Our Dordogne holiday villa, gite, rental near Hautefort - Le Baradis
Le Baradis from the rear
Le Baradis is a substantial five bedroomed and three bathroomed stone house dating from 1788 which easily sleeps 10 people (in three doubles, two twin bedrooms plus two additional 'Z' beds for children and cot if required). The house is in a very peaceful setting at the edge of the hamlet of St Pardoux d'Ans surrounded by fields and vineyards and just a short stroll from the Auvezère river. St Pardoux d'Ans is in the commune of St Pantaly d'Ans in the beautiful Dordogne area of South West France, just 24kms from the region's capital Périgueux.
The house is of typical Périgordine construction and has over 220 sq metres of habitable space including it's own pigeonnier tower*. The walls are constructed in local stone and are 2' 3" thick. The roof of the house has the characteristic double slope of properties in the region; to allow for easy run off of snow in the winter and still has the original hand made clay tiles.
Le Baradis from the front
Outside we have a quarter of an acre of enclosed garden with lawns, shady areas under the trees, roses, peonies, irises, poppies and herbs. The front of the house is particularly pretty with trumpet vine and grape vines intertwined and scrambling over the porch and upstairs windows. There is a large 'Australian style' gas bar-b-que together with table, chairs and parasol.
At the bottom of the garden we have a very large garage which has a full size table tennis table.
Although there isn't a swimming pool at the house there are open air swimming pools (for both adults and young children) in Tourtoirac and Excideuil. The pools at Tourtoirac are at Les Tourterelles and cost €2.50 per person - there is a life guard on duty ('speedo style' swimming trunks should be worn). In Cubjac (8 minutes in the opposite direction) there is river swimming with a safe sandy beach that is perfect for young children. Ten minutes from the house, at Hautefort, there is a large lake (L'etang du Coucou) where we swim. Please note, L'etang du Coucou does not have supervised bathing. 15 minutes further (at Rouffiac) you will find one of the biggest recreational lakes in the Dordogne. The recreational centre at Rouffiac offers a large variety of watersports from supervised bathing, kayaking, canoeing etc to the only cable water ski centre in the Aquitaine region.
Would you like a meal ready for your arrival, or after a long day sightseeing during your stay? Or are you celebrating a special occassion? If so, we can arrange for a cordon bleu qualified chef to prepare a meal for you at Le Baradis. From a simple supper to a five course dinner party for 20 including wines. Regional recipes are used with locally sourced, organic produce.
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* During the hundred years war, pigeons could only be kept by individuals who had the approval of the King. This meant that, in practice, only the wealthy courtiers were able to keep pigeons and hence own the Pigeonnier Towers that housed them. The Pigeonniers became a status symbol that indicated wealth and connections in the highest places. When the rules for keeping pigeons were relaxed at the end of the hundred years war there was a stampede to acquire these status symbol additions. It became 'de rigeur' to own a 'pigeonnier' - hence the number of them that you see throughout the Dordogne and Lot et Garonne regions.