Kitchen facilities
The kitchen adjoins the dining room, allowing food preparation to extend through to the huge dining table - and share the tasks! There is :-
• a stainless steel sink
• fridge freezer
• cooker with oven
The utility room is off the courtyard and provides laundry facilities and plenty of space to stow your walking gear. The boiler is also in the utility room.
External facilities
Cheneviere is accessed along a private drive and has many interesting features. The location provides panoramic views across the rolling hills towards the nearby hilltop white villages. You could spend time gazing across the hills and working out your next walk or bike ride:-
• A stocked fishing lake
• vines, fruit trees
• A distillery
• Horses
• A donkey
• Chickens, ducks and rabbits
• Bread/pizza oven
• Cycles available
Special features
Furnished with a bewildering selection of antiques in the 'grand style', staying at Cheneviere will rouse your interests in antiques at local suppliers. Or you may choose to visit at the end of October when there is the 'Salon d'Antiquaires' at nearby Chalais. You could extend your day in Chalias with lunch or dinner at the restaurant in the chateau (accessed across the drawbridge).
Another historic visit would be to Villebois Lavalette, where there is a fortified chateau with panoramic views and a spectacular covered marketplace (les halles) which hosts the weekly Saturday market.
Local activities
In the area you will find open air swimming pools, horse riding, canoeing on rivers (Dronne or Charente), river trips on the Charente, museums, walks, quad biking, tennis and golf courses. There are very good tourism offices at Chalais and Aubeterre. Angouleme has the huge Nautilus pool complex next to a large recreational lake with sailing, windsurfing and supervised swimming. Juignac village has its own ‘route de Sante’
Rich in culture and history, there are many places that should be on your list to visit:-
o The markets in the area – Chalais and Riberac
o Aubeterre – one of the prettiest villages in France and with the largest subterranean church in Europe, and the popular river beach.
o Chalais – Chateau Talleyrand with its craft exhibition
o Angouleme – the cathedral, market, the alleyways of the ‘ Old Town’ and the national museum of ‘strip cartoons’ (many images on buildings around the city)
o Cognac – Martell distillery is a great visit. Small and accessible town
Nearest beach:
10
Nearest airport:
90
Nearest port:
520
Nearest supermarket:
4
Location
The farm is an impressive building. The stone archway leading to the cobbled courtyard, with the well in the middle, introduces you to a bewildering range of features for the discerning holidaymaker hoping to find the ‘real France’.
Set in the rolling Charente countryside, you can choose to visit surrounding areas, or stay put and drink in the rural France that attracts us all time after time. The gite is large enough for evryone to s[pread out and find their own special corner.
Living rooms
Half of the main farmhouse has been refurbished with real care and furnished with a breathtaking selection of antiques, to provide an individual self-contained gite.
On the ground floor there is:-
• Separate entrance to gite from courtyard, with ample parking
• Hallway with WC
• Large salon with french doors opening onto south facing walled garden and the cobbled courtyard
• Large dining room with refurbished stone fireplace and French doors opening onto south facing walled garden and cobbled courtyard. The large solid dining table will easily seat 10
• Kitchen, newly tiled and fitted with appliances, off the dining room
• Study, off the dining room
Bedrooms
Private stairway leads to first floor landing which runs along the whole floor and accesses the bedrooms. All first floor bedrooms face over the large and private south facing walled garden. The rooms are spacious and light with high ceilings and ornate fireplaces:-
• 2 double bedrooms one with en-suite facilities (WC and washbasin)
• 1 twin bedroom
• Shower room with new cubicle, WC and antique marble washstand
• Snuggled under the eaves there is additional family bedroom accommodation with a double bed and 2 singles. This would be ideal for a family with young children wanting to spread out over a large area. The en-suite bathroom next to the bedroom has a fully tiled walk in shower, full size bath and antique washstand
The farm also has a private and safe walled garden for the gite