Paul - Dordogne Family Holidays

Le Chevrefeuille bed and breakfast recommended by kidsareatrip

Paul — Tue, 03 Mar 2015 15:02:11 +0000

Family Travel in the Dordogne Region of France

If you are planning to travel to France with your family, your first thought might be of Paris or Provence, but you might want to consider a journey to the southwest of the country and the Dordogne region. The area offers a wonderful variety of experiences for families from prehistoric cave paintings and medieval castles, to stunning gardens and breathtaking landscapes. The villages are charming, the locals are welcoming, and the food is incredible. With all the region has to offer, visitors to the Dordogne will find themselves wishing their vacations would never end.

Where to Stay

We were fortunate to discover Le Chevrefeuille, a bed and breakfast that also offers self-catering accommodation. Centrally located in St. Cyprien, close to all of the aforementioned sights, this stunning accommodation has won Trip Advisor’s Certificate of Excellence every year since opening.

Upon arrival we were warmly greeted by our hostess Sara, who immediately welcomed us and made us feel at home. We rented a self-catering cottage on the property, but there is also the option of staying in one of the bed and breakfast rooms. Next to our place was a toy room, filled floor to ceiling with toys, movies, and games for children of all ages. We stayed in the two bedroom Passiflore gite which was perfect for our family of five. A mix of traditional charm and modern comfort, the unit has a kitchen and dining area, as well as a private terrace. The terrace was perfect for relaxing and watching our children playing in the yard while we enjoyed dinner or a glass of wine.

If you don’t feel like cooking, we would highly recommend the meals prepared by Sara’s husband, Ian, who happens to be a chef. Using locally sourced produce, the dinners consist of four courses served in the beautiful courtyard (when the weather is beautiful) or inside when the weather doesn’t cooperate. Not only is it a wonderful opportunity to experience the flavors of the region, it is a fabulous way to meet guests from around the world. You can also borrow a baby monitor and dine knowing your little ones are safe and sound just steps away. This was our favorite meal during a two week stay in France!

The property has a heated swimming pool with a safety fence, swings, bicycles, and a large grass play area, all of which we could see from our patio. Our kids truly enjoyed playing with Sara and Ian’s lovely children and still talk about the fun they had during our visit. We left the property feeling we were leaving behind our new friends and we can’t wait to return again!

Have you ever been to the Dordogne? What are you waiting for?

For the full article click here

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Horse riding in the Dordogne, Giddy up!

Paul — Sat, 08 Nov 2014 14:52:40 +0000

Equi Périgord – Giddy up horsey!

Not only do we live in an absolutely stunning part of the Périgord noir, but we are also very fortunate to have a riding school which is literally on our doorstep! Our daughter, Alice, adores horse and loves attending weekly riding classes at the Equi Périgord centre. The centre is situated within a couple of minutes’ walk from Le Chèvrefeuille and you will be welcomed by a friendly team headed by the owner Sandy. She is a passionate horse lover and fully qualified equestrian trainer. Sandy spent 4 years restoring and improving the centre and it eventually reopened to the public under her new management in 2011. It has enjoyed tremendous success since then with both members and non-members.

All these opportunities are open to non-members so why not take advantage of your next holiday at Le Chèvrefeuille and pop across the road for some equestrian fun!!

Feel free to check out their website for further information and information on prices: www.equiperigord.com or via facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/EquiPERIGORD/269466196427066

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Tots to Travel

Paul — Sat, 24 May 2014 14:45:59 +0000

Isnt it true that once you have small preschool children to manage under 6, a holiday is not quite a holiday as you have known in the past?
As parents of young children ourselves, we dreamt of a place where we could eat great food and drink good wine whilst our toddlers were in bed or playing nearby in a safe environment and within sight. Where we could relax during our stay as all relevant equipment from the practical like cots, highchairs, steps and stair-gates to the essential like toys, inflatables, pets and other children were on hand to make our holiday feel like a holiday, for us as well as the children.
That was our dream and with the support and approval of our partners like Tots to Travel, Babyboltholes and Ciaobambino we have created such an environment.

