B&B St. Crepin-Carlucet
Oct 11th, 2003 | 07:55 PM
#22
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 82
Likes: 0
We're back, and I thought I'd give you (and anyone else who's planning to travel to Dordogne) a report on the Combas gîtes. We were pleasantly surprised with the gîtes, the owners, everything.
We had 2 houses (we had initially requested two 1-bedroom gîtes, but all the 1-bedrooms were unavailable, so we got "upgraded" for the same bargain price of approx. 45 euro/night, incl. sheets). One of the houses was completely modern (renovated?) inside--including what appeared to be virtually brand new furnishings and appliances, as well as new well-lit bathrooms (quite a contrast with all the other dim bathrooms we had on the trip). The other one was somewhat older, but very comfortable and functional nonetheless, with a huge fireplace and lots of rustic charm. Our friends claimed that one because, they said, it had "more character". Both were extremely nice (much nicer than the other gîtes where we stayed later on during the trip).
I wish I'd listened to your advice about arriving during daylight hours!!!We got to St.Crépin when it was already pitch-dark, took the wrong turn off the main road (the sign said St.Crépin, but we actually needed the next--numbered--road), kept driving along what appeared to be the longest, narrowest and most winding road in the world, and eventually made it within 20 feet of the entrance, but couldn't see it. At the same time, the road sign informed us we were leaving St.Crépin, so we turned around and started looking for a place where cell phone reception would be available, which was no easy task (there is NO reception at all in the gîtes and the surrounding area). We called the Coys, told them we were lost, and they offered to come fetch us--if we could tell them where we were. Apparently, "on a long dark and scary road" wasn't precise enough, so we remembered the cemetery that we'd passed, and agreed to meet Mr. Coy there. I've never been so happy to see a Renault Twingo in my life!
Both Mr and Mme Coy were quite charming, and so was their son (we only met one of them). Mr Coy treated us to some local apéritifs, consulted us on our sightseeing plans (a big map & lots of brochures in the office), and was otherwise extremely helpful throughout the whole stay. When I saw that filing system at the office, I remembered you, and I exclaimed: "Oh! that's the thing she told me about!", and Mr., of course, asked "who", and I had to explain the entire message board thing to him.
Other than that... I flipped through the guestbook at our gîte, and it amused me to see some of the guests complain about poor TV reception and the lack of microwave oven. And these complaints came from the French guests! France is definitely not what it used to be...
We really had no complaints. The place was spotless; the bed was very comfortable; the washing machine and the dishwasher worked great, and the weather was splendid. We did not get to use the pools since we were gone during the day, and it was quite chilly at night. We were right by the pools, though. The only thing I wished for was a flashlight because we kept running back and forth between the gîtes, and at night it would get completely dark (the 'streetlamps' are turned off at midnight, and there is no other source of light). On the other hand, the starry sky was absolutely incredible, something we never get to see at home, in our light-polluted state. All in all, a great experience, and we're recommending them to everyone we know.
We had 2 houses (we had initially requested two 1-bedroom gîtes, but all the 1-bedrooms were unavailable, so we got "upgraded" for the same bargain price of approx. 45 euro/night, incl. sheets). One of the houses was completely modern (renovated?) inside--including what appeared to be virtually brand new furnishings and appliances, as well as new well-lit bathrooms (quite a contrast with all the other dim bathrooms we had on the trip). The other one was somewhat older, but very comfortable and functional nonetheless, with a huge fireplace and lots of rustic charm. Our friends claimed that one because, they said, it had "more character". Both were extremely nice (much nicer than the other gîtes where we stayed later on during the trip).
I wish I'd listened to your advice about arriving during daylight hours!!!We got to St.Crépin when it was already pitch-dark, took the wrong turn off the main road (the sign said St.Crépin, but we actually needed the next--numbered--road), kept driving along what appeared to be the longest, narrowest and most winding road in the world, and eventually made it within 20 feet of the entrance, but couldn't see it. At the same time, the road sign informed us we were leaving St.Crépin, so we turned around and started looking for a place where cell phone reception would be available, which was no easy task (there is NO reception at all in the gîtes and the surrounding area). We called the Coys, told them we were lost, and they offered to come fetch us--if we could tell them where we were. Apparently, "on a long dark and scary road" wasn't precise enough, so we remembered the cemetery that we'd passed, and agreed to meet Mr. Coy there. I've never been so happy to see a Renault Twingo in my life!
