See what our visitors have to say about the farm below. (Visitors - please use the password given in the information booklet you were sent just prior to your stay and press continue to be able to leave your comments on the form that follows.)

Christmas 2008

Tim and Tina

With each successive visit it's getting harder to find places to go that we haven't already been. So in addition to our usual haunts, we decided on New Year's Day to head for new ground. We ended up in St Flour, several miles south in the Cantal department.

We parked in the first car park we came across and were a little disappointed to find nothing more than the usual shops. But having spotted a church up on the top of a steep hill as we were coming along the road, we set off on foot to find it. And boy were we glad we did as we discovered an ancient fortressed town with a beautiful, atmospheric church, made all the more so by the fact that the organist stuck up just as we walked in, almost as if playing just for us.

As with last year we had snow so Tim was able to go to Super Besse to ski with our friend Bertrand while I stayed at home in front of the woodburner and watched the snow fall. Who needs a fake Christmas tree with tinsel when you have 50ft pines with boughs bended under the weight of real snow...

October 2008

Tim and Tina

The weather was glorious, even better than an English summers day! It meant we could get out and about in our shorts. We finally found Deer's Leap, an old ruin that Tim had had his eye on buying, and thankfully even he realised a pile of stones with no roof, windows or internal walls was a little beyond his DIY skills.

In addition to the usual places we visit we stumbled across a small town called Olliergues which is on the Dore river bank and populated with many craft shops. Thankfully most of which were closed as I had my eye on several items.

30th August - 13th September 2008

David and Iris

Loved the place and would like to go again in the future.

16th - 30th August 2008

Tim and Tina

Having suffered yet another British summer of rain and grey skies we were very much looking forward to some sunshine - Ardennes did not disappoint! In fact it got so hot on some days we were chasing the shade, and we were glad of the north facing barn slope as this was the only place in the afternoon where it was bearable to sit out.

The holiday got off to a bang with a fireworks display and fair in local le Vernet la Varenne. We were most impressed at the display given how small a town it is, and the hot dog and frites weren't bad either!

As well as the usual places we visit, this time we particularly wanted to get back to Mont Dore, sample some local wine and travel south to the Millau Viaduct. All three we accomplished and all three exceeded our expectations.

The drive to Mont Dore is very picturesque, and as before we stopped off at Lac Chambon and did a spot of sunbathing. We bought local saucisson (sausage) in Mont Dore and lunched by the fountain - tres jolie. We then crossed the mountain pass to Super Besse, which at over 1400 metres high was spectacular, stopping off at Besse-et-Saint-Anastaise, a very quaint and beautiful town, on the way.

Boudes is a small village in the valley, just south of Issoire (junction 15 off the A75). All it's hillsides are covered in vines and virtually every building in the town is a wine producer, so many opportunities to sample ;-) For the wine buffs out there, they use chardonnay grapes for the white, gamay for the rose and gamay alone or gamay and pinot noir for the red.

The drive south to Millau (pronounced mee-o and not millow as we thought) takes you through some glorious countryside, sometimes in excess of 1200 metres altitude, but as it's the plateau (Massif Central) you don't realise how high your are until you remember than Ben Nevis is only 1344 metres and that's the highest mountain in the UK. It takes about 2 hours to get there, but it's well worth the drive. The town of Millau is renown for the beautiful, soft leather gloves it makes, but make sure you save up your Euros if you want to buy some as they are not cheap!

19th July - 2nd August 2008

Mary

Enjoyed it so much wanted to book again for September - unfortunately it was already booked.

7th - 21st June 2008

Michael and Delphine

(This is information taken from a book that Michael kept whilst in Ardenne and is reproduced with his permission)

Markets - Most French towns seem like the Marie Celeste (nobody there) so markets are good as they bring out all the locals. Some traders go from market to market but a lot are locals with fruit and vegetables, cheese and their own specialities. The main list of markets can be found on p.53 of the 'Visites & Decouvertes' brochure in the gite, but here are a few we have been to. (Nearly all are 6am-12noon)

St Germain l'Herm - Wednesday, but seems to be alternate weeks, or maybe closed the second week because of the road works - still there!

Le Chaise Dieu - Thursday. A small market but vast church and lots of people.

Ambert - Thursday. Large fascinating market which starts at the town centre and radiates out in the smaller streets.

Sauxillanges - Tuesday. Medium sized market with a good choice of fruit and a good bakers shop.

Walks - There are many , mostly very steep and in unspoilt forest. Maps are in the 'Balades en Haut Livradois' and the 'Randonnee et loisirs de Pliene Nature', bith in the gite. For walking you must have good walking boots/shoes and either a high resistance to insects or some kind of protection - there are swarms of them just dying to nibble you! The more experienced walkers can take the ones in the above brochures as the signs are few or missing, even then you might need a compass.

Chateaus Visited (all mentioned in the 'Visites & Decouvertes' brochure)

Chateau de Mons, Arlanc - small but a good conducted tour (in french) with displays of engraving techniques.

Chateau Prentignat - conducted tour (in french) featuring the Lastic family - couldn't help thinking of Lucy!

Chateau Chavaniac Lafayette - very good conducted tour by recorded commentary including videos and clever lighting displays. Beautiful gardens with streams.