Le Chevrefeuille in the Dordogne, France offers this and more with a focus on family accommodation with a focus on the parents needs, a grown up place to be but ensuring that children are in a safe and free environment.
Le Chevrefeuille in the Dordogne offers families with preschool children an indoor playroom with toys from baby to 10 years old, outside gardens which offer a swimming pool, inflatables, swings, climbing frame, swingball, table football and petanque. We offer bikes for all ages from plastic sitons to bikes without stabilizer. Chickens, guinea pigs, budgies, goldfish and Bella the cat and within walking distance a riding stables which a self guided pony ride is a essential part of the experience.
We provide an evening meal, 3 times a week, children are welcome and toddlers under 3 eat free. The menu is not pasta, pizza and chips but the same menu as the adults reduced to meat and fresh vegetables, cheese, bread and fruit as desert (or ice-cream). The adults are offered a four course regional set menu which is cooked by Ian, who is a trained chef and is passionate about food and the regional fare.
We sit in a small hamlet with 15 other houses, 5 mins drive from a town sitting on the Dordogne Valley and 5 mins drive from the capital of the “prehistoric” Vezere valley. Visiting the many interesting and informative child friendly tourist sites from the caves to the medieval castles of the knights to canoeing and tree climbing are a stone throw away but returning to the calm and tranquility of Le Chevrefeuille has been described as an oasis in the bustle of this beautiful tourist region.
So if you have preschool toddlers and need to know that you are in safe hands, why not book into Le Chevrefeuille family friendly accommodation and relax as soon as you step through our gates.

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Le Chevrefeuille, listed in the Best Travel Destinations of the Year

Paul — Thu, 06 Feb 2014 14:41:13 +0000

Le Chevrefeuille listed as one of the best travel destinations in 2013 by the travel specialist for families with young children, Travelmamas. TravelMamas.com is for anyone who wants to travel with children…and stay sane! This article lists their top picks for 2013 and this is what they wrote about Le Chevrefeuille…

Dordogne, France

“Our favorite trip of the year as a family was our tour de France: Paris to Dordogne. It was the hottest time of summer, and I felt that a good old American road trip-style adventure was the kind of experience none of us would forget. Seeing my boys take in the Eiffel Tower for the first time, and our magnificent trip to the south in Dordogne are memories that I will always have. They’re still asking to go back to the family hotel by the dinosaur caves next summer and we’d love to go back too.”

– Farrah Ritter, The Nomadic Travel Mama

The full article can be read by clicking here

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Le Chevrefeuille featured on Travel Mama

Paul — Wed, 25 Sep 2013 14:32:32 +0000

Le Chevrefeuille is pleased and proud to be featured on “Travel Mamas”, a travel website for everyone travelling with children.

Some quotes from the article..

If you are dreaming of a trip to the South of France (and who isn’t?!), I have the ideal bed and breakfast for families in Dordogne! Le Chèvrefeuille is the friendliest B&B I’ve ever encountered

Sara, one of the inn’s owners, heard our approach via the gravel drive and met us on the terrace. She greeted us with a jovial, “Hello! Please, sit down. What can I bring you to drink?” As our boys chased the hens and gaped at the huge courtyard fish pond, I knew immediately we had arrived at a place of French countryside perfection.

Set upon a hill overlooking a rolling green valley, this was just what we had been dreaming of.

There’s a special warmth and relaxed feeling that comes along with a family bed and breakfast like Le Chèvrefeuille. If you’re interested in visiting this inn, be sure to book early! Le Chèvrefeuille is a popular destination, with many families coming back here year after year.

The full article can be seen at Travel Mamas

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Le Chevrefeuille proudly listed on Family Travel Guide Poshbrood

Paul — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 14:19:40 +0000

We are extremely happy and proud to now be listed on the wonderful Family Travel Site “Poshbrood”

The fact that Le Chevrefeuille has been listed on this Family Travel Guide means that we have been approved by both children and parents as being a “Family Friendly Accommodation”

About Poshbrood

Poshbrood, a hip and chic upscale family travel website, was started by Elizabeth Thorp, a writer and mom to three little divas: Isabelle, Lucy and Penelope. Elizabeth has published travel stories in Washingtonian Magazine, Huffington Post, Capitol File Magazine and Momlogic.com and had amassed a ginormous folder of fantastic family hotels, resorts and villas along the way. Some savvy girlfriends suggested corralling the family travel findings in one spot et voila! Poshbrood was born.

Poshbrood has researched, identified, visited, vetted chic and luxurious family travel just for you and will continue to add to our database.

Check our listing at : Le Chevrefeuille on Poshbrood

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And the winner is…

Paul — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 11:45:59 +0000

LE CHEVREFEUILLE

LONDON, U.K. – 18 January 2012 – TripAdvisor, Inc., the world’s largest travel website, today reveals Le Chevrefeuille was chosen as a winner in the bed and breakfast Category by TripAdvisor in its 2012 Travellers’ Choice® awards.

