The Owners...

Caroline and Christina live in a converted barn behind the cottage and will offer you a warm welcome - but thereafter leave you in peace!

They discovered this part of the Charente Maritime quite by chance whilst visiting friends for a long weekend.   It was June, and they'd be the first to admit they were seduced by the sight of hollyhocks glowing against faded paintwork and stone walls...  The coastal light and rolling landscape made it instantly appealing.

Being keen gardeners, they realised the climate would be ideal for growing things all through the year, without being unbearably hot in summer.  Now the garden is full of roses, hollyhocks, lavender, hibiscus, poppies, scabious and many other self-seeding annuals.

Christina is a clock restorer, with an eye for antiques, who ran her own business for 25 years and now enjoys visiting brocantes, finding the odd clock to bring back to life.  Caroline admits to having got through a number of different jobs - in photography, magazine publishing and latterly at the BBC - and has almost worn out her digital camera since arriving in France five years ago.

Restoring an old property has been every bit as exciting and agonising as portrayed on TV in recent years, and if anyone is thinking of taking the plunge they can highly recommend this area.