Both Mr and Mme Coy were quite charming, and so was their son (we only met one of them). Mr Coy treated us to some local apéritifs, consulted us on our sightseeing plans (a big map & lots of brochures in the office), and was otherwise extremely helpful throughout the whole stay. When I saw that filing system at the office, I remembered you, and I exclaimed: "Oh! that's the thing she told me about!", and Mr., of course, asked "who", and I had to explain the entire message board thing to him.
Other than that... I flipped through the guestbook at our gîte, and it amused me to see some of the guests complain about poor TV reception and the lack of microwave oven. And these complaints came from the French guests! France is definitely not what it used to be...
We really had no complaints. The place was spotless; the bed was very comfortable; the washing machine and the dishwasher worked great, and the weather was splendid. We did not get to use the pools since we were gone during the day, and it was quite chilly at night. We were right by the pools, though. The only thing I wished for was a flashlight because we kept running back and forth between the gîtes, and at night it would get completely dark (the 'streetlamps' are turned off at midnight, and there is no other source of light). On the other hand, the starry sky was absolutely incredible, something we never get to see at home, in our light-polluted state. All in all, a great experience, and we're recommending them to everyone we know.
Oct 12th, 2003 | 07:55 PM
#23
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 316
Likes: 0
I've been checking the board to hear about your trip. I'm glad you liked it. It is charming. We had an older room with a big rustic fireplace. Did they understand you when you told them about the board and the filing system. I wonder if they remember us. Since we were there in the summer, it was light very late, so I didn't know about the lighting.
Oct 13th, 2003 | 04:19 PM
#25
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 1,948
Likes: 0
We are considering this area for a trip this summer, so any more ideas on places to stay or see, as well as things to do, would be great. Is staying in Sarlat to be avoided if possible? It seems that I read somewhere that it is crowded...is that true?
Oct 13th, 2003 | 04:32 PM
#26
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 82
Likes: 0
Well, I didn't go into details about the message board--just said it's something on the Internet I always check before I travel, so I'm sure they understood. I couldn't exactly refer to you by your real name since I didn't (and still don't) know it 
And I couldn't say "the American family family from last summer" either, since they seem to have their share of American guests (although our gîte's guestbook was almost entirely in French... maybe Americans aren't used to signing those?). In fact, as we were leaving, Monsieur told me they were expecting a group of Americans who had reserved 8 (!) gîtes. If any of them are fodorites reading this, be sure to check the outlet by the bed for my adapter (my husband managed to leave it in when unplugging the cell phone cord).
The TV reception was kind of poor, but you are right it wasn't better or worse than many other places. The lack of good programming was a bigger problem--most of the time we were there, they were airing the French version of the 'American Idol' (with really lousy singers) and lots of Johny Hallyday who's had so much plastic surgery (I presume) he kind of looks like Michael Jackson now. Oh well, we weren't there to watch TV anyway.
We spent about 4 days in the area, and it definitely wasn't enough (didn't even have time for any kayaking). We'd like to go back, but I don't know when that'll be feasible. France has gotten so darn expensive in the last 2 years; I could hardly believe my eyes.
And I couldn't say "the American family family from last summer" either, since they seem to have their share of American guests (although our gîte's guestbook was almost entirely in French... maybe Americans aren't used to signing those?). In fact, as we were leaving, Monsieur told me they were expecting a group of Americans who had reserved 8 (!) gîtes. If any of them are fodorites reading this, be sure to check the outlet by the bed for my adapter (my husband managed to leave it in when unplugging the cell phone cord).
The TV reception was kind of poor, but you are right it wasn't better or worse than many other places. The lack of good programming was a bigger problem--most of the time we were there, they were airing the French version of the 'American Idol' (with really lousy singers) and lots of Johny Hallyday who's had so much plastic surgery (I presume) he kind of looks like Michael Jackson now. Oh well, we weren't there to watch TV anyway.
We spent about 4 days in the area, and it definitely wasn't enough (didn't even have time for any kayaking). We'd like to go back, but I don't know when that'll be feasible. France has gotten so darn expensive in the last 2 years; I could hardly believe my eyes.
