This Australian artist's holiday cottage (known in France as a gite) or vacation rental in the Lot / Dordogne, South West France has blue shutters and tiled floors, but with all modern conveniences and a fully equipped kitchen for self-catering. The gite is well placed on the edge of a busy medieval market village with good 'commerces'. The holiday rental is also double-glazed and well heated for a winter let /rental in France.

• average of 2,000 hours of sunshine per year
• plenty to see and do, but surprisingly and thankfully still no mass tourism in the Lot
• free wireless high speed broadband internet for your laptop (in season)
• phone and English TV
• all linen and towels inclusive (no extra charges)
• view and rose garden around the gite terrace
• picnic set inside cottage
• off street parking
• for up to 4 people (rates for one couple also)
• no foreign currency payments necessary for guests from the following countries: Australia, New Zealand, U.K., U.S.A. and Canada.
• timeless pictoresque French villages
• French gastronomy - foie gras, truffles, cassoulet, duck dishes, Roquefort cheese, markets
• 1,550 miles of rivers and torrents including the Canal du Midi in region
• prehistoric caves (Pech Merle, Padirac ...)
• this region in France has 17,000 kilometers of marked walking paths
• this department alone has more than 450 protected historicall sites and several World Heritage listed buildings, bridges and villages.

From this vacation rental not only will you enjoy the calm of cottage accommodation set in the country in South West France , near Cahors, where you can unwind, but you will have all the life of a thriving French village close at hand. During the summer why not enjoy the wine this region of France has to offer outside on the terrace of the gite or under the trees in an idyllic garden setting? What about planning a special Christmas or New Year in SW France?

Go to the Sunday morning market (and Thursday in summer) in our village of Montcuq, the Lot, and discover what food used to taste like. This region is famous in France for its food.

(Click on images below to zoom)

There are two bedrooms in the holiday cottage; one with a king size bed and the other with a king size bed or two singles, ideal for up to 4 adults (or we have a tariff for couples only). The beds are quality supportive models.

There is plenty of outdoor furniture; table and chairs with parasol and sunloungers at the holiday house.

The large dining area inside the gite boasts a refectory table that seats 6 while the sitting area is furnished with a leather couch and linen covered chairs. We feel it is very important to have somewhere comfortable to sit when you need to relax after a day's sightseeing or to simply spend a quiet day. The bathroom has a shower over the hot tub. There are French doors leading outside the accommodation to the terrace and the garden, from the kitchen and the living room. In the kitchen of the gite there is a washing machine for use by guests.

To find the local yummy French cheeses, foie gras (from Lot / Dordogne / Perigueux), pates,truffles, duck confit and Cahors wine you have many choices. If you are interested in some classes in French cuisine, this can be arranged for you, nearby. Remember to get up a little earlier from the cottage in France on Sunday so you do not miss the weekly morning market, one of the "100 plus beaux" markets in France. This market is open every Sunday of the year including in winter. There are special activities in the region for December, Christmas and New Year, aswell. There are also antique markets, 'vide greniers', art exhibitions, concerts, theatre, jazz, blues, african music and festivals and fetes of varying sorts in ours or surrounding villages.

Unfortunately, in just a week or fortnight, you will be able to do little more than sample what the area has to offer.

The holiday cottage is situated in Montcuq: a calm but vibrant real French village, unlike some in South West France which are now deserted except for weekend tourists and which also have no commerces (shops).

Just a short walk away from the holiday house is the local supermarket which although small, is excellent. In the centre of the village, less than a kilometre away from the vacation rental are three bakeries, an English bookshop, newsagents (with foreign language newspapers), post office, pharmacy, internet mediatheque, banks, 2 charcuteries/boucheries (delicatessen and butchers) a wine cellar, 3 cafes and several other shops, open all year including winter.

The cottage is uniquely placed, in the Lot which is in turn in the Midi Pyrenees in South West France, allowing easy access to Cahors, to the Dordogne, Correze, Aveyron, Tarn, Lot et Garonne, Tarn et Garonne, and Aquitane or Toulouse and Bordeaux, all within an easy hour and a half's drive away away. If you would like to rent the cottage, go to the price page for a booking form.

One of the advantages of the Lot is that it unlike the Dordogne and certain other places in France, even though there are stunning things to see and do, it is never heaving with tourists and the roads are always quite empty so you can consider a summer holiday here, without worrying about crowds.

July and August, in South West France, are months of summer festivities, , with concerts and fetes in the village and France in general. September is balmy and October/November bring autumn colours. December brings truffles in Quercy. The cottage is very comfortable for a winter rental also.

Each time of the year, brings alternative benefits, festivals and activities. Enjoy a spring in France with its lovely flowers. New spring growth or autumn colours in the Lot Valley are so attractive. The garden around the holiday cottage in France is filled with massed Lily of the Valley, tulips, daffodils, hyacinths and other bulbs from February to April. Roses line the driveway and the rear terrace and are in bloom from May until November. There are many trees in the garden; table grape vines, climbing roses and wisteria growing around the gite.

If you want to have a swim, the Plan d'Eau with its white sand beach (and French lifeguard!) is within walking distance of the holiday house and the village swimming pool is just around the corner. (Please bring your own swimming towels.)

The vacation home is available to rent or home exchange all year round including winter. Look also on the prices page for the availability button for this cottage in the Lot / Dordogne.

If you are interested in buying a house in this region of S W France we can offer a service (June to September/October). We speak French and have a large number of contacts in the area.

There are various ways to arrive at your vacation accommodation in South West France, besides by car. There is an International Airport just over an hour’s drive away at Toulouse (also Bergerac and Rodez). You could arrive by train to Cahors station, about 20 minutes away or lease a car (different from hire or rental car) before you leave your country of departure.

If you need it, we can arrange a pick up from Toulouse airport (for 2/3 people) or Cahors to the vacation rental and back. We are no longer able to arrange a rental car in the village, but we can send you details of how to contact local car hire places in Cahors. Pick-up of cars must be before noon Saturday at all car hire places in Cahors, or another time with prior arrangement, which is quite normal.

The Australian owner of the cottage in France is an artist specialising in watercolours / watercolors. When the Australian owners are in France, they live in an adjoining apartment so you are not without assistance in English should you want it.

Classified by the Comité Départemental du Tourisme du Lot

Copyright © 2001- 09 A Spot In France
E-mail :
ABN 97543191510