R : How was the holiday ?

J : We’ve had an outstanding time and we’re sad to be coming to the end of our two weeks. The weather has been perfect, the climate has been stunning and we’ve enjoyed visiting all the villages in this particular area. We understand that it’s particularly green for this time of year because you’ve had quite a lot of rain leading up to this holiday … but we’ve had a fabulous time.

C : Yes very relaxing … just what we needed after a long stint of hard work … fantastic, really good…

R : And during your two weeks is there anything which stands out as particularly good ?

C : Lots of things … for me it was, being a bit of a foody, the market at Cotignac and all the things to do with food I particularly enjoyed.

J : And you arranged on one particular occasion for us to have a cooking lesson with one of the local chiefs who ran a number of restaurants in the area. She took us around the market and later on she gave us a lesson with her son. I think that was one of the most fun things that we’ve done in the course of the holiday; fantastic people. We enjoyed that.

C : But I’ve also enjoyed … I’m not a great swimmer .. but I did enjoy the lake. It’s beautiful…

J : … nothing prepares you for the lake … when you come across the valley and look down … nothing prepares you for that blue; bluer than any part of the med that I’ve been to before, that’s for sure.

R : And thinking of the house and what you expected to find … did it all come up to your expectations ?

C : I think the web site gave us a good insight into what the house looked like. It’s very chic, very well done, lots of space, modern touches here and there, but also very authentic. So, excellent !

J : I think the villagers understand that. Probably when you took it over they were wondering quite what you were going to do with it. But we’ve spoken to some of the villagers and they have a lot of respect for the way you’ve done it up and they say ‘le goût’, the taste in which you’ve done it is in keeping with the village; because of course it’s one of the oldest houses in the village so I think they were pleased it maintained it’s character.

For me, and the unique point to do with the house, is the fact that it is in the village and you feel very much part of village life whilst you’re here; going out and getting your bread in the morning … speaking to the local people about the history of the village, going to see ‘le boule’, drinking ‘pasties’ … actually perhaps too much of it! But I think, that for me was the unique part of this holiday, being part of the village as apposed to being out on a hill somewhere where you could be anywhere in the ‘Med’ (Mediterranean) and having to drive everywhere.

C : And also, because we had some teenagers with us here they could go off without us getting in the car … go and have a drink across the road or walk up the road (to the other bar) on their own. That was nice. So we didn’t have to always drive them somewhere.

R : And because we’re in the middle of the village … no problems with noisy neighbors … noisy village market ?

J : Not realty, I mean you’re part of village life. So, if you’re a light sleeper you might hear someone setting up their market stall on market day, but you expect that. And I quite like that. So we haven’t had any intrusive noise.

C : No, it’s all part of living in the village .. it’s fine, didn’t bother us at all.

J : In fact we probably made more noise than the other people here! We should ask the question to the neighbors I think !

R : And what about living in the same property as the owner. Did that work okay ?

C : We didn’t notice the owner was here !

J : I thought you were very discreet. I quite enjoyed having you around, because if we needed some advice we could come and talk to you about it. And it seems to me that you react to the people that you’ve got in the villa. If they want you to be around and be a bit of help then no doubt you will be there, but if they wanted you to stay out of the way, no doubt you’d respect that. We’ve quite enjoyed it. And of course everyone loves the dog. We’ve enjoyed having the dog in the property as well.

R : To what kind of person would you recommend the place to, do you think ?

C : A variety of different groups could stay here easily … families. Obviously the second week we’ve had smaller children here with Jonathan’s brother and sister and it’s been perfect for them because it’s safe enough with the pool …you know you can just keep a watch out for people. But then it worked in the first week with the teenagers too.

J : Or adults … if you want to use this as a civilized base from which you can go and explore the rest of the surrounding area … I think it works equally well. It’s difficult to think of a group that it wouldn’t work for actually !

C : I think that the fact that every room’s got it’s own ensuite (bathroom) and has got a lot of space you can go and have your own quite time if you want to … and that’s really quite important. You could come here with three other, four other, couples probably…

J : And you could also exist without getting on each others nerves…. I think that’s quite important having your own bathroom… Yes definitely !