Cognac Gites 2007 - Website links

1st September 2007 Le Chai:
Once more it's time to depart. We leave here for home with mixed feelings and the consolation of knowing we will be back again next year. This has been our 3rd year at Le Moulin de Chazotte - an annual highlight.
Brian and Judy from Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire.
ps. We think it's terrific. Love, Jude


August 2007: Assorted children netting tiddlers	July 2007: Tim & family from Denmark	June 2007: Dutch visitor Huib fly-casting!

August 2007 Le Chai:
Many thanks for another relaxing holiday. Now that your email is working again, keep in touch! Look forward to seeing you again.
Tony, Rowena and Jamie from Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffs

Editor's note: It was good to welcome our friends from Newcastle back for their second year. Tony was kind enough to spend part of his holiday sorting out our email which had gone AWOL - thanks Tony!

August 2007 L'Abricotier:

Thanks for a superb week, Bob and Jane, in your lovely gîte. Amazing project & so well done ( we appreciate such things!). Couldn't have asked for a better location.
Hopefully we will be back next year.

Sarah, Joe, Katie, James and Henry
ps. We all loved the tractor rides!

18th August - 1st September 2007 Le Chai:
A wonderful location for a holiday gite and grounds perfect. We enjoyed the table tennis and pool and especially the canoe!!! The Cognac from Chateau Chesnel is much better than the famous brands and the house is worth looking round as well.
Steve, Kate and Richrd from Bewerley, nr. Harrogate

It was good to meet another left-handed guitar player. Thanks for showing me the new chord and for letting me play your guitars.
Richard. Aged 9yrs 9 months

ps. Thankyou both. I hope the haircut is ok Bob - you know where to come if you come up North!!
Kate

August 2007 Le Chai:
We liked it so much we are coming back next year!
Martin, Alison, Michael and Christopher from Reigate, Surrey

Editor's note: This photo was taken immediately after an epic upstream foray in the canoe. I promised young Katie (sitting on the right) that she'd see herself on the website - so, here you are Katie - fame at last! True to their word, the 2008 booking has already been made.

4th - 11th August 2007 La Principale:
Lovely week in a lovely house. Weather good and plenty to do here - lovely pool, taking the canoe out and even having a go at driving Bob's tractor. Cognac and Saintes are interesting little towns to visit. Road to coast gets very busy in August. Also had the excitement of a new addition to the family - Scrappy the kitten. a great week!
Annette, Peter, Tom(17) and Nick(11) from Sutton Coldfield

Editor's note: Tractor driving lessons on the 'front lawn'. A picture of Srappy can be seen in the News section.

28th July - 4th August 2007 La Principale:
Our first holiday in a gite in France and it was great....From fishing in the river to the beach at St. Georges. The house was lovely and don't forget the pool - we went swimming in it every day! We made lots of new friends including you (Bob and Jane). We had a brill time, thank you so much and we hope to be back some day.
Martin, Jacinta, Kathryn, Patrick, Sarah and Eabha from Naas, Co. Kildare, Ireland

11th - 18th August 2007 Le Chai:
A pleasant, ideal setting for the holiday we'd planned - quiet, peaceful, away from the crowds. Lots of walks, interesting places to visit- we particularly enjoyed Talmont on the Gironde estuary. Loved the wildlife and rescuing the little moorhen from Adeline (along with the boys). Look out for the coypu in the woods!
Gordon and Beth from Dunblane, Scotland

Editor's footnote: A pair of moorhens nested and raised chicks on a tree-stump in the mill-race. Adeline (the black cat aka "Death-on-4-legs"!) was determined to catch the chicks and finally got one. Beth and the group of youngsters spent most of one evening rescuing the chick and trying to return it to it's family.

21st - 28th July 2007 La Principale:
What can I say? A simply wonderful week. A stunning house in a stunning location. We went to the beach at St. Georges de Didonne which the kids loved - only about an hour away. Josh spent the rest of the week fishing in the river and a couple of excursions in the canoe - not for the faint hearted! Thank you Bob and Jane - we hope to be back.
Kate, Alex, Josh(7), Finlay(3), Uncle Crispy and Hayley

1st September 2006 L'Abricotier:
Sadly on our way tomorrow. A week is not enough in this lovely place. We hope to be back.
Charmian, Bill and William from Northumberland

"BOB and JANE -
Thanks for sharing your beautiful home with us - we all had a great holiday - all the best!"

Brian and Heather.
Chris, Jan, Jack, Oliver and Rosie.
Roy, Elena, Cassie and Roni.
Tony, Rowena and Jamie.
Mark, Fiona, William, Joshua and Rebecca,

August 2006: You really had to be here to understand the reason why this unusual Thankyou card took the form of a full-sized sheep!

August 12th - 26th 2006 La Principale:
It was a real treat after the long drive from the coast, to pull into the long gravel drive leading up to the "moulin". What a place! It was obvious from the start that our hosts, Bob and Jane, had worked so hard restoring their 'dream property'! Their enthusiasm for the place couldn't fail to rub off on all their guests.
Although the weather wasn't always in our favour, there was always something to occupy us, whether it was lounging by the pool, walking by the river, or simply eating and drinking the fantastic food and wine.
Trips to the local big towns like Cognac and Saintes are a must, as is a visit to one of the local Chateaux - we chose Chateau Chesnel as the owner is a friend of Bob and Jane and gave an interesting tour in English!
Fishing in the river is tricky to say the least but we did produce a number of small rudd and chubb plus a couple of nice pike - which cooked up a treat.
Our vist to the beach was nice - we chose Royan as it was a bit closer than La Rochelle and great if you like abit of wind-surfing or yachting.
A relaxing time was had by all - our recommendation is to get to know your neighbours as soon as possible at the start of your holiday. It is so much fun to share a bbq or a drink on the verandah. You might make some good friends in the process - we did!
Thanks Bob and Jane. you really do have a dream house and we hope you have a happy and prosperous future in France.
Chris and Jan, Jack(16), Oliver(14), Rosie(12) plus Jan's mum and Dad, Brian and Heather.

July 29th - August 12th 2006 Le Chai:
We have all agreed that this has been our favourite family holiday ever. The mill is beautiful and sympathetically restored into extremely comfortable, well-equipped gites and the peaceful, rural location is ideal for resting and relaxing. Congratulations on finding such a gem. We have loved spotting the wildlife - kingfishers, hoopoes, redstarts, buzzards and all the varied fish in the river, and really enjoyed the canoeing and cycling here, and the pool is perfect for the children.
We would like to thank you Bob and Jane for being such kind and generous hosts and especially being so helpful when our car broke down and we were in a panic!
We would love to return here to see how the restoration has progressed, and thank you again for a perfect holiday.
Sue, David, Louise and Robert from Hurst, Berkshire.

Thankyou so much. I have really enjoyed my time here. I drew this picture of Le Moulin de Chazotte for you.
Louise.
Editor's note: Louise has pencil-sketched a lovely and very accurate picture of the Mill complete with shutters, wisterias and even the balustrades! Thankyou Louise.