Have you ever wanted to visit Lourdes? It’s an easy trip to make from our gite, La Vielle Source, about 2 hours by car along a traffic free picturesque route. Lourdes is a small market town lying in the foothills of the Pyrenees, famous for the apparitions that are reported to have occurred in 1858. [...]
Living in this beautiful region it’s easy to be biased, but don’t take out word for it, why not read what the papers have to say about Gascony.
“Many people don’t know where Gascony is, unsurprising really, as it is the old name given to parts of the Gers and Ariège. You can drive round [...]
We’ve discovered that one of our former guests has written an article about family friendly holidays for the Families Cheshire parenting magazine. It was lovely to read how much they had enjoyed their holiday here, and we’re delighted they wrote in to highly recommend our gite to other families.
Here’s an extract from the article in Families Cheshire November/December 2009 edition [...]
What’s on in Lectoure for November? 6-8th November it’s the annual exhibition of the Foire de la Saint Martin, now in it’s 27thyear. There’s a large market along the high street, as well as the flea market and brocante on the car parking area in front of the thermal baths. Children can enjoy the funfair and [...]
We’ve been so busy recently with the gite, the children, our guests and working in the garden that it’s hard to keep up with all the fetes and fairs going on. Last Friday was the second of the two summer outdoor meals being held at the Bastion park at Lectoure, with lots of loud music, [...]
I thought it was time to blog about the fun to be had at Parc Walibi. This theme park at Agen, just 30 minutes from our gite La Vieille Source, opens around Easter each year until it closes for winter in November. It’s great fun for all ages with lots and lots and LOTS of fun [...]
Do you really know what a gite is? How do you pronounce it correctly? For all those who want to know more here’s my rough guide:
Gîte is pronounced “ zh-eet” and is a masculine noun….click to hear the correct pronunciation.
A gite is a French holiday home available for rent. Gites are usually fully-furnished and equipped [...]
On Sunday our friends cooked us a delicious Sunday lunch and then our two families went together to the beautiful seventeen hectare leisure site at St Clar. Set amongst rolling hills the five hectare lake is sectioned off into safe supervised swimming areas. Around the lake is a fine white sandy beach, and in every [...]
I was invited to lunch today by some French friends who live in the countryside near Lafrancaise in Tarn-et-Garonne. The weather was beautiful and we had a fine lunch outside in their garden. On my drive to their home I passed by an interesting looking town called Moissac, which sits on the north bank of the River [...]
This weekend Castet Arrouy is “en fete” and the villages of Sainte-Mère & St Jean host a communal outdoor evening meal.Lectoure has a super Loto evening and at Astaffort there will be a brocante and vide grenier. For all you snail lovers I saw signs advertising an “Escargolade” at Brulhois. An escargolade is a snail feast, [...]
Another hot and sunny week so the municipal pool at Lectoure is busy each day. Our children love going there for the daily swim, part of the school curriculum, then they come home and get straight in the pool. They’ll be growing gills soon.
In June there’s something to do every weekend as well as the children going [...]
Another hot week for La Vieille Source. It’s been sunny and warm all week but by Thursday night it seemed to be warming up by the hour. At the school choral concert it was very humid with the children getting restless and the parents fanning themselves with their concert programmes.
We’ve been using the air conditioning at night, [...]
Jean Lannes, Duke of Montebello, was born in humble surroundings in the town of Lectoure. He died in 1809, 200 years ago. As a “Maréchal d’Empire de Napoléon” the marie wanted to celebrate his life and mark the bicentenary of his death with several public events. Between 30th May and 1st June there’s been an official [...]
What’s new this week at La Vieille Source. Well we’ve been very busy since my last post, with the children off school for the numerous May bank holidays and the gite busy with new guests arriving and leaving.This past week the rose covered terrace has burst into life with it’s multiple white blooms and curling [...]
After a shaky false start to spring the sun is out and the weather is getting warmer. March was lovely but April showers seemed to be going on a little too long – although it’s been great for the garden as we’ve removed the old vegetable plot and planted four new lawns. We’re looking forward [...]