Holiday Cottage Auvergne, Mandailles, France

Auvergne Cottage

   ...ref.no: 692

Accommodation   (Self Catering Cottage, sleeps: 6)

Kitchen oven electric hob dishwasher fridge freezer	Bedrooms 3 bedrooms 3 double beds 2 single beds 1 cot	Bathrooms 2 shower rooms 2 toilets	Dining 1 table 6 chairs
Laundry washing machine iron+board	Entertainment tv(satellite) video CD player DVD player	Outdoors private garden table & chairs sun loungers barbecue parking

The house is delightful, two typical Auvergnat homes built on a hillside and joined together to make one.

Features

• There is a cellar/workshop at ground level, where wood for the log fire is kept
  
• Above this, approached by large stone steps and a narrow balcony is the door to the kitchen
  This one big room was where the family ate, lived and slept, and it still has all the charm of the old days with its wooden beams, and great fireplace with seats inside it where you can sit and toast your toes. Sometimes we cook over the fire, and there are the old implements still hanging in the chimney
  
• In this room there is also the original long table and benches made when the house was built, easy chairs and cupboards and a well-equipped kitchen area with cooker, sink unit and fridge, dishwasher and a washing machine.
  
• Stairs lead up to the next floor where there are two bedrooms and shower room (loo, shower, basin and bidet)
  
• Each bedroom has a good and comfortable double bed, though one can be split to make 2 singles if needed, and there is a loft/platform area reached by a ladder above the two bedrooms.
  
• The main sitting room has a large wood-burning stove [which also ducts warm air upstairs if it is needed], a stereo system, television and VCR.
• There is also a second shower room on this floor.
  
• Upstairs there is one large bedroom, full of light, and an en-suite WC
  
• Off this room there is a terrace with a marvellous view over the mountains, a gas fired barbecue, table and chairs.
  

The medieval centre of the market town of Aurillac, 30 kilometres away, is a delightful area with good shopping for food and fashion. Closer to home is Mandailles, with a boulangerie/epicerie and two restaurants. Behind the cottage is a farm where you can get fresh milk, yoghurt and goats cheese, and a travelling shop arrives twice a week in the hamlet.

Leisurely or strenuous walking, through tracks in woods, or ridge walking with bits of scrambling on the mountains is available all year round. In the summer there are wild raspberries, strawberries and myrtilles to be picked on mountain walks, while in the Autumn there are cepes and chanterelles to be found. There is some shooting, mainly of deer, in the Autumn and fly fishing for trout in the nearby Jordanne and in neighbouring Valleys. In St Julien, the next village, there is "Neige et Nature," the local organisation that arranges visits to local cheese makers, horse riding outings and the hire of mountain bikes. Dawn expeditions to spot chamois in the mountains are also arranged. For sightseeing there are a number of small chateaux within easy driving distance and Salers, a beautiful medieval town built from black volcanic rock, about 30 kilometres away, is worth a visit.

There is a swimming pool in Aurillac, but for cooling off in the summer there is swimming in the nearby river, particularly at a spot where a small waterfall provides a natural shower!

Other activities in the area include paragliding, rock climbing, riding, walking with donkeys, cycling along the old railway lines and Montgolfier ballooning in Aurillac!

Sitting Room

View from front door

River Jordanne Watermill

Morning mist

 

The lane behind the cottage

Auvergne Parc des Volcans

View from the terrace

The House

week: Sat-Sat sleeps: 6 s.catering: pvt.garden: countryside: walking: cycling: swimming: fishing: skiing: riding: climbing: