When you arrive, the house will be clean and welcoming. There will be a welcome gift to help you to feel at home and relax.

The house is hundreds of years old and we have retained as many orignal, agricultural features as possible. The open-plan kitchen used to be a barn to house Cognac barrels while they aged; the stone fireplace was once painted Bordeaux red when the house was home to Allied airmen during the Second World War.

The modern facilities are generous, whether in the kitchen, bathrooms or living and dining areas, indoors and out. Couples, families with children and multi-generation groups will all feel at home and find the space they need to relax on holiday.

You will hear birdsong from dawn to dusk, and apart from a distant tractor perhaps, very little else. Trees along the riverbank protect the garden from wind, and provide welcome shade in summer.

The climate is very favourable, with long, sunny summers days giving way to mild autumns as the grapes are harvested in adjacent fields.

The hamlet of a dozen houses is surrounded by fields of vines and crops, and the many paths criss-crossing the locality are perfects for walking, biking and jogging.

We have one next-door neighbour, and as the house is at the end of a cul-de-sac (impasse), there is no passing traffic.

The bustling medieval town of Cognac is 10 minutes by car. There you can find many special places to visit and explore, with restaurants, bars, a daily covered market, Cognac distilleries, shops, Chateau Francois I, spa treatments…

The Golf course in Cognac is admired regionally, as is the town of Jarnac on the banks of the Charente.

The Atlantic coast is 45 minutes away, with the towns of Meschers, Royan and Talmont the nearest. Ile d’Oléron and Ile de Ré, as well as La Rochelle and Bordeaux, are 60-90 minutes, and easily accessible for day trips.

Saintes with its Roman ruins and amphitheatre, or Angouleme with its meandering cobbled streets in the vieux quartier are also great days out.