Pyrenees gite, Languedoc Roussillon, France

We were the first family with children to move into our village for over twenty years and are active members of our community, by being so we play an albeit small part in keeping the community alive. By using local tradesmen and shopping locally we contribute to the local economy. When buying equipment for our Pyrenees gite we buy locally.

When looking at the history of our town we wanted to carry on traditions that had died out and also utilise the resources that exist here. As this was an important wool producing area we decided to farm llamas. As our herd increases we will be able to use the one remaining wool spinning factory here and thus hopefully contribute to our community even more. As the industry here declined the town has attempted to promote tourism using the strengths of this beautiful place. Placed on a little walked part of the GR-7 we use our llamas as pack animals taking people on guided walks into the mountains.

On our walks we serve as unofficial litter pickers, there's not much but it's so sad to find bits of plastic in the woods and we always bring it home with us. We attend the local carnival and any other local events with our llamas as part of our community...It's been lovely over the years to become part of these events and to overhear people talking about 'our llamas' and confidently telling outsiders all about llamas even if what they say is not always accurate...

In times when we have excess produce from our gardens we quite often do midnight dumps in our village leaving selections of vegetables on the doorsteps of neighbours who can no longer maintain gardens themselves (this is fun!). We adhere to the principles of reduce/reuse/recycle wherever and whenever we can both in our own lives and in the management of our accommodation.

We have woodland that we manage both to maintain the wildlife living there and also to provide a sustainable fuel source for heating.

Our Pyrenees gite was never designed as a house for full time living although you will find it very comfortable for your holiday this avoids the issue of reducing accommodation that might otherwise be occupied by a local family.

We take every opportunity we can to promote this area, we are passionate about the area and the people who live here this is because it is just fantastic. By providing very comprehensive information on local facilities we hope that we can persuade you to shop, eat and play here.