Help with these Sarlat Apartments
 

Hi, My husband and I are planning a trip to the Dordogne this September for two weeks and have decided to base our stay in Sarlat to be central. We are considering the following and wonder if any of you know these facilities. We would prefer an apartment that is quiet at night and close ot restaurants, etc. Any thoughts about parking?

http://www.perfectplaces.com/vacation-rentals/6815.htm
At the lower end of the town on Route D704

http://www.perfectplaces.com/vacatio...als/149319.htm

http://www.holiday-rentals.co.uk/p814116
Ave Gambetta

http://www.in-sarlat.fr/holiday-rent...ays-rental.php
We are considering le Logis, Verlaine, and Rimbaud

Thanks, Larry and Margie

Hello again,

Although I never got any responses here, I thought I'd let you know that we reserved Rimbaud apartment in Les Maison de Poetes in Sarlat for 2 weeks in September. The manager was easy to work with and speaks English, though we communicated, for the most part, in French. I"ve begun a restaurant and activity file, and may check in later for more suggestions.

Hi. I was in France when you first wrote here.
Thought you'd like to know we rented a flat through In-Sarlat also (the Presidial 2 bedroom one) and the office folks (Philippe and Beatrice) wer egreat to work with.
The only "negative" was that the flat, while immaculataely clean and beautifully decorated, had almost no "starter" type stuff like soap or paper towels or even dishwashing liquid.
This may not be the case with all the "in-sarlat" flats.
We also found the map they sent as an email attachment very hard to read and understand. You have to park just outside the historic center (no cars allowed inside--part of its charm) but once you figure out the closest parking lot to your flat (there are plenty of parking areas)it is easy to walk into the "old" town. We had about a two minute walk and always were lucky to find free parking.

We also just returned from a 3-week stay in France, spending 9 nights in Sarlat.
We rented the Josephine from in-Sarlat and loved it. It was in a quiet courtyard (Cour des Fontaines), 50 meters from the pay parking lot and it was a 3-minute walk from the free lot that we used (right next to the Jardins).

On our arrival, we found easy parking on Blvd Nessmann close to the in-sarlat office. There is a large free parking lot (150 places) on Avenue du Generale de Gaulle that looks to be about 300 meters from Rue de la Boetie (where your apt is located). You can pick up a good map of the town at the TI office.

We also agree with CaliNurse that the office folks were great to work with, the apartment was clean and well decorated but were surprised to find very limited starter supplies. We did have 1 roll of TP and there was some leftover dish detergent and laundry detergent but no spices, tea, coffee or soap.

We loved staying in Sarlat. Everything was within a 5-minute walk from the apt and the sites in the area were an easy drive and most were within 20-60km of Sarlat. There can be some traffic driving out of and back into town during rush hours. We avoided those times and didn't have any problems.

Have a wonderful trip. You will love the area.

Here's a link to our blog if you are interested:

www.winnick-france2011.blogspot.com

I think that it is fairly common that there are no starter supplies in a rental; at least, that has been our experience in previous trips. We usally head out to buy paper goods, etc., on our arrival. Since most rentals start on Saturday and much is closed on Sunday, this has often been tricky. In Sarlat, we cannot arrive until 4 ( I think), so maybe we should stop at a supermarche before our arrival. We're go to one of the markets on Sunday (maybe St Cyprien), but, in general, they don't have these staples.

This reminds me to pack some spices and decaf tea.

Thanks for the heads up. And I'll take a look at the blog, Winnick. Thanks.

Justretired, there is a HUGE Carrefour (if you are from the USA..this one is like a Target) that has everything you'll need. It is in Sarlat town, a couple miles north of the "old " part.

Right across from it is a McDonald's. If you need but dont have wifi (which is pronounced "weefee" in France) in your flat, you can have it there, over a capuccino, while you observe French families and teens at the MickeyD!

This was the barest of the flats and rentals i've stayed at anywhere in the world--in Europe or USA. It is a pain to have to get even the basics like salt and pepper , tea, or cooking oil, when you'll only need them for a week!! I wonder what happens to the inevitable left overs??

Unlike Winnick, our flat didnt have a "roll" of TP. Oddly enough, there is not toilet paper holder in the Presidial, and the TP was a stack of those square individual sheets.

