The holiday cottage for rent in France is in the vibrant village of Montcuq, 20 minutes drive from Cahors with its beautiful Valentre bridge. This area within the Lot, is known as Quercy. (See our Attractions Photo Gallery). There are the local Cahors wines, truffles, foie gras, and cabecou goat cheeses. Many sheep cheeses are available, including Roquefort made nearby in the Aveyron. The pilgrim route to Santiago de Compostela in Spain, passes through the village. During the summer especially, many pilgrims on foot are seen in the main street and some stay in accommodation in the village.

Close to the holiday accommodation there are local chapels with hand painted frescoes and the remains of windmills.There are jazz and music festivals, art galleries, and colourful local markets, including two a week in Montcuq itself during summer . Drop into one of the three cafes in the centre of Montcuq or go to those in neighbouring villages. There are also special celebrations for Christmas, New Year and Bastille Day in Montcuq.

Food and Wine
The south west of France (Lot / Dordogne / Perigueux) is famous for its food: confit du canard, cassoulet, foie gras, truffles and saffron are all specialties of the region. The Romans introduced wine making to the area and it remains the source of some of the best wine in France. Cherries are grown in the region in June, followed by peaches, melons and table grapes through the summer to nuts in the autmn. French food in this region can make your vacation rental something special.

One of the advantages of the Lot is that it unlike the Dordogne, even though there are lots of 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.

The gite, is overlooked by the tall 11th century Donjon or Keep (fortressed lookout) of Montcuq village and from the top you can see the whole unspoilt valley. You can see the tower lit up at night from the rear terrace of the cottage. With its vibrant village life and many cafes but not too steep streets, it is a charming way to experience the real French way of life from your holiday accommodation. It has a very large weekly market on Sunday mornings right through the year, and another on Thursday in summer.

Surrounding the gite are unspoilt valleys with sweeping fields of grassland, sunflowers and grapes. The roadside verges and meadows are home to wild flowers. Temperatures in the area are around 10 - 22C in April, through to days in the 30s in July and August. Nearby the holiday house is the local Plan d'Eau (recreation lake) where you can swim and picnic at the beach. The population of the village is around 1200, and including the surrounding canton is nearly 4000.

The accommodation (holiday house, holiday cottage, gite, vacation rental, ferienhaus or somerhaus as it is known, depending on the language) is uniquely placed, in the Lot which is in turn in the Midi Pyrenees in South West France, allowing easy access to the Dordogne, Correze, Aveyron, Tarn, Lot et Garonne, Tarn et Garonne, and Aquitane or Cahors, Toulouse and Bordeaux, all within an hour and a half's easy drive away. If you would like to rent the cottage go to the prices page for a booking form.

In and around this village in France are antique shops, broacante markets, galleries and art and pottery exhibitions. During the summer most villages and towns also have an exhibition featuring artists of their village or town.

The Australian owner of the gite is also a water colour / watercolor artist who paints pictures of the Midi Pyrenees and Quercy in particular.

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