Thouvenin

In the 19th century, Thouvenin was the station hotel. The railway has long since gone and quiet has returned to the village. The mezannine area, fully undercover and accessible from the ground and first floors, has been converted into a private café/bar, capturing the feel of a stylish, but lost era. Its louvred wall provides dappled shade even at the height of summer.

The village Pretre’s cassock hangs on the hatstand alongside the Gendarme’s cap, beside thirsty travellers’ luggage awaiting their departure. It is furnished with tables and sofas and the hand-crafted zinc bar has both a fridge and a freezer hidden within it. It’s a fabulous spot for breakfast, or leisurely enjoying a good book out of the sun and the perfect place for a late-night drink at the end of a relaxing day. We can even arrange to stock the bar before you arrive!

The pool, recently refurbished, is 9m x 4m, with a level floor and full steps and heated by solar panels. It is fully enclosed with childproof gates to protect younger guests and has plenty of sunloungers. The large garden has lawned, gravelled and terraced areas. Thouvenin's covered terrace has a dining table, bar area, table tennis and a stone-built BBQ with chimney. Thouvenin's boules area, surrounded by a lavender hedge is the perfect location, next to the barbecue for drinks as the sun goes down.

Thouvenin has 4 bedrooms - the principal bedroom is very large, with a super king size bed. The 2nd bedroom, has a 5' double bed, and the 3rd and 4th bedrooms are identical in size and each has bunk beds with a single on top and a pull-out double underneath. The family bath room and an additional shower room are situated upstairs and a further toilet is downstairs.

Downstairs, the kitchen leads out on one side to the extremely spacious sitting room which includes two sofas and further armchairs, large TV with BBC/ITV channels as well as French television, DVD and CD players. Free wifi is available.

On the other side of the kitchen is the dining room, with a long dining table (seating for up to 10) and an 18th-century Charentaise stone fireplace. The kitchen itself is well equipped with a large fridge/freezer, ceramic hob, multi-function oven, full-size dishwasher and plenty of pots, dishes, etc.

L'Ecurie (Property Reference 1303) is co-sited, but with the exception of the pool, has entirely separate grounds and facilities. It can be booked with Thouvenin and, using a 'hidden" door the properties can operate as one accommodating 12-15 people.

The small village of Migron, with its pretty, 11th Century stone church, is perfect for those who don't want to be too remote, with a bar, butchers, hairdressers and post office. A pizza, a fresh fish and a vegetable van all visit the village weekly. The village of Burie is just a five minutes drive with a magnificent bakery, coffee shop, bar, restaurant and a mid-sized supermarket that also sells petrol.

Excellent markets can be found nearby on just about every day of the week - in Saintes, Cognac, St Jean d'Angely, Matha, Burie, among others. Brocantes (or flea markets) are held in local villages on most weekends, and artisans fairs - such as the annual Foire aux Vins in Migron held in June - are frequent throughout the summer. Migron and the surrounding area is excellent for cycling - miles and miles of level countryside with virtually traffic-free routes through vineyards, fields, woodland and villages.

Other activities include river trips, antiques markets (large brocantes held in surrounding villages regularly throughout the summer), visits to chateaux, churches and museums, walking, cycling and birdwatching (74 hectares of lagoon nature reserves in the area). Sport and leisure in the area include golf (18-hole courses in both Cognac and Saintes which are 20 minutes away), horseriding, all types of fishing, tennis (including a court in the village), canoe-kayaking (boats to hire at various places along the Charente in Cognac and Saintes), and plenty of space in and around the village to kick a football.

The region is littered with historic villages, cosmopolitan cities and some of France's most beautiful beaches with miles of white sand. Its not a heavily populated area, with a real sense of space, but with good motorway links that makes travelling quick and easy. It's a wonderfully varied landscape, with seemingly endless vineyards and sunflower fields stretching to the horizon all around our village. Head towards the coast though and you encounter beautiful sea marshes, packed with wildlife and a bird watcher's paradise.

And then there are the islands.. Ile de Re, home to celebrities and feeling more like Greece than France... and Ile d'Oleron a two-mile ride across an amazing bridge and miles and miles of undeveloped beaches backing onto pine forests. And if you want a taste of them all there's no better than the preserved steam railway that runs throughout the summer. The beautiful sandy beaches of Royan are just forty minutes away from the house and those islands just a bit further. Also within an hour's drive are Rochefort and La Rochelle with its historic port, world class aquarium and fantastic shopping.

RECENT REVIEWS

*****
Lovely stay in Migron
We had a lovely stay in Migron. The house is lovely. We found it spacious, clean and comfortable. Downstairs there is a well equipped kitchen with everything you need, a comfortable living room, a rather grand dining room and a small toilet. Downstairs was comfortably cool after coming in from the heat. Upstairs the bedrooms were comfortable and clean. The two bathrooms meant no queues for the shower. Outside, the garden is beautifully kept, with a variety of areas to sit. The canopy at the back gives shelter from the sun for the outside table and chairs and the barbeque and the table tennis table, There is a bistro table and chairs at the back door and also at a terrace at the pool. We loved the pool. It's a good size and well maintained. The mezzanine bar area is a fun addition to the house. It feels like you are in an old French movie! Migron is very quiet. The local boulanger has the freshest bread and pastries, but you need to get there early. There is also a local butcher close to the house with a good selection of meat. The local supermarket didn't open during our stay, but we used the small supermarket in nearby Burie, Between days at the pool we visited the surrounding area including Cognac, Bordeaux, Royan and La Rochelle. The property owner and managers were very helpful and gave us lots of information and recommendations for the local area
Denise M.