But those are small points cpmpared to the great value and location of our two-level flat!

Winnick, thank you for the blog!!!!!!!!

We've only rented 3-4 times in Italy, Spain, and France, and, in all cases, basics were not inlcuded. Since we tend to travel in the fall, there have been some left over things like some dish or laudary soap, salt, etc. I think that we always had TP. Thanks for the tip on the Carrefour, Calinurse. Maybe we'll go there even before we check in. Do you know how late this kind of store stays open in the evening?

I might have some questions as I get more ready for the trip, so thankas for the feed back.

Just a note to say that some of us who look after rentals DO provide basics - enough to to start you off, basic kitchen supplies, detergents. I always leave tea and coffee, and now take in milk for people to have their first breakfast. (Even then you never know - in one extremely well equipped house someone was disappointed not to have a rolling pin. So I got one. Then someone else complained that it needed sanding!)

The Carrefour is open until 8 during the week, and is open Sunday morning , 9-12.30
http://www.carrefour.fr/magasin/market-sarlat-la-caneda

Thank you, Carlux. As I think about it, there have been a variety of basics in the apartments we have visited. When I talked with the owner of a place we stayed in Tuscany one year, he said that oftern renters are reluctant too use even salt or olive oil if he leaves it unless it is an unopen container. He did leave TP, soap, sponges, etc. Since we tend to rent for 2-3 weeks, we go out and buy what we need.

It's the Saturday turnover that can be difficult, so hearing about the Carrefour is very helpful. Thanks for the link which has the address.

I am busy making files of restaurants and activities in the area. I'm gathering some quesitons and will open a new thread for those.

Thanks again.

I'm really surprised to hear about the lack of supplies at rental places, though it didn't occur to me that renters would be reluctant to use leftover supplies. When I was renting my house I had just about everything a person could ever possibly need - including an oyster shucker, and yes, a rolling pin. I wonder what the owners do with the stuff renters leave behind (which in my case was sometimes astonishing, including Betty Crocker cake and brownie mixes and other things they'd clearly lugged over the ocean with them). Not to mention the year we found a dresser drawer stuffed with the most enormous bras ever!

I would add one other comment on provisions at rentals. Appliance instructions. We found the manual for the combo washer/dryer in the utensil drawer. It was in French, but I was able to use my limited French to read and understand how the thing worked. It was an amazing machine to see being used to using separate machines to wash and dry. But, after using the oven once, successfully, once I changed the clock on it to tell the right time I could never get it to work again. Same for the convection microwave. We could never figure out how to get it to work. We normally used the stove top for our meals, and the times we needed to reheat some things in the oven we just made do with the stove top and pans. It would have been nice to have manuals, even in French.

One funny item. I needed a can opener for my foie gras. Could not find one. But, finally, after looking at a funny looking item in the drawer I realized it was a larger version of a manual can opener I used in the Army to open canned meals. It worked great, but you really had to recognize what it was as well as understand how it worked.♦

My engineer husband would not be happy without manuals and would have been at the agency pronto. Actually, I would suggest writing Philipe and telling him your concerns. We have often written the owners or agency after our stay at rentals, telling them how much we loved the house or apartment, but also,suggesting things to make it easier for those of us renting. In the past, we have found that they have been happy to hear our comments.

We love this way of traveling ,though We are not too experienced- just a few rentals as I said above. And, my husband tends to speak the language where we are visiting and I speak French. We can be happy spending time in a store or a cafe chatting with the owner or the wiater. In Bonnieux, where we were fortunate enough to spend 3 weeks, we got to know the butcher who was more than happy to talk about everything from the local problem with the lack of rain to the upcoming US elections. I envy those of you who actually live in France and love all your suggestions. Thanks.

St Cirq, some renters seem to be reluctant to use food items. I have no idea what is done with left items. When we pack up at the end, we separate the garbage from the things that are still usable. Some items, like dish or laudary soap, we leave in the cabinets.

"I have no idea what is done with left items. "
Often the cleaner takes left over food - or at least what has been started. I used to leave barely touched jars of mustard, mayo, etc., but several people raised concerns about 'double dipping' and so now I just clear the fridge. Other things like coffee, tea, oil and vinegar which we leave for people obviously don't have the same concerns.

