. Set in a Colbert appointed water mill over the river Charente it provides a stunning setting for a long lunch on sunny Sunday afternoons. We often go for birthday celebrations with the whole family as the service is always excellent as the staff are used to waiting on large groups.

The restaurant is teemed with the Bernard Palissy boat which offers a mini cruise down the Charente river from Saintes ending at Le Moulin de la baine for a set menu and return trip from Tuesday to Sundays. Their speciality is a huge baked alaska, sometimes requiring several staff to carry it in for large groups.

They welcome families and children too and have a pleasant childrens menu. When they were very young we used to take it in turns between courses to take them exploring beneath the bridge through the tunnels where the river water rushes through – they loved it and it kept them happy during a long grown up lunch on sunny afternoons.

It is also lovely to walk over the bridge to the island where the canal meets the river and you can watch barges negotiating the lock.

Visit their web site here

Batia restaurant, Saintes

Located on a boat moored on the river in Saintes the Batia restaurant has a superb location. The menu is upmarket burgers and steak frites plus a few other more refined dishes. Nice ambience, especially on deck on a sunny day and it’s nicely decorated.

When we ate here the service was very slow but trip advisor reviews vary from excellent to awful so it obviously varies

Menus from 15€ to 27€

childrens menu

Visit their web site here

Saint Jean d’Angely restaurants

Saint Jean d’Angely only has a population of around 7000, the size of some villages in the UK; yet it boasts 3 large supermarkets and numerous smaller ones, an A&E unit/hospital a thrice weekly market and numerous bars and restaurants. Here’s a selection of the main ones.

Hotel Restaurant de la Place restaurant, Saint Jean d’Angely

Located on the central place near the Maire. Good for an evening out ‘sans enfants’ . it is a hotel restaurant so will have families staying in the holidays but the restaurant is stylish and has large picture windows looking out onto the central square (although this is a car park) With crisp linen tablecloths and a quiet atmosphere it is ideal for an intimate meal out. We ate here years ago before we had the children and really must go back as it has great trip advisor reviews

menus 25€ – 35€

childrens menu

Les Jacobins restaurant, Saint Jean d’Angely

This is a pizzeria restaurant serving wood fired pizzas for takeaway as well as to eat in but it also offers some great down to earth Italien and French basics like steak frites, spaghetti bolognaise, confit de canard and carbonara. Perfect for a relaxed meal out with the children. It has a good sized inside restaurant plus a smaller outdoor terrace.

A la carte menu, pizzas around 8-10€; pastas around 8€

childrens menu

Le Mareyeur restaurant, Saint Jean d’Angely

Le Mareyeur restaurant is principally a fish / seafood restaurant but with a couple of meat dishes thrown in . Not eaten here yet but has good trip advisor reviews and several of our families have had very enjoyable meals here so looks like it’s on our list to try out. Located on the furthest square from the centre but still only a few minutes walk from wherever you park in town. Has a nice terrace to the front for summer evenings.

menus 15€ to 30€

La Creperie de l’Abbeye and L’ancre Marine restaurants, Saint Jean d’Angely

La creperie de l’Abbeye and L’ancre marine are both creperies. Not my idea of a ‘meal’ but obviously very popular in this town. Great for a simple lunch maybe after the market.

Carottes et Gingembre vegetarian restaurant, Saint Jean d’Angely

Carottes et Gingembre (Carotts and ginger) is a vegetarian restaurant which is quite a novel thing in rural France so is subsequently quite popular. It also has vegan and gluten free options. It’s number two on trip advisor after Le Scorlion. Find out more on their web site here

menus 15 – 20€

These are just a selection of the main restaurants found around our family friendly holiday accommodation here in the Charente Maritime region of South West France.

Most families who stay with us tend to have lunches out when they are sightseeing then come back to the cottages and light up the barbecue or have a simple alfresco meal of fresh crusty bread, patés, cold meats and salads together with a crisp chilled glass of wine whilst sat watching the sun go down on their terrace. Occasionally they’ll have an intimate meal out one evening whilst I look after their children in their cottage or pop out with the kids to one of the bistros in Saint Jean d’Angely I’ve mentioned above. I’d love to receive comments from families who’ve stayed with us on how they enjoyed any of these restaurants . Thank you.

content by Wendy Blakeman originally Posted on April 2, 2017

What to see and do in the Charente Maritime

Sat, 09 Dec 2017 16:55:55 GMT

The Charente Maritime region is famous for its Cognac and Pineau production. There are many tiny villages and hamlets to explore. Quaint chateaux are common. Local delicacies include mussels in cream, goats cheese, honey and cake with angelica. Swimming, fishing, horse riding, golf, tennis and rowing are all available during the summer months in the local area. There are also many lovely country walks all year round. The landscape is gently rolling and ideal for cycling. Below we have listed some of the things there are to see and do for families, for children and for adults. the blue links are to blogs we have written on the subjects to give you more insight.

