Greetings,

Each year we spend 2-3 weeks in France, typically in mid-May to early June timeframe. We have rented gites before, but we like any recommendations you may have. Here is what we are hoping to find for at least a week's rental, possibly 2, in the Dordogne, but not isolated.
-- an attractive cottage in a village with at shops, cafes and a couple of restaurants, near some of the larger villages in the Dordogne.
--one bedroom minimum with a comfortable bed (either twins that function as a king or a queen)-the matrimonial double is just too small and that is what we seem to be finding. We would accept a second bedroom but it is not needed. We seem to find lots of extra cot in room, single bedrooms etc.--we are looking for one really comfortable bedroom and extra beds hold no appeal.
--good workable kitchen with nice equipment, but does not need to be fancy.
--washer would be nice but not critical.
--a television (we are typically in France during the French open).
--a garden, patio or scenic garden--place to relax outdoors for reading and painting. No pool needed.

I would very much appreciate your tips--I am looking on some of the suggested sites, but there is nothing like a personal recommendations.

Many thanks,
Robyn France

topping for your tips

You might check out www.simply-perigord.fr - it's a British-run rental agency in Le Bugue. The owners manage my property, and while I don't know their other houses personally, I can tell you they are very reputable people.

There is also an American woman I used to correspond with who has two small cottages on a lake in Lanquais near Lalinde (don't know if there is any commerce there, though). If you want to e-mail me at [email protected] I can give you her name and e-mail address.

Bonne chance!

I also recomend simply-perigord. We were to receive the keys to our week rental on a Sat. several years ago. We picked up our leased car Friday in Bordeaux and the agent said you have a small amount of gas but there is no gas in town due to the fuel strike. On Sat. we drove until there were only fumes, parked at a rail station and called SP to inform them when we would get to the train station in Tremolat and asked if they could send a taxi and inform the owner. They were great - they sent a driver who stopped at a grocery and a bakery before delivering us to our house. I don'tthink you cango wrong with them. Have a great time, we did. CJ

I had a very good experience with Dordogne Holiday rentals, based in both the UK and France. www.dhp-ltd.com
We rented a lovely house that was a bit isolated, and fine for us. They have a number of properties and were excellent to deal with.

Simply-Perigord is so highly praised by my friends who, they claim, with private owners, it was not as easy going. I would have thought the opposite.

Tondalaya: Could you explain in plain English what your problem was?YOur post was completely mystifying.

May I try to explain? I think Tondalaya is saying that friends praised Simply Périgord and found that it was very easy to work with them, while things were much more difficult when they had to deal directly with the individual owners of the various properties that they were renting. Tondalaya thought it would probably be easier to deal directly with the individual property owner.

(Right?)

Robyn, here's a site I found for a friend who doesn't have a computer. I hope it helps you.
www.the-dordogne.com/gites/cottages.html

Hi, Robyn. I am afraid I don't have any personal recommendation for you either since I have not rented a smaller house in that area. But, being a real devotee of house rentals, I have taken your request as a challenge. As you indicate, the toughest of your criteria is the need for a larger bed. I spent a little while yesterday going through some of my website favorites for rentals in Dordogne and came up with the following. I don't know how well they conform to your other requirements but each of them has at least one bedroom with a queen (160 cm) or king (180 cm) bed. Here's hoping one of them will suit. Bonne chance!

(I have put in a few spaces which you will need to remove - hoping it will prevent the window from becoming too wide and requiring horizontal scrolling to read it.)



http://www.bergerac-tourisme.com/annonces /annonce.asp?Annonce=gitesbellevue&Numero=38 &Type=Location&retour=hebergement

http://www.bergerac-tourisme.com/annonces /annonce.asp?Annonce=LesCrozes&Numero=45 &Type=Location&retour=hebergement

http://www.bergerac-tourisme.com/ Reservations/liste.asp#liste
(No.10 or 18)

http://www.arachnis.asso.fr/dordogne/ vitrines/Besse/maison0.html

http://www.arachnis.asso.fr/dordogne/ vitrines/Maison-du-bourg/index.html (AC)

http://www.yourfriendsinfrance.org/# our_houses
(expensive but nice)

http://www.lesgites.com/index.html (Gites de Carlux)

Greetings StCirq, CigaleChanta, Betty,
CarolJean, Tondalaya and Elisabet,

Thank you so much for all your responses. I have been looking at the many sites which your responses have initiated--Betty--I'm just starting on yours now but it looks swell. I realize I sound a bit picky on the bed size and comfort--particularly since we are fairly small people--but neither one sleeps well in the old-fashioned double size. I will pursue away and let you know how it turns out. I may hav some questions as we get closer regarding some of the areas in the Dordogne. We have been to that area before, but in no way got to many of the areas. Merci mille fois!

I have a dreadful time posting on this site--my response seems to get stuck--so I hope I can thank you all adequately--if anyone knows why my responses get stuck, I would appreciate knowing how to fix. Thanks again

Robyn France