Self Catering Holiday Gite with Pool Chérac Charente Maritime South West France
We are located near the village of Chérac in the Borderies known locally as the golden triangle for Cognac grape growing near to the magnificent Charente river. The accommodation, gite rural sleeps 6 to 8 very comfortably with
en-suite 3 bedrooms.
Local Area
Chérac
Gite du Calme a rural gite accommodation with 3 en-suite bedrooms nestled amoungst vineyards near Saintes and Cognac. Just a short and pretty cycle ride is our local village of Chérac, passing vineyards and local farms with cattle and horses. In Chérac you can buy your French bread daily, fresh local produce from the Boulangerie and the local Boucherie/Butchers. Other shops include a chemist/pharmacy where the owners speak pretty good English and are very helpful. There is also a cafe/bar, postoffice, hairdressers, the farmers cooporative and the tabac/gift shop. On Saturday morning's there is the fresh oyster seller. Chérac is in the heart of the Cognac and Pineau region and during your stay you can visit one of the local producers of Cognac and Pineau and sample the many ages and varieites that are available.
If you are passionate about mushrooms, like every French man, then our rural gite is the perfect place for you. The forest behind the Gite has an abundunce of the famous cepe champignon/mushrooms.
Dompierre
Just another short cycle ride away is Dompierre on the Charente rviers edge. Here you will find another fine Boulangerie that sells the most delicious selection of breads including the ever popular Pain au Maize (Corn bread) and cakes. Next door is a road-side vendor selling fresh fruit and vegetables. Here in Dompierre you have many picnic areas with some beautiful views along the Charente river. In July and August the cute tourist hut, an extension of the official office in Saintes is open opposite the Boulangerie everyday which is a hive of information and where you can pick up tickets for everything.
Activities
Boating, Golf, Fishing, Cognac tours, Cycling, Riding, Lakes, Birdwatching and Hunting in Cherac from Dec 2006.
If you like riding there are many stables close to the Gite that are suitable for riders of all ages and ability. Boating and
canoeing are both very popular and all size boats can be hired from Cognac or Saintes. There are many cycling routes around the gite through the forest and for walkers there is an abundance of lovely walks along the river and through vineyards and forest.
Daily food markets
Everyday in virtually every town apart from Monday's you will find an open or undercover street market selling fresh fruit, vegtables, mouth watering cheeses, pate's, meats and fish including the delicious home grown oysters and mussels. The first Monday of every month the whole of Saintes is cut off to traffic and is one enormous market selling everything from food, clothing, fashion accessories, fishing equipement, plants in fact too many things to mention, a good day out.
click Golf 10mins
Two fabulous 18 hole courses very close to Gite du Calme are in Saintes and Golf du Cognac offering reasonable green fees and superb facilities. They both have good restaurants and golf ranges if you just want to practice.
Cognac 10mins
Cognac is a historical 17th century town prominent with the world famous Cognac houses. Cognac boasts fine architecture and many a grand building can be seen alongside the Charente river edge. The village has many cobbled streets filled with a mixture of stylish independent shops and restaurants. There are two fabulous parks for all the family and an outdoor public swimming pool. From July to September, Cognac organise free festivals closing the roads to cars and have music and all kinds of street entertainment, it is amazing and great fun for all ages.Cognac has an undercover fresh food market everyday apart from Monday.
Cognac Tours
The Cognac houses, to name but a few, Hennessy, Remy Martin, Courvoisier, Camus, Martell all based in Cognac have informative tours where you can learn the history of Cognac making and of course be able to taste all the different vintages.
Fishing
At Gite du Calme you are just minutes away from the Charente river where there are many good fishing spots for Trout and Carp. Around the region you can choose either Course or Sea fishing.
Lakes
In the Poitou Charente region there are many man made lakes with authentic sandy beach areas with surrounding parkland. They usually have a restaurant/cafe and watersports facilities. They are free to swim in and make a great day out.
Attractions
There are many great tourist attractions in the Charente Maritime area, two that close to our accommodation; The newly opened neolithic interactive centre, Paleosite and the Trout farm Pisciculture where you can go and catch your very own trout on a large lake in beautiful surroundings, cook your very own fish and eat it at the prepared outside restaurant.
Saintes 10mins
A vibrant town once the Roman capital of SW France. Full of great architecture Saintes is also on the Charente river and has cobbled streets packed with cafes and shops. It has a magnificent Roman ampitheatre where in the summer months they have spectacular entertainment. They also organise live street entertainment throughout the summer which is great fun for all ages. Just on the outskirts of Saintes you have a beautiful chateau Roche Corbonne to visit and the tourist office has a list of guided tours in English. Saintes also has many areas where sculptors work with the local chalky stone, and for a small fee you can have a go yourself. From both Saintes and Cognac you can hire or take a boat trip for the day along the Charente River seeing and stopping at sites on the way. Saintes also has a lovely park with animals and an outdoor swimming pool.
Saintes market days
Saintes has fresh food markets, the undercover Wednesday and Saturdays, the open air Friday and Sunday's.
Oysters
Try not to leave without tasting Charente-Maritimes most famous gourmet product - oysters. With 500km of protected coastline the department is France’s largest producer of oysters, and Marennes Oleron is synonymous, for French gourmets, with the mollusc that is cultivated there. Even prehistoric man enjoyed eating them, as shown by the huge number of shells found in archeological sites, but it was the Romans who first started to cultivate them. They became even more popular during the Renaissance and oysters were fattened in specially dug beds (claires) in salt marshes which allowed for fresh sea water to wash through regularly. Production grew considerably in the XIXc, as the saltworks declined, and regulations were introduced to prevent the further destruction of the region's natural resources.
Self Catering holiday gite Chérac Poitou Charente France