There’s little need to venture further afield than our local town of St Jean d’Angely, just 10mins away, but if you do there’s a huge range of places to visit and things to do to suit all ages. Details of days out can be found in each of our gites, cottages and villas and you can always ask us too if you run out of ideas.

At La Grange du Moulin and Les Vallaies we are just an easy 1 hour drive from the coast, beaches and the famous coastal resorts of La Rochelle, Royan and Rochefort. Its also about an hour to the inland towns of Angouleme, Niort and the area around Poitiers, so we are vey centrally located for the whole Charente Maritime Region. Closer to our gites, cottages and villas you will find Cognac, Saintes, St Savinien all within just 30mins drive.

If you would like further details on any of the places listed just ask. We also have many activities going on at some of our holiday cottages. We hold professional wine tastings on a regular basis throughout the summer, every week we have a walk through the vines that the whole family can enjoy. We hold large barbecues, where everyone joins in and for our younger guests we hold teddy bear picnics and pottery painting and even scuba diving at our child friendly properties.

What to do with Children in the Charente Maritime:

Atlantys Swimming Centre in Saint Jean d’Angely – play pool, dive pool, swimming pool, big slide and hot tubs, great fun when its a rainy day or even when it’s too hot.
St Savinien – a must for the young ones, ride on the hand made electric boats around the lake
Aquarium – in La Rochelle, a great rainy day thing to do but top tip, go early or very late (it’s open until 11pm in summer)

La Palmyre Zoo – the best in Europe, well known for it’s breeding and rescue programme and its interactivity with the animals
Futuroscope – perfect for older children, not so worth while for little ones though, a theme park with rides and a vision of the future
Fort Boyard – have you seen the programme ? Take a boat trip to view it (can’t go in but a lovely trip all the same)
Nautilys Water Park – a great day out for the whole family . Near Angouleme and with indoor and outdoor pools and slides, perfect for all weathers.
Donkey Sanctuary – See the famous shaggy haired Poitou Donkey
Valley des Singes – Surround yourselves with Monkeys and learn all about them.

Paleosite – watch Dad turn into a Neanderthal, learn to make fire and throw a spear
Playgrounds – are numerous in the area, St Jean d’Angely has a good one next to the lake so you can feed the ducks too
Karting – in St Jean d’Angely for the teenagers
Canoeing and Pedaloes – at the local loisier near the play park in Saint Jean d’Angely

Chateau Branch or Acrobranch – tree top adventures for all levels of ability
Chateau des Enigmas – maze and quiz
Noahs ark – run by the world parrot trust
Puy du Fou – amazing – what can I say ! A couple of hours drive from us but perhaps worth stopping over on the way down or back home. There’s nothing quite like it anywhere else.
European zoo – at Chize for a quieter and closer zoo visit than the one at La Palmyre. European animals. Well laid out.
Iles aux serpents – discover reptiles
Comic Museum and Chocolate factory in Angouleme

For all the Family in the Charente Maritime

Markets – Thrice weekly in St Jean d’Angely
Beaches – From La Rochelle down to Royan
La Rochelle – for its shopping and amazing aquarium
Cognac – with its world famous distillery tours

Saintes – a beautiful Roman town with a fantastic ampitheatre
Poitiers – with the superb ‘Futuroscope’ park
Bordeaux – and its world famous vineyards, beautiful city
Angouleme – has a great water park, museums and shopping
Niort – for its history and shopping
Rochefort – with the Hermione reconstruction and corderie royal

Royan – with its European awarded animal park.
St Jean D’Angely – our local town, shops, markets, park and tourist office
Venis Verte – hire a boat and explore the waterways on a canoe or hire a guide
Glassworks – in Cognac
Cafes, bars and restaurants – in St Jean d’Angely and all the local towns

What to do in the Charente Maritime for Adults:

All the above of course plus
Golfing – there a number of golf courses within an easy drive
Fishing – from river and lake to fishing in the sea. Passes/permits readily available

Concerts – are regularly held throughout the summer season, Cognac Blues and Francofolies in La Rochelle are two of the bigger ones but our local town of St Jean d’Angely regularly holds open air concerts and shows.
Scuba Diving – we regularly have discover scuba sessions for children but adults are welcome to join in or if you prefer we can organise private sessions and courses.

