I have found b&bs through Gites de France. I then contacted the b&bs directly. All very nice places.

We too use Gites for our visits to France, as Stu says it's the best way to stay in France and it can become a home from home.
We have used G D F but also 'Chez nous' http://www.cheznous.com/

Food in France is gorgeous and almost always fresh local produce is available. We rented one last month and there is nothing better than cooking your own dinner, sitting in a warm garden drinking copious amounts of french wine and beer.

Ahhhh paradise.

But don't tell em all Stu, you know what happens if you call somewhere paradise. You can kiss it goodbye. :-(


Muck

Thanks Stu for this great information. We will use this when we start searching for gite for our trip to Dordogne.

We stayed in a gite in Provence this year and was wonderful.

STu: this is such extremely good information. I've been dreaming of a Gite holiday for more years than I'd care to mention. Used to get the yearly books and mark them up with my favorites, hoping one day to convince DH that we could afford France in this way.
Now, I think I might have a chance. so I'll use your info. to check out some nice locations.

Have you ever stayed near Bordeaux? It's a place some of our friends would like to go.

>>Have you ever stayed near Bordeaux<<

Nope. Closest we've stayed to there, is in the Dordogne - for 10 weeks. One of our 2 favorite regions in France.

Stu Dudley

Bookmarking

Now is about the time to reserve your gite for 2011.

Stu Dudley

Thank you for this reminder, StuDudley!!!

BTW, just read the quote from you in Fodors France 2011. The book is lovely, filled with beautiful photos--many from Fodors Forum contributors.

I missed this when first posted. Very good info. Thanks.

Bravo, as always, Stu!

We'll be in France for nearly the whole month of Nov (staying at a friend's flat) while we look for long-term rentals for mid 2011 to 2012. Most long-terms are available Sept-May..but Jun-Aug they prefer to go weekly because that's when may owners like to visit their own properties (generally letting them by the week in Aug because that's when the demand is highest.) But we'll be using this site to augment our choice -- also because we may want to stay in a different region for a week or two on either end of our adventure.

I've never rented a gite, but use Gites de France for its B&B listing when traveling in France. The 2 ears of corn rated B&B usually includes an en-suite bathroom. I've called just a couple of hours ahead of time, and sometimes just stopped at the B&B and found a room. But in popular locations, reservations are a must.

Great info, thanks for providing so many details (while still keeping some for yourself--understandable). I'm going to look into this for my next trip.

Thank you, Stu. Your help with trip planning in France is invaluable! I followed your every suggestion in the Dordogne, and it was great.

Stu, thank you. Your essay on 'Gites in France' is excellent. Given that I have much less experience, I have little to add, but, anyone about to venture into the French countryside should read your post. Of course, we all have individual tastes. Given that I travel alone, one bedroom and no dishwasher is fine with me. I did not have a car when I was in Provence and for me, it was important to be near a café, restaurant, market and a small village,

I’ve been searching through your site and have found some beautiful places. In 2007, I stayed in a lovely gite,
http://www.lamagnanerie.com/index.htm

It was perfect. On the hill with the ancient chateau, la Bégude de Mazenc and a 20 minute walk from the tiny village. The local bus service was decent…20 minutes from le Poët-Laval. My hostess took me to Avignon, Arles, Nyons, Dieulefit, Grignan…all within an hour’s drive. All of your guides are superb.

I forgot to add, I stayed in Sunflower.

Thanks, Stu for this thread - we stayed in a Gite in Picardy region earlier this year, and for our needs it was just perfect.

We negotiated through the agency - just as well, because we discovered on arrival (as you point out) the elderly owners didn't speak a word of English. Our fractured French managed to save the day, along with plenty of sign language.

Our stay was in March, so because it wasn't a busy time of year we were able to organise a 10 night stay. This Gite didn't normally provide linen, but once I explained that there was no way our group of 7 could bring all our sheets, towels etc from Australia, and that if linen couldn't be provided then we wouldn't be able to go ahead with a reservation . . . linen became available after all. It would have been better if the bath towels weren't brand new - once we had put them through the washer/dryer they dried us a lot more successfully!

With a 2 year old in our family gathering, having a private home with yard was ideal. It's an experience we would definitely repeat in the future.

Hi,
Just read your long and helpful article, and am glad you enjoyed your numerous stays in French gites (I did cringe a few times, especially when you mention the paucity of English speakers...); I wish however to offer a suggestion. I have myself offered my two gites through the Gites de France network for about 10 years... and have decided to quit for 2011. The reason is that, even though they have belatedly started making efforts at marketing properties, they have been slow at encouraging upscale properties (you did notice that 4 or 5 stars were not common), with the result that a large number have 3 stars, which can mean they are either good or just barely acceptable and you have no way to tell. Also, as you said, the organization is by departements so 3 star in Dordogne may be different from 3 star in Mayenne , or 3 star at the seaside where they do not have to offer top quality, having lots of customers!
Recently, many unhappy Gites de France owners have left and tried to fend for themselves...
My suggestion : check other websites like www.gite.com or Charm and tradition, which are more selective. You might find good places.
Enjoy and long live French gites!
Sylvaine

bookmarking

<i>with the result that a large number have 3 stars, which can mean they are either good or just barely acceptable</i>

This is a highly subjective statement from my point of view. I have found the 2 star B&Bs in Gites de France to be perfectly acceptable. Within Gites de France, is there a different standard of acceptability between the <i>chambres d'hôte</i> and the <i>gite</i>?