I've seen a gite I am longing to rent for a trip to Provence in May.

The gites-de-france website won't take online reservations beyond the first week or so in January, which seems odd, since I'm sure I put a deposit down really early the only other time I rented a place through them, back in 2006 for 2007. Oh well, that was then and this is now ... and I _really_ want to rent this house.

The only contact given for the house is the gites-de-france agency -- no direct numbers or address for the owners.

I have spent a couple of hours over the weekend hunting for a post about doing just this: letting the agency know that you're interested in a particular house for a particular week ahead of the official booking period via fax. And I can't find the thread.

Have you seen that post, too? Or have you ever done this kind of thing?

<i>The only contact given for the house is the gites-de-france agency -- no direct numbers or address for the owners</i>

I'm surprised because last summer I made a list of B&Bs from the Gîtes de France listing before leaving the States, and that list gave me the name, the address and the telephone number of each B&B so that I could call while traveling to see if they have a room. In fact, as far as I know, Gîtes de France does not get involved in booking at all. It's role is mainly quality control and listing.

I booked a house once using the Gites-de-France online system, and it was really convenient: I was able to see the dates the house was available and use a credit card for deposit and final payment. It worked out so well.

Some of the houses seem to be booked exclusively through the g-d-f online booking tool, and others list the owners' names and contact info.

I haven't tried them for B&Bs, so I'm not familiar with that process.

I haven't seen the post you mean, and I don't know how to attempt this early reservation business, but I would be interested in knowing how to do it, too.

We've booked around 60 gite "stays" through Gites de France.

They process FAX requests before they open up the on-line bookings. Last week we received a confirmation from them for the Gite that we're staying in next year, in the Vaucluse Dept in Provence. Don't know when the Bouches du Rhone & other depts in Provence start processing FAX requests.

Send a FAX now - do not e-mail them (but include your e-mail address in the request - they sent us an e-mail confirmation).

Stu Dudley

Thanks, StuDudley -- I'll bet it was your post I was thinking of.

Will it be okay to make my request in English?

I'm hoping for a house in the Vaucluse also, and I'm hoping it won't already be booked for May.

Thanks again!

Out of curiosity I just tested Gîtes de France, both for the Dordogne and within 20 km. of Apt in the Provence. In each case I was given contact information for the individual gîte.

Right, Michael. Some properties have that option. Others don't, unfortunately.

On about 85-90% of the Gites (not B&Bs) we've rented, we've resereved through the department's Gites de France office - not through the owner.

The Vaucluse Gites-de-France office is excellent. Although we communicate with them in French, they will probably be able to understand a FAX in English.

Here is our French letter to them.

Ellen Dudley
Street Address
San Mateo, California
Etats Unis/USA 94402-1056

E-mail: [email protected]
Fax: 001 (Etats Unis) + 650-xxxxxxxxxx
le 11 mai, 2009

Sujet: Reservation en 2010 (l’annee prochaine)

A Gites de France de Vaucluse:

Je voudrais reserver gite # XXX pour 2 semaines en 2010 (l’annee prochaine):

Le 19 juin au 3 juillet, 2010

Peut-etre c’est trop tot pour reserver pour 2010 maintenant, mais s’il vous plait gardez ce fax jusqu’a la date quand les reservations pour 2010 commenceront. Puis, vous pouvez m’envoyez un contrat si le gite est disponible. Puis, j’envoyerai le contrat signe et l’acompte tout de suite.

Pouvez vous m’envoyer s’il vous plait un e-mail ou un fax pour confirmer que vous avez recu ce fax-ci?

Je vous remercie beaucoup,





Ellen Dudley

Don't send the request in French unless you'll be able to understand the reply in French. If you use English, the party on the other end will usually have someone who can read and reply in English (even if they have to wait a few days for the English-speaking employee or cousin to do it).

Thanks, guys. You've really helped me out today!

Good point, kayd.

BTW, for the first time ever - we received the contract/paperwork for our 2010 Vaucluse Gite rental via e-mail. All other 60 contracts have been recieved by us via snail mail. It usually takes 1 week to get something from France - unless there are holidays. Also for the first time, the initial payment on this Gite in the Vaucluse was not due until 6 months before arrival - usually it is due when you sign the contract. We've rented this same gite 2 other times for ourselves, and twice for friends.

Every time we request a gite through a fax or e-mail, and every time we make a payment - we request a confirming e-mailFAX - which we get about half the time. If we don't get a confirmation, we will telephone them.

The rental contract will be in French. For all of our 60 rentals, we have never had a serious problem. Once when we rented directly from the owner, she died after we rented but before our stay, and her son continued. Another time, the proprietor died, and to settle the estate the Gite was sold and we had to find another Gite. We have never had an "issue" with a full return of our security deposit. On several times, the security deposit was "waived" when we got there.

Also in 2010, we're staying in the Alps after Provence. We found the Gite on the Gites de France site, but contact was directly with the proprietor. He had his own web site for contacts, and we contacted him through e-mail. He said the gite was available and then wanted our address so he could mail us the contract. We waited 3 weeks & no contract arrived. I e-mailed him again, no response. I e-mailed him a third time, no response. Then we tried calling him - no response (it was August in France - everyone is on vacation). We finally contacted him yesterday. He said that he did not receive the e-mails with our address or the follow-ups. They may have aged off his e-mail while he was on vacation - I don't know.

Stu Dudley

I would be so unhappy if I were obliged to make all of my travel plans more than 2 months in advance! It's like being in prison, in my mind.

I just saw the "fine print" on the gites de france vaucluse website -- online reservations for 2010 begin 9/14.

Now, whether I can wait another five days or not ... that is the question.

Thanks again to you all!