So as you can see the Charente Maritime has a host of fabulous things to do and see and to keep you entertained on your family holiday to France

Content by Wendy Blakeman

Chris, Wendy, Benjamin and Thomas

Sun, 01 Oct 2017 00:00:00 GMT

A bit about the Blakemans

The Blakeman family

Chris and I met as teenagers in 1983 and have been together ever since, in 1993 we married and in 1996 we moved to France. The move wasn't hard. Although originally from Cheshire, we moved south in '91 (Tunbridge Wells) and Chris was commuting often to London, we both worked weekends and evenings and long hours; so when the opportunity to move to France came along we jumped at it. Two children and 20 years later we are still loving it here .

20 years in France

After many years of holidaying in this area, staying in my parents holiday home, we finally moved here . We havn't looked back since. After a number of years renovating stone barns into family gites, learning how to look after our guests and drinking many glasses of wine with them, we now feel very confident in our ability to offer just what young families like our own really need from a holiday here in France.

We have not, however, become complacent. We are constantly thinking of new ideas to add to the enjoyment, every year we update, replace, renew and re- paint as well as add. Our cottages today are very different from what they were when we first started out. In 1996, the most common question was 'is there an iron and a tea pot'. Times are different and expectations are higher. (wifi, hot tub)

For more about how we came to be here and our last 20 years.....

Benjamin and Thomas

Benjamin (born March 2003) and Thomas (born August 2005) are our two boys and they love the summer when they have new playmates every week and although they are now getting a bit older than the average child staying with us, they are still great with the little ones - having grown up is such a social environment.

We love parenthood especially in such a beautiful rural environment where the boys are free to run around in great open spaces. They are now both at the local secondary school in Saint Jean d'Angely , which they enjoy and they are both of course as fluent in French as all their French school friends but are learning German too. They both play badminton and volleyball, swim like fish, love scuba diving and Thomas enjoys Aikido and cooking too.

Learn about wine and...

Over the years we have developed the wine theme to our guests stay. This sets us apart from everyone else. Chris worked all his adult life in the wine industry, selling, buying and teaching wine, its also a passionate hobby. Our wine tastings, taste du terroir evenings and family vine walks add to the enjoyment of the parents holiday and are extremely popular, but its not compulsory of course ! Chris will happily chat all you like about wine in general, as long as you offer him a glass whilst hes doing it ! In fact he'll chat about anything with a glass in his hand ! (religion, politics and Brexit are particular favourites - anything contentious, he always has an opinion !!)

Wendy and Chris

In the winter time I concentrate on being a Mum, taking the children to all their activities, participating in local events (member of the parents association and also ran an English workshop at the primary school) plus running the office side of the business - updating the web site, taking bookings, social media and dealing with all the French bureaucracy ! and then in my spare time, help Chris with building projects (I learnt how to do plumbing and electrics when we first moved here)

Chris concentrates on improving and expanding our business structurally, by renewing and repairing. Just in the last couple of months he has constructed 100m2 of deck around the pool, built a new barbecue area and upgraded the electrics in the holiday cottages. We are also in the middle of building a whole new house to let out on a long term basis, it will be our third oh yes and he just built an extension to our own house too !

Family friendly

Wendy has become a registered child minder here in France, so now Wendy can look after you children during the day to give you a break and some time to relax even more . You can rest assured in the knowledge that you also have a capable babysitter
on hand so you can enjoy a night out too.

Since having our own children, the needs of young families on holiday were made even more evident to us. We have always been a family location but we now specifically cater to young families where we not only provide pleasant self catering accommodation but we can provide all the things required by a family with young children, from cots to steam sterilisers; baby bath to hand blenders; saving you room in the car and making your holiday run more smoothly.

Entertaining children is a constant job; by providing toys, slides, swings and of course our pirate ship, trampoline, teddy bear picnics, pottery and T-shirt painting, scuba diving and other family activities such as the weekly barbecue and family vine walks an all in a safe environment where there are other English speaking children to play with too - your children are happy all day and I pretty much guarantee you'll have the time to finish at least one book whilst staying with us !

Read about what our families think on Trip advisor......

We do go on holiday...

Just not in summer ! We have to take advantage of the winter period to take our own holiday and try to take a weeks skiing break plus a trip maybe to the Uk or somewhere else in France in the October half term or Easter. Occasionally we manage a much longer trip as we adore travelling. We did a lot before the children (Mexico, Guatemala, Egypt, Thailand, Australia ) and even when they were little but now we are restricted to school holidays it's less often. We have managed to take the children to Australia (where Wendys brother lives), New Zealand, Florida, Italy and last year to Cambodia .

