spacious house in the woods - "La Maison Bleue"

Welcome to "La Maison Bleue" (the blue house)! Imagine a warm and cozy restored farmhouse with lots of character and charm and a big garden - in the midst of a natural park. The house is situated in Puy de Dome: chosen as one of Lonely Planet's 10 best destination for 2016. a heaven of nature and diverse landscapes. a short drive from local farms where you can buy fresh milk, cheese, wonderful pastry at the boulangerie and so much more. all you need for your French rural vacation. This farm house, dated 1844, was renovated with a lot of love and attention by an artisan –carpenter and his wife, a coloring artist. What was once a barn became a splendid spacious yet very cozy home, guarding some of Auvergne's typical elements (such as the sleeping alcove who will make any child happy to go to bed). This very special house is our secondary home and we are delighted to share it with you. In the entrance level you will find one double room, a kitchen that now serves as a laundry room with washing machine and a drier. There is also a bathroom (shower & wc). The upper level is a very big open space divided into 3 areas: the living area, dining area and the kitchen, equipped with new oven and fridge, toasters, caffetiere, machinate, and all you need for preparing your meals. a lovely table by the kitchen window allows you to enjoy the garden view. There is an exit here to the terrace and garden which is about 2000 sq. mt. On this floor there are 2 double bedrooms, a walk- in closet, a spacious washroom with shower and toilet, and there is also a pantry (in it an extra little fridge in case you need it, and another in the kitchen downstairs). A mezzanine offers 2 extra mattresses for children (80x190). In the middle of the open space is a wood stove. Of course there is also electric heating in all rooms and areas. The house is decorated with authentic items collected throughout the years. You are welcome to use TV , wifi, telephone (to fix numbers in Europe, fix & French mobile in France). Please notice there is no cellular connection in the house – typical for many rural areas in France. For the same reason WIFI is quite slow- good enough for communication and surfing but not for heavy duty usage). Our private belongings are kept in locked closets, so you can feel free to use whatever is around- it is there to be shared with you. this is our house, it is our dream place in france - its not a gite or a hotel, so we expect you to use it with care and we hope you will enjoy your stay . when you are there - we are not around. you can contact us by phone. Please feel free to contact us for any further information that you need. The house is located at about 1000 mt high in a national park of one of the most beautiful regions of France – Le Puy De Dome. It is a heaven for nature lovers- surrounded with woods with endless pathes to hike, champignons, wild berries, little farmes nesteled on the hillslopes, rivers, fishing and swimming ponds and wonderfull views wherever you look. in 30-60 minuts drive you can visit the amazing towns of Le-Puy-En-Vellay and Brioude with their magnificent cathedrals, Issoire and Ambert with their charming markets of regional products,and Clermont-Ferrand. We recommend you visit some of the many beautiful middle-age villages, some of them on the "Frances most beautiful villages" list. If you continue another 30 minutes you can visit the amazing "Volcania"- one of Frances most famous nature phenomenons: a chain of lava domes –no doubt a striking view. In summer the region explodes with activities: picturess flee markets, festivals: films, music of any sort, fares and just near by the famous classic music festival of La Chaise Dieu. In autumn you will enjoy the wonderful colors of foliage. Practical info: in the village of Saint-Germain-L'herm (8 min. drive) you have an excellent boulangery, pharmacy, minimarket, post office, tourist information center, a bar and restaurant. (on Saturdays you can get excellent pizza to take away at the pizza truck that parks near the fountaine on the square) Lyon airport is 2.5 hours away, you can also fly to Paris and continue to Clermont Ferrand via plane or train and drive from there (1.15 hours). it is essential to have a car in this erea. Our next door neighbors are an elderly Dutch couple of whom that is their secondary home, so it is very quiet. You should know that on their side of the house there is a road but there is very little traffic on it. you might hear a vehical pass now and then.