Farmhouse Lafage

Fabulous secluded rural property
Sleeps 7
Farmhouse kitchen with woodburning stove - Piano - Western sun terrace - Barbecue
Table Tennis - 4G wifi internet - 3 Bedrooms - 2 Double Beds - 3 Single Beds - Cot
Set in 12 acres of private woodland and meadow.

Lafage is a charming traditional stone farmhouse, built over a vaulted cellar, in the most beautiful position, nestling by itself into a south-facing hillside with lovely views across a peaceful valley to a 12th century château. Lafage stands in 12 acres of woods and ancient meadow backing onto wilderness and farmland. It is well away from roads, approached by a long private drive with level parking space near the house. The woods make a wonderful adventure playground for children and their parents. It is a paradise for nature lovers. Lafage is available to rent at any time of year.

The house is approximately 12 miles south of the River Lot (about 30 miles south of the Dordogne area), and 15 miles west of Cahors, a large and thriving market town renowned for its excellent wine. In the surrounding countryside there are many unspoilt historic towns, with unique artisan shops, ancient chateaux and several fascinating underground caves, including Grotte de Peche-Merle. Riding, canoeing, wild swimming, cycling, fishing, golf, treetop highwire courses and inflatable waterparks are some of the local sporting attractions.

Montcuq is the local small hilltop town, with a striking 13th century tower. It has a beautiful bathing lake with sandy beach, paddleboard rental and aquazone fun park. Montcuq also has tennis courts, a swimming pool, shops, bakeries, a supermarket, a post office and a bank. A vibrant and popular market takes place on Sunday mornings, showcasing local produce and crafts. Montcuq has good and very reasonably priced restaurants, as do Lauzerte and Sauzet.

The area around the house and its land is more woodland, acres of wilderness, and near the lanes arable (rather than livestock) fields. Lafage is at the end of a private track up the hill and there are no passers by. You are likely to see hares, wild deer, hoopoes, and lizards basking on the rocks, and may also catch a glimpse of a red squirrel or wild boar in the woods. When walking on the hill I advise looking across at the Chateau on the valley opposite, as Lafage rapidly falls out of site and you'll need to remember the view of the opposite valley to find your way back from the wilderness easily!

Bedrooms
Lafage has three bedrooms, 2 double beds, 2 single beds and a 4ft bed and can sleep up to 8.
Bedroom 1 is a sunny room on the ground floor with a kingsize bed, a piano, sofa and wardrobe. This room also has a woodburning stove and an air source heat pump. The 2ft thick stone walls help keep Lafage at a steady temperature day and night meaning there is no need to use air conditioning in summer. A cot can also be provided on request - please ask when booking.
Upstairs there are two pretty bedrooms with exposed oak beams:
Bedroom 2 has a 4ft 6 divan double bed, a 4ft small double wrought iron bed (ask if you would like this to move to bedroom 3), and a baby's wicker cradle.
Bedroom 3 has two 3ft wrought iron single beds.
See the floorplan in photos.
All the beds are supplied with pillows, blankets and bedspreads. Linen and towels are not normally provided at Lafage. We can provide these at an additional cost to cover laundry services. Let us know if you need this.
Bathroom
The bathroom has a full sized bath with shower attachment, wash basin and lavatory.
Farmhouse Kitchen / Sitting Room
The farmhouse kitchen has exposed beams, a large inglenook fireplace and a pretty quarry tiled floor. There is a gas cooker, large fridge/freezer and a washing machine. The kitchen is equipped with cooking utensils, china, glass and cutlery. There is a large dining table with eight dining chairs. A high chair for a child can be provided. There are 2 armchairs and a sofa, and a second sofa in the adjacent bedroom.
Cellar
There is table-tennis in the vaulted cellar. The cellar is lockable and can also be used to store bicycles etc.
Long lets
Discounts are available for long lets from September - March. Do feel free to ask if you’d like to enjoy our rural retreat for longer.
Many people have returned year after year to enjoy the peaceful atmosphere at Lafage. We hope you will have a happy holiday too!

How to get there:

Cheap flights are available to Toulouse and Bergerac airports (about 90mins drive away). There is car hire from both airports.

Road trip:

Lafage is a day’s drive from Calais or Le Havre, both of which support travelling with your dog.

We like to make a fun holiday of the journey and sightsee our way through France, stopping for one or two nights along the way.

Our favourite family-friendly road trip from Calais includes stops at beaches on the Cote d’Opale – all within an hour of the Channel Tunnel. Wissant is our favourite for children and dogs: lovely beach, merry-go round, and great seafood. There are other family and dog-friendly beaches nearby too, such as Escalles, Wissant, Wimereux and Berck.

The most direct driving routes from Calais go via either Paris, or via Rouen and Chartres.
Note that to drive in some French cities which have low emissions zones, such as Paris, you’ll need a Crit’Air sticker. It’s cheap and easy to get from the French government website, and covers the lifetime of the vehicle: remember to order one in good time for your trip.

There are loads of route options via sight-seeing of your choice of focus be it history, nature, or children’s activities. It’s possible to find many lovely stopping places relatively close to the autoroute.

We enjoy dog walking in ancient woodlands: many have good flat carparks and well-maintained paths. We like the forest at Isle d’Adam near Paris, and the beautiful woodland directly south of Chateauroux. Chateauroux also has historic sites, good food, and L’ilot Z’enfants – a fun inflatables park for energetic children. Having shopped for a picnic in Chateauroux we like to stop at the Lac de Saint Pardoux: an extensive park with woodland, open areas, swimming pool with slides, sandy beach with lifeguarded swimming, a huge lake with pedaloes and kayaks for hire, an aquapark with inflatables, a high ropes course and children’s playground. Parking is free and you can stay as long as you like: we normally have to tear ourselves away after lunch! Before arriving at Lafage we stop for a big shop either in Cahors or more locally in Montcuq – having made the trip a fun start to our holiday!

Train - Cahors is the nearest large railway station with car hire available at the station.

Cyclists:
Keen cyclists tell us it’s possible to take their bikes on the train to Monsempron Libos or Cahors and there is a lockable cellar at Lafage where you can store your bikes. There is also bike hire in Cahors and locally in Montcuq. Note this is a hilly region!