Now in its tenth year, the annual TripAdvisor Travellers’ Choice awards honour the world’s best hotels, earning their distinction from those who know them best – real travellers. Unlike any other hotel honours, TripAdvisor Travellers’ Choice winners are based on millions of valuable reviews and opinions from travellers around the world.

“With the help of millions of travellers around the globe, TripAdvisor is thrilled to recognise the world’s most outstanding hotels for the tenth year of the Travellers’ Choice Awards,” said Christine Petersen, president, TripAdvisor for Business. “From the best bargain hotels to best luxury hotels, remarkable service, value and quality are the hallmarks of our Travellers’ Choice winners.”

For reviews on the Le Chevrefeuille go to Le Chevrefeuille on TripAdvisor

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Commarque

Paul — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 13:48:32 +0000

Prehistory at Commarque

The Beune Valley has been occupied for a very long time. Around Commarque, prehistoric man has left numerous traces of his passage. Not far from the site at Commarque, Paleolithic man left two female statuettes known as the Venus of Sireuil and the Venus of Laussel.
On the other side of the valley, in the shelter at Cap Blanc, one can admire a frieze of prehistoric sculptures. Under Commarque Castle there is a cave where Magdalenian man carved animals on the wall, notably a very beautiful life-sized horse (not open to the public).

The Uncertain Origins of Commarque

The most reasonable hypothesis would be to attribute the founding of a keep at Commarque to one of the two abbots of the same name who succeeded the abbey see of Sarlat during the last third of the XIIth century: Garin (1169-1181) or Randolph de Commarque (1195-1201). The building of a tower allowed them to contain the ambitions of their vassals the Beynacs, with whom they had a relationship of conflict. It was a member of their family who obtained its guard. The first Lord of Commarque, thus, was a “milites castri” or knight, who followed orders from the Abbey of Sarlat. In the XIIth century, a concentration of population existed there, made up of a keep with living quarters, a chapel and house towers: it was the castrum of Commarque.

The Beynacs, Lords of Commarque

There is mention of Commarque in archive documents from 1255 onwards. Maynard de Beynac became the lord of the château. The house towers were held by the lineages of lesser nobles, the names of several of which are known: the Commarque, the Cendrieux, the Gondrix, the La Chapelle. Each house tower had an enclosure, its own access, and ditches. The lord and knights fought over the rights of justice, land and other property.

The Rise of the Beynacs

During the course of the XIVth century, two major lineages had the first regrouping of lands by successive acquisitions. The Beynacs succeeded in constituting a veritable castellany around Commarque when they retook the rights of Marquay and of Sireuil from the Cendrieux and imposed their suzerainty on the den of Laussel. The Commarques took back the lands and rights from the descendants of the other knights, either by buying them or through alliances. From the middle of the XIVth century, the entire lower courtyard had become the noble house of the Commarques: they now disposed of a defensive parameter largely exceeding that of the Château of Beynac.

The Patrimony of the Beynacs Combined

In 1379 Pons de Beynac, Lord of Commarque, married Philippa, 12 years of age, heiress of the lords of Beynac. By this alliance, the lords of Commarque acquired the castellany of Beynac and its dependencies.

The Hundred Years’ War

During the Hundred Years’ War, the Beynacs stayed faithful defenders of the throne of France. Pons de Beynac enjoyed several political favors: he was among the clients of Beaufort-Turenne, of the Avignon papacy and of the Anjou party. The extension of Commarque Castle between 1370 and 1380 has been attributed to him. He undertook heightening the keep and the curtain wall, and had the crown of machicolations built which was inspired by the Palace of the Popes in Avignons.

The Decline of the Beynacs and the Commarques

Nevertheless, the Beynacs came out of the Hundred Years’ War badly. First of all, in 1406, the English, driven by Archambaud d’Abzac, seized hold of Commarque. The whole family was brought together and made prisoner. A tax, ordered by the king, was levied on the inhabitants of Perigord and Quercy to pay the ransom. The castellany of Commarque began to break up. In 1395, Pons lost the suzerainty over Laussel . He was unable to retain Domme. And in 1441, the Beynacs went under the influence of the Count of Perigord, a visible sign of their political weakening. During the 1500s, it seems that the resident families had already deserted the castrum of Commarque.