I agree too that manuals are essential. It always amazes me that owners/managers will let people loose on their appliances with no instruction. Basically, as well as wanting you to be able to use my machines, I specifically DON'T want you to break them!

I suspect French owners don't understand just how different European appliances can be from North American. I actually had to label our washer and dryer, after finding people waiting for the dryer to fill with water.

Justretired, thanks for the recommendation to write to Philippe Le Cerf at IN-Sarlat re concerns. I don't mind getting refills... but no dishwashing liquid even in a "starter" size? No dish scrubber type spongers?What was i supposed to do with a couple dirty dishes? We pride ourselves on NOT leaving messes in the sink when we leave a flat.

This was the only rental we had on any trip in USA or Europe--that left nothing to "start" with. but it would NOT prevent me from renting one of their flats again. We loved being right IN "historic Sarlat" and the flat itself was lovely and clean.

Carlux, I dint realize you manage rentals!!! Next time,, i'll write to enquire about a contact number. BTW, when we drove through Carlux (no time to stop that day) we cheered!!! Why? because you gave us the BEST advice we had on how to divide our limited days in the area based on what you tell people for a 4 or 5 day stay in the region.

I agree, CaliNurse. Carlux (and St Cirq and Stu Dudley), you are all so generous with your time and expertise- I hope you know how much you are appreciated. However, Carlux, I didn't even look at your rental this year, because everyone said it was fully rented through summer and fall.

We were in the Dordogne almost 20 years ago- our then teenage daughter, Sara, had spent a month or more (I don't remember exactly) in Beynac with a family on a HS program, and we visited them after her home stay. I can't recall their last name, but the single mother worked in a Foie Gras office and had a then teenage daughter named Isabel. Our visit was 3-4 days- we went to Lascaux 2 (my husband had actually been to Lascaux 1 several years before that), Beynac, and Domme, but I don't think we went to any other caves or chateaux. We're looking forward to having the time to explore the area.

Thanks again, Margie

I wrote to Philippe about the manuals and he responded that he is about to write a guide in French and English. Don't know how long it might take but it looks like he takes reviews seriously. He also gave me this link to post a review on.

http://www.holiday-rentals.co.uk/reviews/p427801

Thanks, Winnick!, for the link.

Yes Justretured, many wonderful helpful people here! I got ideas, not just from the "usual suspects" but from those who write occassionally. After experiences in the Dordogne, we ended up agreeing with, others not. Different strokes...

SI Cirq is forever in my "Thank Heaven for you" after encouraging a trip to la Rogue St Christophe. FOr your trip, it is a do-not-miss! There are so many billboards in the area now, advertising so many things, without St Cirq's encouragement, i might not have knows how to sort them out. La Rogue St C is wonderful I cant' emphasize enough how well presented and fascinating it is.One highlight hours spent in the Dordogne. If you are going to cave Font de Gaume, it's an easy drive.
(If you see this, St Cirq, merci infiniment!)

Just saw it, CaliNurse. You're quite welcome. It truly is a fascinating place. I remember the first time I went there - I was just blown away. Had never seen, or imagined, anything like it.

It really is a shame about all those billboards. It's really astonishing - and not in a good way - how much things have changed since I bought my house there. I think back and realize it really was like the Land of the Forgotten.

Just Retired -

Congrats to you....my husband just retired as well and we are planning an extended trip to Europe in Sept 12 to include a week in the Dordogne and I, too, am trying to decide where to stay in Sarlat.
I've looked at some of your choices as well. Did you see these...they come with high recommendations. http://www.villaconsuls.fr/apparteme...onsuls-en.html

If you don't have it - here's the owners website for one you're considering. http://www.sarlat.co/index.html

Regarding the comments on starter supplies - we've rented apartments in the past and they've always had supplies to include oil, vinegar, sugar and extensive cleaning products. I've learned in France that may not be the case and have written to the owners to see what is supplied.

Good luck with your planning and definitely report back on where you stay!

Larry and Margie,
I hope you are planning on writing a trip report. We are going in March and are interested in hearing your opinions of these apartments as well as any restaurants you can recommend.

Have a great time,
Abby