Holidays & Adventures on a Little French farm

Page d'Accueil
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!!

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 😂

10/05/2026

30 seconds of an excited Peggy bouncing through the wild flowers…❤️ I hope your Sunday is as happy as those flappy ears! 😂🥰

03/05/2026

It’s a warm but grey morning here in Dordogne and we are spending the day emptying the utility room and sheeting up sofas and tables etc in the big gite ready for a big hole to be smashed in the wall tomorrow!! This will give us access into the big gite from our house and means we can make use of all that lovely wasted space. Very exciting but it’s going to be messy, dirty and very noisy so me and the dogs will be spending the week in the other gite hiding from it all!😂
My enforced exile means I have no excuse not to get some updates and pics done but in the meantime here’s a nice relaxing little video that I took back in March and, in classic me style, completely forgot to post!
Apologies for it being two minutes long,
I should learn how to edit things down but it’s a nice watch of the sheep playing and chasing. ❤️ They do this every evening, without fail, as we head towards dusk and it always makes us smile! In sheep world, you are never too old to have a tear around it seems! 😂
Enjoy your Sunday whatever you are up to! 😍

01/05/2026

I haven’t forgotten that I owe you all a sheep haircut update, amongst other things, and I’m on it…slowly…😂 but today is for wishing Woody, our big, loveable, hairy blond lump of joy, a very Happy 2nd Birthday!! 🥰🥰 So far he’s had a nice breakfast followed by a lovely walk with Peggy and Snoopy, a bit of chasing around and wrestling with Snoop and is now enjoying a power nap before he has birthday cake and some more racing around the garden with the opportunity for some light barking at gite guests/cyclists/walkers/basically anyone that comes within 200 metres of his kingdom…😂😂 We love you Mr Blond and here’s to another year of chaos and joy! 🎂🎂❤️❤️

21/04/2026

The 3 musketeers having a post walk de-brief…If you zoom in on Woody then you may see a look of smug about his face…the look of a dog who has once again outsmarted his hapless humans.😂

Dog walk time has become a lengthier task as I struggle to juggle 3 leads at a time so Peg and Snoop get a walk and then I drop them off and collect Woody for his walk and vice versa each day. Today was Snoop and Peg out first and off we set, leaving an indignant Woody behind, and headed off down the green track towards the next hamlet intending to do a nice 4km loop. 10 minutes of peaceful strolling in the morning sunshine followed as we made good pace down the track, with numerous sniff stops of course, when I heard what I thought was possibly a bull or at the very least a shetland pony closing in on me from behind!! 😱 I may have emitted a little squeak of alarm..brave I am not…next minute, whoosh, and the big blond idiot zoomed past me at warp speed! 😱I was relieved it wasn’t in fact a bull but confused…I’d definitely locked the front door as he is prone to just opening doors and letting himself out…🙄Ah well, I shrugged and we walked to the end of the track whilst a triumphant Woody and his sidekicks frolicked around and then turned around and headed home as without a lead for lump then the loop wasn’t an option. In the meantime Ian had popped to the market and arrived home to expect an ecstatic greeting from Woody only to find the front door locked (I’m not completely useless then) but the back door wide open and no Woody…ah yes, forgot to lock that one… 🙈 He did panic slightly but a quick call to me set his mind at rest and he met me coming back with a lead for the escapee. 😊Alls well that ends well but once again we have been schooled by one of our animals…there seems to be a pattern here!! 😂😂

19/04/2026

It’s a busy Sunday for us over here as today is sheep shearing day for our little flock of 11! Well 10 really as Nellie lamb doesn’t get sheared this year. It’s an absolutely glorious day, 22 degrees and with a week ahead of temps in the mid 20’s then it’s going to make them a lot more comfortable! I especially cannot wait to see Barney and Iris after their awful heavy matted coats are removed, they will feel like new sheep!! 😍😍After haircut photos to follow later of course but in the meantime here’s some before pics of them blissfully unaware just now!! 😊
Hope everyone is having a sunny day too! 😎😎

17/04/2026

I took this the other day…it’s only short so play to the end to see the delight that is Woody completely mistiming his dive at Snoopy…😂😂😂

09/01/2026

I am so relieved that Ian’s flight got cancelled on Monday, the weather has gone from icy freezing and snow to rain and high winds! I’ve just taken a photo of the weird coloured sky and light this morning, it doesn’t bode well!!😱 Most of the animals will be having an indoor day again…there is going to be a lot of disgruntled faces today!😂 Hope you are all staying safe in the storm 🙏🏻
Edit: It’s calm and dry now so that was a panic over nothing!! It was literally like someone turned the wind off!!😂😂 The goats are out and about with the sheep and all is well. 😊

Adresse

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

Téléphone

0553 625075

Site Web

http://www.frenchfarmgites.com/

Notifications

Soyez le premier à savoir et laissez-nous vous envoyer un courriel lorsque Holidays & Adventures on a Little French farm publie des nouvelles et des promotions. Votre adresse e-mail ne sera pas utilisée à d'autres fins, et vous pouvez vous désabonner à tout moment.