Eating Out

Chris and I love our food and wine and love to cook but also to eat out when we can. When the children came along we wern't going to let that stop us. It takes hard work and commitment to take a 2 year old to a great restaurant but we persevered (taking it in turns to eat while the other entertained them, taking them out when they had a tantrum etc) For many years now the boys have LOVED eating out. When the pennies allow and the occasion demands, we will happily take them to a Michelin starred restaurant - they love to try new foods, enjoy dressing up in their shirts, ties and aftershave and are a joy to converse with over a delicious meal.

Your family holiday with us

It really is important to us that our guests enjoy their stay with us. Ask us as many questions as you can, we will be honest. We really do want everyone to have an amazing holiday and will go above and beyond to make sure that happens. If you are after crystal glasses and Louis 14th furniture you are on the wrong web site ! Our cottages are comfortably furnished, clean and well equipped but with the needs and comfort of young families in mind so you can relax. We treat everyone as friends, we are relaxed and informal and very approachable but not intrusive. We hope this has given you a little more insight into the Blakeman family and look forward to welcoming you to us in France soon.

content by Wendy Blakeman

20 years in France

Sun, 15 May 2016 00:00:00 GMT

We moved here in 1996, here's how it came about

This weekend (15th May) marks a very special anniversary for Chris and I. Twenty years ago we filled a 7ton truck with all our posessions and hopped on the Portsmouth to St Malo ferry to live in France .

We'd been planning for about a year. The previous June we were staying here on holiday in my parents holiday home, we'd been coming for a few years. Chris first came down in 1988 with my brother to help my Dad finish renovating his first French cottage (and have a boys holiday drinking wine and soaking up the sun) - a curies cottage opposite the 12th century church in the village of Fontaine Chalendray about 20 mins drive from here. (Chris and I have been together quite a while, we met in 1983 when I was just 16)

My parents had bought the property here in France, in 1985. My father was a workaholic and loved to build . He had taken early retirement and needed something to fill his time (he wasn't a builder he had been chief accountant for the post office but built houses in his spare time; at that point he'd already self built at least 8 houses in the Uk - on weekends and evenings !)

A friend had told him that property in France was cheap and there wern't the same restrictions on self building as in Spain where they had a villa and you had to use Spanish builders rather than doing it yourself . This area seemed a logical place - it was cheap as few people in those days had heard of the Charente Maritime. Most Brits bought in Brittany or wizzed through on the motorway down to the Dordogne. It was also where he often stopped on his long drive from Cheshire to the Costa Blanca.

My parents bought the cottage and attached stone barn for £4000 ! The cottage was basically habitable with a fosse, toilet and cold water tap, my father just made it really habitable with hot and cold running water, a fitted kitchen and a modern bathroom. He was looking forward to spending time here, slowly renovating the barn next door and enjoying the way of life, however that didn't happen....

One sunny day there was a knock at the door. A french man from Remy Martin Cognac house. The company had run a competition in the UK to promote Rémy Martin. First prize was a house in Cognac country. The competition had run and the winner was waiting for her keys. The problem was they didn't have a house to give her. They had underestimated the lack of truly habitable houses for sale in the area. There was no 'housing market' in the Charente Maritime. There was in Cognac itself but the prices were too high for the company - they'd banked on a cheap country side cottage. After asking around they had been pointed in the direction of my fathers house who everyone in the village knew had all the 'mod cons' including a satellite dish which the locals had never seen the like of before .

They offered my father £25,000 for just the cottage (they didn't want the barn) - it didn't take many of his accountancy skills to work out he should sell, and his desire to be busy meant he should buy another property to do up.

To cut quite a long story a little shorter he bought, renovated and sold another 3 stone barns over the next few years until he eventually bought the barns here in Courgeon - La Grange du Moulin was born !

We started coming on holiday here around 1990 - a cheap holiday for us staying in my parents holiday home. We loved the peace and quiet, in those days, what we now call the main road was a quiet lane where perhaps a tractor or two would pass during the day.
We helped my Dad with building the pool, building some stone walls and painting spiral staircases - a real change from our busy lives both working in the UK. The stone barns, he had converted into 6 individual cottages. When we asked what he intended, he really had no idea - he just loved building, repairing roofs, knocking holes in walls for windows, he was addicted ! It was our suggestion that perhaps they might make good holiday rental properties - he bit our hands off and wanted us to stay and get busy letting them out ! We were slightly more cautious, had a think (for about 5 minutes) and agreed we would move down the following year.