*****
Interesting, well-kept house in a beautiful region.
A very interesting property in a quiet rural region, but with good access to plenty of attractions. The house is equipped with everything you could wish for during a holiday, including a swimming pool, and several outdoor areas in which to relax. Julie, the housekeeper, plays an excellent role. She was friendly and very amenable, without being intrusive. Likewise, the owners were communicative and thoughtful - Antony pitches his correspondence perfectly. Our favourite things were the wonderful shower room and comfortable beds. We managed an enjoyable balance of relaxation and touring. We had two days at the coast, visiting L’Ile de Ré and l'Ile d’Oléron, and stayed close by for the remaining days, with visits to Cognac, Angoulême and Saintes. The markets are wonderful, frequented by locals rather than tourists, so we arranged our week based on where the markets were each day. Many thanks for sharing Thouvenin with us, Antony & Linda.
Emma U.

*****
Great stay in hot and sunny rural France
Thouvenin was perfect for us (2 families) staying for 2 weeks. The owner provided an immense amount of helpful and useful information. Very much appreciated. The property is really large with a very big/lovely open dining space that overlooks the pool. The formal dining room is very big but we only used it once when the weather wasn’t warm enough to eat outside. The kitchen is well stocked and the washing machine and dishwasher are a great asset! The lounge is a great place to escape from the heat also. The bedrooms are sizeable with 2 having super king size beds and 2 with bunks (single on top and double on bottom). We took our own pillows as we are never sure if we end up with square pillows on French properties. As it turns out they had regular pillows! The pool was a great size. Make sure the cover goes on overnight and off again in the morning to benefit from the sun warming in the day. We used the bar area frequently and used the fridge/freezer as our drinks fridge as the fridge in the kitchen is a standard fridge freezer which wouldn’t accommodate all our food and drinks. If you want to keep the house cool the trick, as we discovered, is to open the windows first thing then shut the windows and shutters from about 11am then reopen them all again once the sun has set and let the air flow around the house. Migron is a tiny village in the middle of vineyards a plenty. It’s really beautiful. There is a small museum down the road which you can visit and taste their own cognac. All in all a lovely stay.
Karen C.

*****
Urlaubsfeeling
Das Haus ist in einem sehr geuten Zustand, sauber und mit allem was man braucht zur Entspannung im Urlaub. Derr Pool ist sehr gut gepflegt und in einem sehr guten Zustand. Ebenso die Ausstattund im Außenbereich mit Tisch, Liegen und Sonenschirm


*****
Large and well presented property- short drive to supermarkets or a walk to the local bakers
We originally booked the bigger half of the property (Thouvenin) to allow for a family break for 7 adults. However, it transpired that we ended up with only three. Plenty of room for us! The bedrooms are an excellent size and the 'main' bedrooms have large double beds and plenty of space. These are located at each end of the property. In between these two rooms are two further bedrooms which contain bunk beds- a double below and a single above in each room. Again the room sizes are very good. There is a family bathroom at one end of the house on the upper floor and a new shower room at the other end. All clean and well maintained. Downstairs is incredibly spacious, the kitchen is well equipped, the living room very large with two '3' seat sofas ( brand new) and several chairs plus a small table and a two dining chairs. Across from the living room is a wonderful dining room with decorative fireplace- it would have been great to sit around with the whole party- a little lost on just three of us but we still made use of it. The house was heated and was comfortable, the upstairs shower room has no heating but there is a stand alone radiator that can be used- not a problem in summer I'm sure- we were there for New Year so a little chilly. Outside has the seating areas, pool and petanque court but given the time of year we didn't make use and so can't comment. The village has a few shops, a butcher, baker and minimart but we didn't use these due to the opening hours during the holiday period. However, there are good supermarkets only a short drive in either direction (10 mins tops) in Martha or Burie. These catered for our needs very well. We did the run to Bordeaux airport twice and it is about 1 hour 20 mins or so each way. Again the time of year may have an impact. Antony provided fantastic amounts of information about the property and area plus all info on the local towns, markets, sightseeing etc etc. This has been the best communication we have had from an owner so thank you. We took the ferry to Calais and drove down- probably a little to far for one day in winter- it took about 7 1/2 hours. Consequently we left a day early to give ourselves a break of journey and an overnight stop to break it up. Summer may well be a better time to do it. However, the welcome pack was most gratefully received!! A nice touch indeed. We would certainly return if we were staying in this area again. Overall a quiet and relaxing winter break.
Ian T.

****
Une maison spacieuse qui offre des lieux divers pour se reposer, lire, se baigner....
Les grandes pièces sont très appréciables : salle de bain, salle à manger, cuisine, chambres, terrasses couvertes et magnifique bar extérieur ! Bien située, nous avons apprécié le charme de Migron, l'écomusée et son expo Cubaine. Migron est à 30 mn de points d'intérêts touristiques, qu'on aime la nature ou la ville. Boulangerie, boucherie, épicerie sont à 5 mn à pieds. Un petit point à améliorer concernant la vaisselle, un peu juste pour 8 personnes. Sinon nous avons passé de très bons moments dans cette maison accueillante.
Ophelie C.

*****
Exactly as described and what we wanted
We originally booked to stay in the gite (l'ecurie) but due to a cancellation were upgraded to the main house (thouvenin), the house was lovely, clean, full of character and very homey. Everything we needed was there including lots of useful local information, Julie who looks after the house popped in a couple of times to clean the pool and let us have a look in the gite too (as we're nosy!) which was small but nicely appointed. The village was nice and quiet, we were only 5mins walk from the local shops which we used daily. Our 9yr old spent almost all week in the pool and we had the best of the weather too. All in all a lovely, relaxing week and really good value. Will definitely be back
Emma B.