Chateau Chassigne - conducted tour with a strong chinese influence.

Other Places Visited

Usson - 600 metres plus up to the statue and panoramic views.

Ambert - Agravip Museum and a railway ride through 85km of forest

Thiers - a must! Terraced buildings built up to sheer cliffs. Go down to the Hospital Garden and walk along the fast moving river back up to the old houses. There are lots of information boards and pictures en route.

Le Chaisse Dieu - small town high up with a vast church and army fortress built in 1700s. Interesting architecture.

24th - 31st May 2008

Tim, Tina and (Tina's mum) Ann

What a delight to be back! The asparagus Tim planted last time had sprouted, although so had the grass which was several inches high, and all the countryside was a luscious green.

The weather was very changeable, ranging from torrential rain and thunder storms to sun so hot you had to get in the shade. It didn't stop us from getting out and about though - we visited Thiers, Issoire, Brioude and Clermont Ferrand.

We were especially glad we went back to Thiers (having been less than impressed with our first visit there) as we discovered the medieval quarter and the famous cutlery museums we had clearly missed previously. We guessed there had to be more than we'd seen as all the media we had read painted a very different picture to the one we had found which was very reminiscent of a certain street in Gt Yarmouth only with knives instead of the tacky souvenirs. The streets down to the river where they made the cutlery were very steep but well worth the climb.

Parking in Clermont Ferrand proved to be more difficult this time but we dicovered more of this very beautiful city so it was worth it. Brioude and Issoire are always a delight, even more so this time as the were basking in sunshine.

Having bought himself a scythe and a ride on mower, Farmer Timmy set about reducing the field to more of a garden, and spent many a happy hour in the rain. Better still, when pulling some weeds from around the door he discovered a ready laid cobble patio, so spent many even happier hours excavating. Turns out it runs the length of the house and all the way down to the side garden but as we didn't have enough time this trip, there's more to be uncovered next time.

Our friends Angie and Bertrand came over for supper one evening so much Kir was consumed and a good time was had by all. The wine had gone up from 0.83 euro to 0.98 euro, but even with that and the dismal current exchange rate, we were still able to get completely p****d for less than £1.

It gets harder to leave each time!

Next trip - mid August.

15th - 28th March 2008

Tim and Tina

We arrived on a warm, sunny day (up to 21 degrees) but in less than a week were under more than a foot of snow - just goes to show how changeable the weather is. The view though was spectacular - like being in Narnia.

This trip was primarily to do some decorating, which we did - sitting room, bathroom and toilet - and to have the bedroom furniture and new sofa delivered. It's a good job it turned up the day before the snow did as otherwise the lorry wouldn't have made it up the hill. We also cut and strengthened the oak table in the sitting room and hung a few pictures to make the place feel more like home.

We had our first venture into Clermont Ferrand and were lucky enough to find a parking space just as we drove into the main shopping area. There is a tram that runs into the city centre which we're going to try next time as we thought it'd be a nice little adventure. It's a very impressive place and well worth a visit.

We also had 3 trips to le Chase Dieu (closed each time) with trip being the operative word as Tina fell and hurt her knee quite badly - note to selves, do not go down snow covered slopes in shoes with little grip! Tim managed one day of skiing over at Besse (about 1 1/4 hours drive) and was impressed with the facilities given that it's only a small resort.

The farmhouse is feeling more like home now and we've had some ideas (wild ones in Tim's case) of what to do with the south facing garden. When the sun shines it's superb and even with snow on the ground it's warm enough to sit outside, so we want to get a patio layed as soon as we can. Tim planted some asparagus at the side of the farm - the first step toward self-sufficiency, although I think that's a long way off and we'll need a few more crops ;-)

Next trip is planned for late May.

Tim and Tina

Well this was the maiden voyage in la maison de Battleday and what a superb start! After weeks of anxious waiting we finally had the keys to the front door and although it was like entering an ice box (the was snow on the ground outside) we quickly had the woodburner going and warmed the place up.

Madame Sauzet (the vendor) had apparently left us some gifts in the house and we were excited to see what they were. Imagine our disappointment when we discovered enough crockery to set up a hotel, all of which was too shabby to even use under a pot plant. She also left us a mattress that didn't fit the bed - you'll be pleased to hear we have dumped/replaced all our gifts.

Despite this we had a great time pulling around through all the junk in the stable, the barn and the garage and did manage to find some real gems. And we were even more pleased when we stripped the nasty plastic covering off the table and found it to be beautiful solid oak underneath.

Christmas Day was a day of rest so after the first of our planned 8 courses we walked into nearby Fayet Ronnaye and it couldn't have been more Christmas card scene if you'd tried. We never had all 8 course - think the champagne filled us up LOL.

The downs on this trip were that the water heater stopped working so we were reduced to a kettle's worth of hot water in the bidet (no smutty thoughts please) and boiling saucepans on the cooker for a very shallow bath, and the electric kept tripping out. Turned out that both were the fault of cooker hood in the kitchen which has now joined the mattress and crockery, so all is now fine.

The highlight had to be sitting up in bed in the morning and looking out over the ridge, listening to the sound of silence and knowing we could come back any time we liked!