And that was that - we handed in our notice, saved a bit of money, got a tenant for our house in Tunbridge wells and hopped on the ferry with all our worldly posessions with no research, no long term, no help from ' house in the sun ' just lots of excitement and a few bookings for the summer. We appreciate how lucky we were to be able to do this without risking anything. We thought maybe a few years in France then if it doesn't work out we'd just return to the uk.... 20 years later we are still here, 2 kids and a thriving business.

It's not all been plain sailing of course we've got dozens of stories that we say will go in 'our book' of interesting guests (changing the names of course !) and the early days were hard going, having a much reduced income, being self employed and no certainty that we'd have any income the next year, as well as having no monthly salary but just a lump sum from payments generally in May and June that you have to make last for the whole year. Plus our tenant in the UK had to leave, we had trouble finding someone else so we had to sell as we couldn't afford to pay the mortgage on our income here. We loved living in rural France, being masters of our own destiny and not having to get up at the same time everyday and commute to work - the benefits far outweighed the difficulties.

Our first summer went reasonably well and once September came we were looking forward to a winter of relaxing - my father had different ideas. He couldn't see us lazing around and he'd just recently purchased yet another stone barn in the next village. We spent that winter learning how to wire two way switches, solder copper pipes and fit a bathroom, lay wooden floors and repair rotten roofs. He even put the pressure on by insisting we advertise the cottages as holiday lets for the summer - so we had 8 months to convert a barn with dirt floors and no electric or water into a comfortable holiday home - never having put up so much as a shelf before ! We did it of course, with my Dads help and instruction and it was a very self satisfied feeling we had when we showed in our first guests that following summer.

The following winter my brother got into the family business by purchasing a run down farm in the village of Gibourne. At the time he lived in Hong Kong, so paid us to renovate it for him (now we were so experienced !) Over the next couple of years we renovated another three barns into holiday homes - oh yes, and built a pool too. La Vendange was born ! This was all done in the winter time, with our summers spent running (and cleaning) all these holiday homes. It was pretty hectic. For the first 10 years we just offered holiday accommodation to anyone and everyone. We might have a family with a baby and toddler in one cottage, a group of adults in another and a family with teenagers in the third. We had barbecues but you paid and we would provide and cook everything, also providing free flowing wine - we'd be on the go all day until often 3am serving wine. We offered a breakfast service on your first morning and a supper service on the first evening too. Our vine walks lasted 4 or 5 hrs and took in not only Eric Cartauds winery with a tasting but a local potter too.

When Benjamin came along in 2003 and Thomas in 2005 we just couldn't do the things we had before so things evolved. We told one of our regular families we were stopping the barbecues as we could no longer put in the same hours as before - they were horrified, it was one of the highlights of their holidays. They suggested that families supply their own food and wine and we just tell them when and where - it was a great success and a lot less work for us.

We stopped the breakfasts and suppers but started doing Teddy bear picnics when we had lots of little children staying. This was a huge success too and we started thinking what else we could provide for young families like our own.

We soon realised that catering to young families was a great market. Pre schoolers come in June and September - a time when we were often very quiet if not empty. With the arrival of the cheap airline routes being opened up, more young families were travelling further afield as it was easier than a long car journey which was the only real option before. We started offering more equipment - not just a cot and a high chair but a steriliser, potty, booster seats, plastic crockery etc. It was all very much appreciated and families started coming year after year because they said there was no where else like it and it was so easy for them, it made their holiday so much more relaxing.

We started focussing our publicity in areas where young families would be looking. In the early days we only advertised in Chez Nous, a glossy brochure and it worked for us, but then the company was taken over and it became less and less effective in advertising to our core market. We started looking at other companies but no one at the time really offered what we were after so we started our own web site

Initially all reservations were done by phone, few people had email. We had a paper brochure we would send out to interested families. They would post back a booking form and a cheque and we would post back confirmation of their booking. These days everythings online from completing the booking form to making the payment and we rarely actually 'speak' to any of our families before they arrive, saying that with the ease of email we tend to have much more communication.

I had great fun developing the web site learning how to add photos and change the colours. Now I need to know about html, seo and google analytics to stay even close to the top of our game. Most of our reservations now come not through advertising but through google searches for our key search terms like 'child friendly' . It's constantly developing and changing with the focus now being on independent reviews like on trip advisor and Mumsnet being a top priority to internet savvy families. I'm certainly no expert and no doubt could pay someone to do these things far better for me , but I enjoy doing it (and havn't been self employed for 20 years to start paying other people to do my job for me) I try to stay reasonably up to date and have a strong Google presence (just search Wendy Blakeman) and try to stay active on facebook and twitter.

We love living in France, it is home and hopefully will be for the next 20 years too

Content by Wendy Blakeman