Le Tour 2017 is coming through!!

At last I've found a decent map on the internet of the 10th stage of the 2017 Tour de France which very much confirms that the race is passing in front of Le Manoir des Granges on Tuesday July 11th.

The map above shows the route from Perigueux to Bergerac passes through Montignac on its way to Les Eyzies via the D706 and I'm pretty sure the red dot between the two towns is Le Moustier......can't wait!!

One step at a time!

Since our return from Portugal, we've been busy on improving the steps that lead from the courtyard up to the Haybarn gite. The original steps (above) we're very uneven, steep and really not very user friendly.

So first thing, knock out and move debris from the offending area and plan the way forward, or upward in this projects case!

Four simple and straight forward steps leading down from the existing path above was our decision and after laying concrete and building the walls to the left and right of the new steps, yesterday we finished off using local stone (the same as used on the patio in front of the house). After 2 weeks hard work, we're very pleased with the final result and are looking forward to hear the thoughts of our guests when they see them!  

A change of scenery!

Tuesday November 2nd saw our last customers of this year leave, so we decided that after a very busy 9 months since our first guests of the year arrived it was time to head south as we usually do for some r&r! Rather than Spain where we've been for the last 3 years, we decided to go a bit further and drove to the Algarve on the south coast of Portugal.

Carveiro, a beautiful seaside resort, is a place we visited with our daughters probably about 20 years ago and it was a bit of a surprise that after all that time we had actually booked into the same villa complex that we had stayed in all that time ago. Great weather for all of the 10 days there and plenty of rest plus local food & wine did the trick of recharging our batteries ready for another winter of renovations and decorating.

We're back home in France now and already the first project is underway, pics to follow soon of the gite courtyard improvements, it already seems a long time since we were sitting on the balcony watching the sun set from our apartment (above), here's to next years possible visit!

Lazy river, Dordogne style!

A couple of weeks ago we took a day off and as it was such a nice day decided to do what most of our guests do whilst staying here, canoe (for the first time for us) on the Dordogne river. Starting at Vitrac we meandered with the strong river current taking in all the major sights that are on show. La Roque-Gageac (above) with its houses clinging to the side of the sheer cliff face being the first.

After over 2.5 hours, the finishing point of Beynac (below) was in the distance with its magnificent Chateau perched on top of the hill. It certainly is no surprise why this is one of the major 'to do's' for all whilst in the region!

A big thank you to all of you who follow this blog, we have now gone over 20,000 viewings of the blog since I started it many years ago!

Big news!

The route for next years Tour de France was announced at lunch time today, great news for our area is that the tour has a stage starting in Perigueux, ending in Bergerac and is passing through Montignac, our nearest town, in July 2017. We're not sure at the moment but we think the route is passing very very close to Les Granges but this has not been confirmed yet....watch this space again soon for more information as we find out!

Harvest time!

After the fields opposite Les Granges became a sea of yellow for a few weeks, yesterday the combine harvester machines arrived and within an hour or so stripped the dried sunflower heads from their stalks, now leaving us with our normal view across to Le Roque. Still no let up in the sunny days but the evenings are now certainly becoming more on the fresh side!

Now I always thought that Praying Mantis's were a luminous green colour, wrong again, the one I spotted on the flowers in the courtyard outside the Roque Terrace gite is certainly not and if you can spot it, it certainly blends in with the background!

Remember, for a larger image click on the picture!

The Chasse is back!

The early morning straight after one of the busiest days for tourists departing the area returning to their homes marks the prompt return to our surrounding fields of the local Chasse (hunting group). A bit of an obstruction for them this year is the many fields of sunflowers that make perfect cover for the deer and wild boar and consequently we heard no shots fired whilst they were in the area!

Even though many families with children are now on their way home, we are still very busy with bookings right up to the end of October and also quite a few enquiries and bookings already for 2017 and even 2018!