The Wars of Religion

During the Wars of Religion, the Beynacs were loyal to the cause of the Reform. From Commarque, which was his base of operation, Geoffroy, Baron of Beynac and Lord of Commarque, launched several attacks on Catholic hideouts in the area and even furtively took hold of Sarlat. In 1569, Commarque Castle was taken for the first time by the Catholics led by the seneschal and by the Governor of Perigord. It is without doubt following this siege that the vaulted room collapsed. As the new master of Commarque, Geoffroy installed a garrison there which, by way of reprisal, would be hanged the same year.

The Abandon and Renaissance of Commarque

Guy de Beynac, the last castellan living in Commarque Castle, died there in 1656. The site was definitively abandoned in XVIIIth century. A century later the castle was in ruins. In 1968, Hubert de Commarque bought his ancestors’ ruins. He undertook the consolidation of the most damaged parts. Since 1994 there have been successive phases of consolidation and restoration. Hubert of Commarque has given Kleber Rossillon, the creator of the Museum of Medieval Warfare in Castelnaud Castle and the Gardens of Marqueyssac, the task of opening the Commarque site to the public. A program of archeological research has been in place for several years.

Open hours

April and all saints holidays: from 10:00 am- 6:00 pm
May, June, September:
from 10:00 am – 7:00 pm
July and August: from 10:00 am – 8:00 pm
Last admissions 1 hour before closing.

Free parking
Parking located 600 m from the site.
A specially fitted forest path leads to the entrance of the site.

2008 Price

Individual price
Adults: 6 €
Children (10 -17 yrs): 3 €
Children (-10 yrs): free

Group price
(for 20 or more persons)
Adults: 5 €
Children: 2,50 €

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The Gardens of Marqueyssac

Paul — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 07:52:08 +0000

Laid out on a rocky spur overlooking the Dordogne Valley between La Roque-Gageac and Beynac, the Marqueyssac gardens cover an area of 22ha. The charm of the terrace gardens has delighted its visitors for the last three centuries and there is no doubt that Marqueyssac has become one of France’s most beautiful Italian-style gardens.

The gardens of Marqueyssac castle consist of over six kilometres of shaded alleys, edged by 150,000 hand-pruned, one hundred year-old box-trees, and adorned with belvederes, rockeries, waterways, grassy clearings, dry-stone huts, rotunda, a Gothic chapel, and playgrounds for the children.
In front of the 18th century chateau, the main terrace is arranged in a geometric pattern which symbolises the symmetry of the two main bodies of the castle. Built with great simplicity, the chateau is topped by a roof made of ‘lauze’ (limestone slabs), typical of Périgord, and weighing more than 500 tonnes.

The spectacular bastion terrace is made up of numerous box-trees carefully pruned by the four gardening employees of the estate, with cypress trees also giving structure to the landscape. The box-trees are all sculpted in curves to mimic the roundness of the surrounding hills and it can be rather enjoyable to get lost along the winding paths of this green labyrinth. Once past the bastion terrace, you have the choice of three walkways through the Holm oak woods, all leading to the belvedere. There, box-trees are left to grow more freely and various side pathways allow walkers to move from one track to another on the way to the belvedere. While the gardens of Marqueyssac overlook the Dordogne Valley from high limestone cliffs, it is at the belvedere one can enjoy one of the most splendid panoramas of the meandering river running 130 metres below. From the lookout point, originally laid out by Julien de Cerval, the view emcompasses the whole valley, from the castles of Beynac, Castelnaud and Fayrac to the village of La Roque-Gageac.

It was Julien de Cerval who dedicated the last 30 years of his life to create a haven of peace in Marqueyssac by transforming the estate he inherited in 1861 into a beautiful residence and a Utopian garden. The former jurist from Sarlat was a passionate gardener and a great expert of Italian-style gardens and agronomy, which he marvelously recreated in Marqueyssac, with its terraces and ornamental trees such as cypress, elm, Judas, umbrella and lime. Julien de Cerval designed this garden for his own personal enjoyment, to write poems in it amongst this romantic site dominated by a soft, fresh green and the delicate perfume of box-trees, santolina, rosemary and lavender. Visitors can stroll around the gardens without a guide thanks to illustrated signs and panels which provide information on the history of the site and the fauna and flora throughout the park. It is also possible to follow a guide for no extra cost between the months of April and September. The domain also features a boutique and a “salon de thé” (open from Easter to the end of October) which both offer spectacular views over Beynac Castle. For more information about the gardens of Marqueyssac, visit: www.marqueyssac.com/

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