Oct 14th, 2003 | 04:20 PM
#27
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 82
Likes: 0
wren,
sorry i must have missed your message as i was typing yesterday.
there are TONS of things to see/ do in the area--excellent castles (beynac, castelnaud, salignac, commarques, et al.), prehistoric art caves, stalactite/stalagmite caves, beautiful little towns on edges of cliffs, foie gras eating, as well as all sorts of water and cave-related activities (incl. something they call "potholing" or "spéléo". What am i forgetting?
sarlat is a charming town, but i hear it does get pretty crowded in the summer. parking is not easy there either. i'd suggest something like st. crépin, since it's literally minutes away from sarlat. you could also try the town of beynac as an alternative.
i also found sarlat's layout to be extremely confusing. it's a piece of cake if you're walking, but it's full of twisty narrow one-ways if you are driving, and you get turned around so many times you completely lose any sense of direction.
sorry i must have missed your message as i was typing yesterday.
there are TONS of things to see/ do in the area--excellent castles (beynac, castelnaud, salignac, commarques, et al.), prehistoric art caves, stalactite/stalagmite caves, beautiful little towns on edges of cliffs, foie gras eating, as well as all sorts of water and cave-related activities (incl. something they call "potholing" or "spéléo"
. What am i forgetting?sarlat is a charming town, but i hear it does get pretty crowded in the summer. parking is not easy there either. i'd suggest something like st. crépin, since it's literally minutes away from sarlat. you could also try the town of beynac as an alternative.
i also found sarlat's layout to be extremely confusing. it's a piece of cake if you're walking, but it's full of twisty narrow one-ways if you are driving, and you get turned around so many times you completely lose any sense of direction.
Oct 14th, 2003 | 04:43 PM
#28
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 1,948
Likes: 0
Sounds wonderful! I was just looking at some of your other posts to get a sense of where you went on this trip, and it seems like you may have gone to the places we are now considering...Did you go to Giverny from Paris, then to Normandy, to Britany, western Loire, and to the Dordorgne? That is what I am thinking of for this summer. I would love to have your (or anyone else's input) on that itinerary. I am also considering going the reverse direction b/c of the heat even though we will be there in June.
Oct 15th, 2003 | 01:27 PM
#29
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 82
Likes: 0
wren,
we bypassed paris altogether this time (we both know the city quite well). we had a few deviations from the planned itinerary since we were travelling with friends (somehow, we get to see a lot more when we're by ourselves), but we still managed to cover quite a bit of territory. with open-jaw tickets (fly into paris, out of marseille) and 2 weeks time, here was our itinerary:
*essonne (personal reasons, mostly)
*normandy (giverny/vernon, rouen, mont st. michel, etc.)
*fougères castle on the way to the loire valley
*loire valley (more castles)
*dordogne (as described in the previous message)
*carcassonne and languedoc (albigensian castles)
*provence
i'm too swamped for a full trip report (plus, a giant tree just fell in my backyard, i'm not kidding!!), but i'll be happy to provide any input on your itinerary and share any other information with you (e.g. lodging). provence and languedoc will be unbearably hot in the summer, so it's a good thing that you're avoiding them. otherwise, it's hard to predict the weather. remember this summer's heat wave? even on our trip, when we arrived in normandy (the very end of september), it was extremely hot on our first day (around 90 and the sun was simply scorching).
we bypassed paris altogether this time (we both know the city quite well). we had a few deviations from the planned itinerary since we were travelling with friends (somehow, we get to see a lot more when we're by ourselves), but we still managed to cover quite a bit of territory. with open-jaw tickets (fly into paris, out of marseille) and 2 weeks time, here was our itinerary:
*essonne (personal reasons, mostly)
*normandy (giverny/vernon, rouen, mont st. michel, etc.)
*fougères castle on the way to the loire valley
*loire valley (more castles)
*dordogne (as described in the previous message)
*carcassonne and languedoc (albigensian castles)
*provence
i'm too swamped for a full trip report (plus, a giant tree just fell in my backyard, i'm not kidding!!), but i'll be happy to provide any input on your itinerary and share any other information with you (e.g. lodging). provence and languedoc will be unbearably hot in the summer, so it's a good thing that you're avoiding them. otherwise, it's hard to predict the weather. remember this summer's heat wave? even on our trip, when we arrived in normandy (the very end of september), it was extremely hot on our first day (around 90 and the sun was simply scorching).
