Holidays & Adventures on a Little French farm

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France
Saint-Jory-de Chalais
Holidays & Adventures on a Little French farm

Beautiful 1 or 2 person self catering gite set in the peaceful & picturesque Perigord Vert national park, Dordogne.

Available for rent between May and October...£350 per week or £55 per night (3 night minimum)...please message for details! Follow mine and Ian's adventures in rural France, along with our animals, as we get to grips with a whole new country and language!!

02/09/2026

It’s been another hot day and I’ve just wandered out to fill up the bird baths and hedgehog waters but got distracted by this little lot…not a lot of action but it’s very relaxing listening to them chomping away and there is even a bonus appearance by Ian wandering out to take off Clyde’s fly mask. 😍 No bonus appearance by me this evening, you’re not ready for that sort of excitement 😂 Although I’ve been toying with doing a little walk around video to show how the gite, fields and stables etc sit together…the trick is trying to keep it short which we all know is not a talent of mine..😂 anyway I hope you enjoy some evening sunshine with Clyde and the goat gang of Maisie, Ted, Arthur and Annabelle ❤️ sorry about my voice barging in on the peace! 🙈😂😂

10/08/2026

It’s Monday, it’s still stinking hot and we are still fed up with it! 😂 But this little video of Teddy goat enjoying the nettles that I’ve been weeding from the front of the house, makes me smile every time I see it. 🥰 He has put on more weight and is thriving…it’s made our year! 😍🎉 We are sneaking him lots of extra feeds and treats which he is loving so long may this upturn in his health continue. He’s a very different little chap to what he was back in December that’s for sure!!
I am working on a proper update…slowly..😂 and all is well, apart from the heat and lack of grass, but I thought I’d pop this on as a nice way to start the week ❤️
Oh and sound up to hear Arthur goats very loud and petulant bleat as he spots Teddy getting treats without him! 😂😂

03/08/2026

Sound up for rain glorious rain and exciting thundery rumbles!! I mean it only last about 20 minutes and it’s now sunny and 31 degrees again but lovely while it lasted!! 😂

25/07/2026

Hello everyone, I’m back to pop on a quick update whilst we are having a little respite from the sweltering and endless heatwaves we have been treated to so far this summer!
We are currently enjoying some high 20’s/early 30’s and it is feeling so much fresher and has perked us up a treat…kind of…well we have a bit of energy back at least and I have even managed to step away from the fan that I’ve been wedged permanently in front of. We are a bit wild eyed with cabin fever after spending endless afternoons of trying not to move too much as movement equalled turning to liquid!! 🫠Now you all know that I am a person who enjoys some serious sloth and I am no stranger to binge-watching endless tat on Netflix of an afternoon but even I was starting to think that there was a limit as to how much hospital drama I could watch!! For context, in an epic nostalgia wallow, I have watched almost all 15 seasons of ER…relentless and dedicated viewing!! 💪🏻😂😂

The dogs were listless and spent their time looking accusingly at us as if the heat was our fault, the cats made themselves as flat as possible on the tiled floor, like furry puddles…we did buy them cool mats to lay on but they eyed them with disdain and then pee’d on them, rude… the rabbits were bored and stroppy in their indoor pens and tiny Ella thumped her back legs crossly at me every time I went in to check on them. This is extremely cute but obviously I didn’t let her know that as she thinks she is being fearsome. 😂Horses and ponies spent the days in their stable standing very still in front of their fans (similar to me!), sheep disappeared into the woods to lay in the coolest spots and hens were to be found deep at the back of the log store. The only animals that seemed mostly unaffected were the goats although even they got a bit sleepy in the heat of the afternoon…I’m ashamed to say that I’m quite liking a heat affected Annabelle, she lacked the energy to plot my downfall so I didn’t have to lug around my trusty sweeping brush to fend her off every time I went out the back! 😂Maisie and Arthur are quite insane and were regularly laid out sunbathing and Teddy is flourishing which is a little miracle in itself given how worried we were and how thin he had got at the start of the year. But it is really stressful worrying about how the heat affects the older animals especially Clyde horse and the 3 old sheep girls. So far, so good but we are not through July yet so I guess there will be more extreme heat to come.🫣
It’s been strange as it’s not so much the high temperatures that are unusual, we usually see high 30’s and early 40 degrees every year but it’s the length of time the temps have lasted that is concerning. A few days of extreme heat is manageable but these have lasted 10 days or more and it’s the lack of respite in between that has made it difficult for the animals to cope with. And zero rain…

But, for now, all animals are much happier and out and about grazing, pottering and snoozing in much more comfortable temperatures although there isn’t much green grass left so that’s not great either! I feel I am complaining a lot in this post! 😂

So we don't have a lot of news really, life has slowed down to a snails pace and centres around keeping the animals cool, fed and watered. We’ve managed a few trips to the lake for a swim, a couple of sticky nights out for a drink locally and visits from friends who were trapped indoors with us also so that was nice to share the boredom with them for a while! 😂I have a few nice photos from earlier on in summer when things looked less jaded though so I will share some of those and hopefully things will be less hot and sticky for the rest of summer. Wherever you all are in the world then I hope you are keeping cool and staying safe and well.❤️

❗️A little edit❗️
I wasn’t going to post this till Monday but we’ve had a lot of lovely people messaging to check we are ok so this is to let you all know that me, Ian and the animals are safe and well as we are a good distance from the wildfires that are raging in Gironde and Biscarosse.
Although today we are being badly affected by smoke being blown up from there so we are indoors again with all doors and windows closed, no dog walking and fretting about the animals being out in it. Lots of checks will be made to make sure all breathing is normal and water troughs are full. Hopefully they will cope and we have as many indoors as we can. Ian and I both had sore throats after the cleaning and feeding this morning so it’s not great and leaves you feeling a bit nauseous too. But we are very lucky compared to what is happening further south, the loss of wildlife and forests, people being evacuated, losing their homes and the battles the firefighters are facing is truly horrific. I’ve never seen anything like it, a true raging inferno. 💔Our thoughts are with everyone affected.

