La Vallée du Soleil

03/02/2023

06/04/2022

BOOK DIRECT...
https://portal.freetobook.com/reservations?w_id=44527&w_tkn=0f0cl8bf6KxTsmbCxO0XLANrQUzWpGtQx16ThU6N3IGgsfR7PHZLOgy2bt7PL

31/07/2021

Welcome basket for our latest guests arriving today. Local wine from Les Caves Jules Gautret, local goats cheese from the nearby Fromagerie de Mortafond, little heart soaps from Coeur de Savon. Fresh milk, butter and yoghurt from our local dairy farm who supply Laiterie de Pamplie. A baguette from our favourite boulangerie B-Sweet and of course some free range eggs from our chooks and fresh veggies from the garden.

29/05/2021

🇬🇧 Gite garden looking lovely for our guests this weekend.

🇨🇵 Le jardin du gîte est très beau pour nos clients ce week-end.

08/05/2021

The new herb bed in the gite is coming along nicely; there's even a few strawberries 🍓 ready for our latest guests who are arriving today.

31/12/2020

Somewhere to visit nearby...

POTERIE ARTISANALE À TUSSON
On the edge of the square in Tusson is a pottery where you can watch, through the window at the back of the shop the art being created at the potters wheel.

It's lovely to see how they produce the beautiful bowls and plates that you may have just discovered, like me, in Gateaux because they serve all their glorious cakes on the pretty plates and their teas and coffees come in the lovely cups with their unusual saucers.

Now you may not be able to recreate a cake quite like the ones from Gateaux but you can take home a beautiful piece of pottery to enjoy anyway.

29/12/2020

Somewhere to visit locally...

Gâteaux is the most fantastic little coffee shop/tea room and it's not far from us in Tusson. They have some of the best cakes I have ever come across, with the best stocked cake selection and when I say that on any given day there is always something for everyone I am seriously not joking. It is always a challenge to choose!

Le magasin est ouvert exclusivement pour la vente à emporter de 9h à 13h.

17/09/2020

Château de Dampierre sur Boutonne.
We took a picnic because you can sit in the château gardens to eat. It was so tranquil, just the river flowing past , the trees rustling in the breeze and birds singing. A stroll around the gardens, a wander through the maze and searching out all the wonderful sculpture. What a lovely place to have nearby!

16/08/2020

Welcome gifts for our guests...
🍅🥔🥒🥚🍷
We love to support local businesses so everything we give our guests is local to this area. The closest is the veg from our garden and eggs from our hens and the furthest is the wine just a few kilometres away.
There's so much lovely produce to try in this area!

30/07/2020

The pool is looking rather inviting this morning and with the weather forecast to be at least 38° today I think this will be the best place to be!
☀️

27/07/2020

Trying a change of layout for the gîte furniture and a new checked table cloth. After a quiet start to this year it's lovely to see guests enjoying all our hard work.

06/07/2020

La Vallée du Soleil is living up to its name very nicely. Glorious sunshine and blue skies. The cheeky cow that keeps escaping her field is out again and enjoying the green grass and sunshine over the road...who can blame her?

09/06/2020

Just a few kilometres down the road is this wonderful boulangerie and now they are making ice cream too!

31/05/2020

The route to our favourite local boulangerie is such a tough drive; it's just strewn with beautiful scenery. In another few weeks there will be sunflowers everywhere; for now we must settle for just the pink poppies and the lush green vines.
How will we cope?

31/05/2020

View from the garden today...
In another few weeks to the left of this shot will a be field of sunflowers 🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻

01/05/2020

Places to visit nearby...

Verteuil-sur-Charente is only half an hour away and has a lot to do to make it worthwhile to visit during your stay. This old town, sitting on the banks of the River Charente and nestled beneath the 15th century Chateaux is incredibly beautiful.
You can walk along the rue du Temple to discover the church of Saint-Médard, which contains an impressive 17th century decorated pottery scene depicting Christ being placed in the tomb and a carved wooden tabernacle. Or if you're feeling energetic, take the steps for picturesque views. The story is that the Rue du Temple was very muddy because animals were raised along it, so a steep flight of steps called the "Chemin des Dames" or "Ladies' Way" was built to allow the ladies to walk to the church without getting muddy feet.
On the banks of the Charente, the old mill (moulin) has been converted into a café/restaurant and is famous for its brioche. There are other lovely restaurants in town including the Cafe Portebleue which is one of our favourites!

It is also possible to kayak from Ruffec to Verteuil.

17/04/2020

Places to visit nearby...

The church of Saint Pierre d'Aulnay de Saintonge; a Unesco World Heritage site and one of the finest Romanesque churches in western France is situated in a peaceful setting on the Compostela pilgrim route at the edge of the small town of Aulnay; just 15 minutes away.

Wander amongst the large cypress trees in the old graveyard whilst you soak up the exterior of this stunning piece of architecture before heading inside to see the giant pillars with an extensive array of sculpture and decorative carving.

09/03/2020

We are very proud to be supporting Something To Look Forward To charity by donating a weeks stay in our lovely little gite to someone battling with cancer.

We heard of this charity a while ago and knew that we wanted to help someone this year by giving the opportunity of a holiday to a person who really needs one and might not have the opportunity otherwise.

Please share so that more people who have something to offer this brilliant charity might do the same.

somethingtolookforwardto.org.uk/gifts/accommodation/7-nights-stay-at-la-vallee-du-soleil-france/

Please read carefully all the criteria including dates before applying for this gift to ensure you are able to meet the requirements (no changes can be made). All travel and other expenses will not be met by the charity. Please DO NOT contact either the property owner or the property