En Arrive

We appreciate that you may have had a long journey and the last thing you need is to be worrying about what you will be having for breakfast. 

We provide a “welcome basket” for you on your arrival which typically contains the following:

  • Two bottles of still mineral water 
  • Orange Juice
  • Croissants or Brioche
  • Butter 
  • Fresh Eggs freshly laid by our own chickens!!
  • Sliced Boule (French Bread but sadly not a Baguette as they go stale quite quickly)
  • Confiture (Jam and if you are lucky it will be home made!!) 
  • Bottle of Rose wine chilled in the Fridge
  • Milk
  • Tea
  • Coffee (Filter NOT Instant)
  • Ice Cubes in the Freezer (Most Important)

The items in the welcome basket are things we buy for ourselves. The Gite is also fully provisioned with toilet rolls, dishwasher tablets and clothes washing powder/liquid and all the other day to day items you would need to cook, clean and tidy up so all you need to be sure of is that you have brought your personal toiletries with you.

We provide towels and face cloths for guests use in the shower-room.

Sunday is still a day of rest in France, however in a nod to modern times supermarkets are sometimes open. Carrefour Contact in L’Absie is a small but convenient (5 minute drive away) supermarket that has more than enough choice to keep you watered and fed. There is also a small independently run grocery store in the nearby village of St Hilaire de Voust just 4Km down the lane.

Super U in La Châtaigneraie is a much larger supermarket with a very good wine selection (we are selflessly conducting “research” in to the quality of their offerings) and a much larger selection of fresh produce – we would recommend this supermarket if you are looking to “stock up” for your stay.

Mercifully the local Boulangerie in L’Absie is open on a Sunday morning so you can avail yourself of fresh baguettes, Croissants or Pain au Chocolat. 

Deux-Sevres Tourism Guides

Our local tourist office provide a wealth of information for visitors to the region. They have provided us with copies of their Escapades guide, tourist map and carnet with vouchers giving visitors discounts at various attractions in the region. These materials along with our Gite Guest guide are provided for your information on arrival.

If you want to visit their website in advance of your visit you will find plenty to help you plan your visit and also view the discounts that are available in the carnet booklet.