La P'tite Sablière

Set in the heart of rural Charente-Maritime, La P'tite Sablière is a completely self-contained, peaceful, and comfortable gîte for two people, attached to our small Charentaise vineyard-owner's house, over 150 years old. Well-behaved dogs are welcome to stay. La P'tite Sablière is fully-equipped with double bed, en-suite shower, cooker, fridge, pod coffee machine, barbecue, wood-burning stove, TV (French & British), DVD and wi-fi. The owners' pool is normally available for you to use between late May and September. All towels and linen is included. You will have the whole gîte to yourself - lounge, kitchen area, bedroom and bathroom. Plus a large garden area just for you. Come and go as you please! You can just spend your time at La P'tite Sablière relaxing, unwinding, cooling off in the pool, or barbecuing and then stargazing under our really dark night skies. But there are also a wealth of interesting places in the area, all around about an hour away, for you to explore. The city of Bordeaux is an hour away - the new tram park+ride alongside the A10 is just 45 minutes away, and takes you right into the heart of the city. The historic city centre is on the UNESCO World Heritage List as "an outstanding urban and architectural ensemble of the 18th century", with many stunning buildings. As befits the world's wine industry capital, it's also home to La Cité du Vin wine museum. You can get around the city with trams, the V3 bike network, and riverboats. Montendre is the closest town (6km away), and has the largest market in the area (Thursday mornings). There are evening street markets on Tuesday evenings in July and August. Free music festival in June. It has a couple of very good restaurants, two supermarkets and a great takeaway pizza shop. It also has the closest railway station. Mysterra is a new family attraction, based on mazes and puzzles which also uses augmented reality and interactive apps; you can spend a whole day here. Jonzac (15km away) is a charming spa town dominated by its 15th century castle at the top of the main street. It has weekly markets (Tuesday, Friday and Saturday), green and antiques markets Sunday mornings, and has plenty of good restaurants and bars. From mid-June to mid-September there is a evening street market with food and music on Wednesdays. There are other cultural events throughout the year. There are supermakets and plenty of local services Nearby there is a casino, treatment spa, and Les Antilles - an indoor tropical lagoon with pools, wave machine, slides and geysers, fitness centre and restaurants. Cognac (50km/45 mins away) is a town famed for the brandy named after it. All the main cognac producers, such as Courvoisier, Martell, and Rémy Martin, have distillery visits. The Hennessy visit even takes in a boat ride on the River Charente. Vineyards Some of the most expensive and prestigious wines in the world are grown in neighbouring Gironde. Areas such as Margaux, Pauillac, Médoc, Graves, Sauternes, Côtes de Bourg, Saint-Emilion and Saint-Georges are all with easy reach, and many estates have tastings. The coast The villages of Talmont-sur-Gironde (one of La Plus Beaux Villages de France - "The most beautiful villages of France") and Meschers-sur-Gironde are both around 50km away. There are little beaches tucked amongst the rocks at Talmont. Just further north are family-friendly beach resorts such as Saint-Georges-de-Didonne, Royan, and Saint-Palais-sur-Mer - though these can be very busy in school holidays. Beyond the Zoo de La Palmyre is the spectacular Côte Sauvage - park in La Coubre forest for a 10-minute walk to this unspoilt Atlantic coast beach. If you want to travel further, you can cross the cross the Gironde, either by the ferry at Blaye and have miles of unspoilt beaches on the vast Côte d'Argent Atlantic coast at resorts such Hourtin Plage and Lacanau Océan, or cross via Bordeaux to Bassin d'Arcachon, with the quaint resort town of Arcachon itself, and Cap Ferret and La Grande Dune du Pilat (The Great Dune of Pyla) - the tallest sand dune in Europe. There is a station at Montendre (about 7 km away), on a direct line from Gare de Bordeaux Saint-Jean, but realistically you will need a car. We are in the middle of the countryside.