1. If you would like further information about availability of accommodation in the holiday house or vacation rental in France, you can email the Australian owners at or phone us +33 9 52 70 09 33 from 17 May. Availability can also be found on the prices page. We also have Skype: spotinfrance but it is probably better to email us to make a time to talk first. When not in France we are based in Melbourne, Australia.

2. While most of the booking for the gite or cottage can be conducted on the web, credit cards will not be accepted. If you are based in Australia, UK, US, Canada or NZ, you will be able to deposit money in a local bank account, otherwise you will need to arrange to wire Euros to our French bank account.

Other useful contacts (for travellers and artists)

We have found that it is often better to break the plane flight to Europe with a stop of a few days in Asia or North America. Star Alliance has a special fare for little more than the usual discount economy fare which allows access to more than just Singapore or Bangkok, and includes Hong Kong and Japan. Other carriers also offer stops via certain other places which can add to the interest of your trip to the cottage in France. If you fly into Frankfurt or Munich with Star Alliance a trip to Toulouse is included in the fare and you do not have the hassle of changing airports. Within Europe there are plenty of countries to visit beyond France and Italy, while they may not be so rich in treasures of the past, none the less can provide unexpected interest. A round-the-world ticket can give you amazing access.

Landscape architecture and garden design in Australia and New Zealand by Botanical Traditions, Melbourne.

Cooking classes in the Lot, France with a starred chef.

From Bangkok you can easily take a short trip to World Heritage listed Lijiang (and Baisha) in Yunnan, China

If you stop in Kyoto, Japan for example, you can find reasonable accommodation once you arrive by going to the Tourist Bureau who can book you (in English) a local ryokan at a reasonable price.

Stop in HongKong for some shopping.

Fabulous food and handcrafts in Hungary.

If you are interested in buying real estate in the Lot, France while you are staying at the gite, there is a very good real estate agent (where English is spoken), or immobilier as it is known in France, in the village. They are most helpful and cover quite a wide area.

For those of you who are artists, hand made easels are available internationally, from Jeff Lacey, in a choice of many beautiful Australian woods.

For those of you trying to make an environmental difference in and around your property, perhaps with grey water systems, solar hot water system and rain water tanks, there are current technologies that you can use right now, to assist in the dryest inhabited continent on earth.

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