22/06/2026

A bit of goat action!! Notice how brave I am skirting around Annabelle…the heat is making her too lazy to try and chase me…so I have found an upside to the heatwave 😂😂

22/06/2026

Lewis and me getting a shower 😂

22/06/2026

Feeling Hot hot hot!! 🥵 it’s been a hot week and we are getting hotter, 40 degrees today, and for the next 3 days, as the heatwave really tightens its grip so we are slowly melting into sticky, sweaty puddles…there’s an image for you!! 😂
Obviously it’s a bit stressful worrying about keeping the animals cool but one of the nicer jobs is hosing down Clyde and Lewis 3 times a day! They very much enjoy it and we get a soaking as well…win win! 😂I’ve managed a couple of little videos whilst holding horses, not my best work though but it gives you an idea!😂 and a little video of the goats slumped in the shade pretty much like me and Ian do in the house!😂 Apart from Teddy goat who feels he must come for cuddles as soon as we appear although cuddling a hot sweaty little goat is not the best way to keep cool but we can’t resist his little goaty charms! 🥰
I have started on an update but it’s not flowing at the moment…I’ll blame the heat!! 😂
I hope you are all managing to keep cool wherever you are and I’ll be back soon with a rabbit update as Billie and Jess have finally moved into their new bunny palace, it’s awesome I cannot lie!! 😍😂

01/06/2026

Hey everyone..I have a sad post for you today I'm afraid as we had to say goodbye to our beautiful Lola goat on Friday evening and it’s been harder than we could ever have imagined. 💔 We knew it was coming but that didn’t help making the call any easier but it was time, we couldn’t control her pain anymore so Aurelien, our favourite vet who loved Lola too, came out and put her gently to sleep. We took it in turns to sit with her throughout the day and she spent her time stuffing her face with soaked beet, strawberries, apples and banana...nothing ever dimmed Lola's voracious appetite and we let her eat it all that day! When it was time she fell gently asleep with her head in my lap.
You obviously know we will be heartbroken but I wanted this post to be a celebration of her time here with us as Lola was pure joy, no sadness ever on her big happy moon face and she could make you smile in even the worst of times…the irony is not lost on me here.

She arrived here in 2023 from the glorious Mudita Sanctuary near Bergerac after a little sneaky manoeuvre on the part of me and the owner, Ariane. We’d gone down to meet Sienna rabbit, who was a potential match for our Bones bunny after his brother Kirk had died, but all the while I knew there was also lonely Lola goat desperately needing a quiet home to retire to. Ariane thought our small, gentle herd would be the perfect fit as, of course, did I! 😂 Ian was a stubborn no, absolutely no more animals, he was standing firm, decisive, in control of the situation but a crafty swerve past the stable where Lola was staying landed him face to face with her…she stumped over to him, pushed her big beautiful face towards him and that was it. Love at first sight. 😍 He was done and the rest is history!! I’ve said it before, breaking strain of a kitkat that man…😂

Lola had been surrendered to the sanctuary after a long hard life in a dairy herd. Around 12 years old, skinny with appalling hooves but she was one of the lucky ones, a favourite who was allowed to live. She was truly the happiest soul and spent her time pottering around the fields munching on grass, trimming the trees and, on occasion, my roses! 😂 She loved Teddy goat the most, she was master of joint selfies and gave the best cuddles. Her magnificent set of horns were never once waved in anger. Kind and gentle, she was pure magic and almost 3 years with her was not long enough but then a lifetime wouldn’t have been enough, she was quite simply wonderful and we consider ourselves the luckiest people in the world to have had her in our lives.

She was never that number in her ear, she was someone, she was everything, she was Lola.

Rest easy beautiful girl, our little french farm has lost a very special soul and we’ll miss you forever.❤️

14/05/2026

Well it took me long enough to get this sheep shearing post done considering it’s really just some nice photos I took and not many words!😂 All sheep are doing great, baby Nellie is growing so fast and loving all the new places to explore as Ian has finally finished sheep proofing the big side field and all along the back of the gite too so sheep, horses, ponies and goats are all hanging together now. It’s funny though as the 3 old girls always head back to their top field at bedtime and the young flock take themselves back into the front field for bed…I like that they can choose 😊
We are having a slight weather blip at the moment, a bit chilly and rainy but next week is back into the mid 20’s which will be lovely. I’ve got lots of nice pics of all the animals so will get those posted soon…well probably July given my track record but I’ll try and improve on that 😂

Adresse

351 Route Du Chataignier, Vialezin
Saint-Jory-De Chalais
24800

Téléphone

0553 625075

Site Web

http://www.frenchfarmgites.com/

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