Gites in France

03/08/2026

The 20 years we have had in Les Ribaudieres have been a wonderful retirement adventure for us but the time has come for someone else to take it on. A return to the UK is on the cards for me and I hope someone out there is interested in a new life in France - I can highly recommend it!

Please have a look and contact Nadege through the link if you’re interested in arranging a viewing.

À Saint-Loup, découvrez cette propriété offrant un fort potentiel locatif, composée d'une maison principale, de deux gîtes indépendants, de deux piscines, d'une grande dépendance et atelier.La maison principale comprend un salon-séjour d'environ 40 m² avec insert bois, une cuisine indépen...

06/07/2024

I've given up on the football and procrastination.Nike say: Just do it! I have a few recent photos, showing that summer has finally arrived here. The pools are are clear, warm and blue. The garden is colourful and rambling: I am an expert with weeds....growing them and trying to keep up with them. Our roses, gladioli, grasses and goodness knows what are meant to be a bit chaotic and untamed. things are greener than normal for early July. Suddenly, the sunflowers and maize are head high: we are in the time of plenty!

Rather than ramble on, I post the batch of photos. They are in reverse chronological order- oldest first.

26/06/2024

June 2024
It is so long since I sat down to write my diary-I think I may have forgotten how to do it. Old age, other preoccupations and so on have prevented me from following the original intent of adding stuff monthly. I hoped to show the progression of time through the months and seasons. The problem is that if a month is missed, it easily becomes two months and, eventually, there are so many plates balancing and then falling…… At which point procrastination rules!
Enough!
Both of regular readers of this stream of off-the-cuff monologue have recently asked me for an update- so here goes! It is heatwave hot today, so there is no guilt in staying indoors. This morning, I went for my summer haircut: it is shearing season for the elderly lambs. That meant I didn’t uncover the pools until mid-day. The result was that the temperature of the top 3 or 4 inches was 34°C! The covers act like solar panels. The true temperature is 27/ 28- far too hot for the cold-water swimming brigade, but better for kids and those of more delicate constitution!
I sorted several photos a couple of weeks back. I attach them in chronological order, starting in March! As in the UK, the weather here has been mixed. Cooler and wetter for the most part- but hopefully, the times are now achangin’.
We haven’t advertised the gites this year…. again, some shout!
We are getting/ have got …too old for the rough and tumble of weekly double changeovers. However, if anyone reading this is interested in a visit- particularly previous guests who know pretty much what to expect- just let us know. We will have a couple of family visits, but it is quite nice round here. If you’re looking for rural charm and tranquillity, with sea and, hopefully, decent weather, we may well be able to help!
Before I finish, I must say a huge thank-you to John, Tony and Pete who worked tirelessly here for a week. They painted, weeded and gravelled: all refences to Last of the Summer Wine were in (sort of) jest! With me included we clocked up 300 years on this earth. Before you ask, there was no Nora Batty!
Also, Charlie, JohnC and Louis had a week of golf, mobile phones and banter. The weather wasn’t altogether kind for them but a combination of brandy and the log burner in Jasmine, seemed to take the edge off things.
PS: The nights are drawing in. And there’s politics going on en France too!

17/03/2024

Mid-March- St Patrick's Day already. I will add some explanation of this lot tomorrow- too late now. These are in chronological order: there should be some evidence of spring progressing!

The first photos were taken back in January. The next 24 are from February.....and then, 21 from March!

We came back from the UK in early January, trying to avoid floods in England and to get back before several days when there were no ferries to Caen.

There had, of course, been plenty of rain here- but January was mild and, on occasions, warm in the sun.

We celebrated the anniversary of my antiquity by going to a restaurant in St Jean. On leaving the deserted town: to our astonishment we were stopped by the gendarmerie and I was breath tested. I had had one glass of white wine with the (very good) meal. Luckily, we didn't advertise my birthday in the restaurant- that could easily have led to a complimentary cognac! I was under the limit- but the lesson is learned! The limits in France are low, and, I am told that there many more checks here than in the UK. I didn't push my luck and ask for a photo! Sorry- but sometimes it's better to quit when one is ahead!

The bar scene and the mural are of Angouleme: they celebrate comics/ bandes dessinées in a big festival. A bit like Cheltenham without the bookies and the Irish winning everything!

06/12/2023

JOYEUSES FETES

This is certainly too late for some of our friends, but please don’t send cards to us in France. We won’t be here- and cards get very soggy when left our letter box. Cards here are not very good, expensive: the traditions aren’t the same here. We donate to charity instead- or, at least, Dorothy does! Please, do not feel offended: we are offending virtually everyone except grandchildren.

I promise that this will be a mercifully short message!

Many of you will be aware of my fears about our damaged and dangerous lime tree. I am ashamed- and pleased- to say that it has been removed. Alexis and Christian, our neighbours, carefully and without damaging telephone lines, fences or pools took the lot down in couple of hours! Not only that, but they also cleared the debris using the tractor bucket. There was little evidence of modern health and safety rules: helmets, earmuffs, safety harnesses were not in evidence- but they were brilliant, experienced and very careful in their work! We owe them great thanks!

The rain has eased- for the most part! There have even been a couple of white frosts. The cattle are now inside, and deer are beginning to form herds. The cattle-free fields leave the countryside open for the deer…...and the hunters!

Have a great Christmas and New Year!

Dorothy and John xx

18/11/2023

November 2023
Normally, in Charente Maritime, we have Indian summers that continue into early November. Not this year! France generally has had record rainfall- Meteo says that France has had 6 months rain in three weeks. I think we have probably been hit harder than many regions- but there are areas on the Channel coast that have been flooded and under red alerts for what seems an age! The intensity of the rain and the high winds have caused major disruption around us. We were without electricity for two days- not nice! In the old days, I remember Tilley lamps…. power cuts were sort of exciting for kids. Two days was hard and worrying: freezer, hot water, internet, lack of charge and signal for mobiles…isolation combined with old age, heavy rain and wind overnight amplified on our velux window made sleep difficult. Time doesn’t always pass quickly for us oldies after all! Thankfully, our old school log burner worked without electricity.
We lost our pergola and a couple of tiles were dislodged. But, if we needed a reminder of how lucky we are to be here rather than in the war zones that turn news bulletins horror shows, this was it! The persistent rain- and, almost worse, the grey miserable days- are not what we often have here. It is a bit pathetic- the French think we should be accustomed to what they think is normal British weather. The Scots and Irish are tougher breeds. They claim that there’s no such thing as bad weather …. just incorrect clothing! I have taken to wearing long trousers, but I am a known wimp.
Yesterday was lovely, that yellow ball in the sky was visible throughout and there was no rain, and it was flat calm. However, we are warned that there are still more storms to come. Today, there has been no rain in daylight hours, but the wind has been whistling in from the Atlantic. It is so much better (for me, at least) if I can get outside and find some work to do! Some, unkindly, call this pottering about- but they don’t appreciate the benefits of manual labour!
We live to continue the struggle! I look out this morning: no puddles in the field opposite. It could be that the drought is back!
It looks as though extremes are becoming more normal. There again, like Manuel, I know nothing! Perhaps, you should read the pictures and ignore the written stuff.