Booking a self catering holiday in Southwest France?

A self catering holiday in Southwest France needs to take the strain and the worry of will it look like the photos, will it be clean, will the beds be comfortable and will the pool be warm. More importantly will it be safe.

At Carmagnac all you need to do is turn up and jump in, you are on holiday. Time to relax with your family and friends, with a home from home feel, a characterful and stylish interior that transforms you into the French way of living in total comfort. High quality fresh white linen, Christy white towels, super king size double beds, full air conditioning, heated pool to 28 degrees and quality fitments.

Our rooms are uncluttered, large, bright with locally made furniture, each bedroom has its own private ensuite (walk in shower, lavatory and wash hand basin) each with views over the gardens and countryside.

Carmagnac has been a journey of dedication and hard work by the owners Jane et Richard who arrived in the Charente 18 years ago and started the renovation of our 3 bedroom Longer using local French artisans.

We are very experienced hosts with a 5 star accreditation, insured and registered. Here is our 10 point guide to booking your next self catering holiday home in South West France.

Your 10 Point Guide

1. Heated Swimming Pool to 28 degrees - not just heated....

2. Outdoor garden shower (Hot and cold) - not just a solar shower that scalds you....

3. Full Air Conditioning (Heating and Cooling) - not a fan or DIY unit buzzing in the corner....

4. 3 large bedrooms each with private ensuite and UK and French TV - Does each TV have its own selectable channel....

5. Super King size beds with high-quality linen and towels - White linen simply can't hide anything....

6. Trampoline, Table Tennis, Swing, Sandpit, Hammock, Bikes, dartboard - New, maintained, safe....

7. Beautiful uninterrupted views and gardens - Private drive, set in an island of fields....

8. Well equipped kitchen to cook, entertain and have fun - cooks kitchen, every utensil you will need....

9. Study with free unlimited WiFi - Escape, look at your emails (if you must) write a letter....

10.Pergola and shaded BBQ areas - Escape the sun, enjoy the unlimited views, relax....

If you would like to know more about what we offer check us out on www.carmagnac.com or email us directly on jane@carmagnac.com or simply drop us a whatsapp on +44 (0) 7950 142092.

We are present on all the major hosting sites like Booking.com, Tripadvisor, Airbnb, Homeaway and Holidayfrancedirect.

What is going on in Carmagnac?

As we near Christmas the weather has been unforgiving, in our 15 plus years we have never seen such a wet period with what feels like non stop rain, luckily live in a valley and overlook farmland and a pound that is flooded. If it continues my choice of footwear will change from Crocks to Flippers. Mind you have such a hot summer this is probably the pattern, no complaints when we had months of blue sky and high temps.

At this time of year we have taken our rest from a busy season as we start preparing for 2020 lots of maintenance, gardening, decorating and improvements to ensure that #carmagnacluxuryretreat maintains its newly acquired 5*" 'meublé de tourisme' rating which we are very proud of.

This years improvements include new flooring to the lower ground floor bedroom and walk in storage cupboard, this will be a great addition for our guests to store suitcases and other things like child gate, z bed's, baby bath, high chair and a travel cot. We also have some new garden furniture to replace our wooden chairs and a new large cantilever umbrella to match the investment we made last year in furniture around the pool. French free to air TV arrives too, so our French guests have local TV. This supports our commitment to provide a home from home feel so our guest can cook, swim in the heated pool at #carmagnacluxuryretreat, BBQ, play games (ping pong, trampoline, sandpit and swing play boules) or simply relax around the pool or in the shade.

A big thanks to all our guests of #carmagnacluxuryholiday for looking after our home and we look forward to those returning again in 2020 and our new guests. We wish you all a very #HappyChristmas and #NewYear.

#holidayhomesinfrance www.carmagnac.com

Thank you

Frost,rain,wind and more rain

As winter settles in the fields are bare, the trees have dropped their fruit and the birds fat from a fabulous Autumn with trees and bushes laden with nuts, berries, and fruit. The leaves are falling and everybody is hunkering down for Winter. We see smoke from chimney pots as we go looking for our coats, jumpers, scarves, hats, and gloves that replace our shorts and T-shirts before venturing outside.

For the last 12 weeks, it has rained virtually every day, buckets of the stuff, a good excuse to stay indoors and relax after a busy season with our fabulous guests enjoying everything Carmaganc has to offer. This is a restful period, a time to catch up on maintenance, plan next year's improvements and complete the renovations as we convert our Cowshed into our flat or 'Noah's Ark'. Lots to do.

This year we added some more summer furniture around the heated swimming pool, a trampoline, sandpit, and a swing. The sandpit has been a great hit with our young visitors, I never knew that a sandpit could be so entertaining, the little chap would spend hours just digging. The swing has to be my personal favorite, hand made from locally sourced oak by our local French artisans and is a great addition to the garden. We also installed new Air Conditioning earlier in the year so keeping us snug during the winter season and our guest cool in the summer as this year has been hot with temps in the 40's so vital.

We have lots going on with our application for a star rating to further promote Carmagnac a self catering on the Dordogne Charente border, with 3 large character bedrooms and sleeps 10 and has a heated swimming pool and air conditioning and the development of our new Website, and this, our first blog.

So jobs in the coming weeks are to cut 110 lavender bushes, leaf clearing and mulching, cleaning the pool, and preparing the garden for deep winter in addition to decorating and polishing the woodwork oh and nearly forgot cooking. We love this time of year, decorating the house for Christmas and cooking and sitting back to reflect on the great people we met the memories we helped make.

Is it too early to wish everybody a Happy Festive season? Enjoy