Sleeps 2-13 perfect family/friends get together, peaceful setting (pets welcome)

Built in the early 1800’s. Les Coindries is a traditional French farmstead with an individual 2 bedroom cottage and three 1-2 bedroom gites, built around a large courtyard typical of the region. The stone buildings with their tiled roofs are set in private walled garden accessed down a quiet lane and surrounded by rolling arable land, with lovely walks and cycle tracks nearby. The buildings have been carefully restored and converted to include the original oak beams and log burners. The cottage has a private patio/BBQ area and the gites have their own outside seating/eating area where you can enjoy a refreshing glass of wine after a busy day exploring the uncrowded and beautiful place. There is also a large gazebo seating space that can accommodate up to 13 people for al fresco dinning. The swimming pool is located in its own private area, with changing room and outside solar shower. A separate car park is available for guests use.

This area is perhaps the most characteristically French, of all the regions with its numerous chateaux, rolling vineyards and meandering rivers. The important but little known stunning Abbey at Fontevraud which contains the tombs of Henry II and his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine and their son Richard the Lion Heart is only a pleasant 30 minutes drive away. For more up-to-date entertainment, ‘Futuroscope’ is about 25km and the superlative zoo at Doue La Fointaine is well worth a visit.

Les Coindries can be found 11km south of Richelieu famous for it’s Cardinal of the same name the most powerful man in France during the reign of Louis XIII. The Cardinal spent his early life at the beautiful (though now partly ruined) Chateaux de Coussay and later building a magnificent palace and town of Richelieu filled with Renaissance statuary, including the two slaves of Michel Angelo and masterpieces by Poussin. The great palace was later demolished, but the huge park remains as well as the moat and island on which the Cardinal first built the palace. This little known citadel is an architectural jewel of France and can be reach in 10 minutes from Les Coindries.

A further 20 minutes drive takes you to the lovely fortress town of Chinon offering outstanding examples of medieval architecture, with views over the river Vienne from the battlements that Joan of Arc would still recognise during her imprisonment. Saumur can be reached in 30 min with its fairytale recently restored castle, overlooking the Loire itself. Tours is about 1 hour away to the north, with Poitiers 45 minutes to the south both have regular flights from the UK.