Gattieres self catering apartment, France
| country: | France |
| location: | Gattieres, Provence |
| price: | From €600 - €900 for the apartment (sleeps 3) per week. Price includes linen and electricity. Excludes refundable damage deposit. |
description
This spacious garden apartment is on the ground floor of the French owners’ villa. The property is south facing with panoramic views over the wide valley of the River Var, the mountains, and towards the sea in the distance.
The apartment has its own entrance and a lovely private terrace overlooking the swimming pool. The pool is larger than average for a private house. There are loungers, garden furniture for outdoor meals and a portable barbecue. This is one of our most popular apartments; we have been letting it for a number of years and have many clients return year after year.
Nice is about 15km and the old town is lively and picturesque. There are also excellent restaurants on the beach all along the Promenade des Anglais. The city’s museums would be of great interest to art lovers: Musées Matisse and Chagall.
The property is well placed for exploring the many inland villages perched in dramatic such as Tourettes-sur-Loup and Gourdon. The coastal towns of Antibes, Villefranche and St-Jean-Cap-Ferrat are a short drive and it is only about an hour’s drive to Italy: there is an excellent market at Ventimiglia every Friday.
The apartment has its own entrance and a lovely private terrace overlooking the swimming pool. The pool is larger than average for a private house. There are loungers, garden furniture for outdoor meals and a portable barbecue. This is one of our most popular apartments; we have been letting it for a number of years and have many clients return year after year.
special things to do and see here
There is much to visit in this area: Vence, about 9km, is a lively and interesting town with chic shops, lots of cafés on the old town square, art galleries and good restaurants. Matisse’s Chapelle de Rosaire is also in Vence. Saint-Paul-de-Vence, about 12km, is a pretty hill top village with a world famous restaurant, La Colombe d’Or. Saint Paul has many contemporary art galleries, the largest and most famous being the Fondation Maeght which has a superb collection both indoors and outdoors. Nice is about 15km and the old town is lively and picturesque. There are also excellent restaurants on the beach all along the Promenade des Anglais. The city’s museums would be of great interest to art lovers: Musées Matisse and Chagall.
The property is well placed for exploring the many inland villages perched in dramatic such as Tourettes-sur-Loup and Gourdon. The coastal towns of Antibes, Villefranche and St-Jean-Cap-Ferrat are a short drive and it is only about an hour’s drive to Italy: there is an excellent market at Ventimiglia every Friday.
rooms, food and facilities
There is a spacious open-plan living/dining room which has French windows opening onto the terrace. It has comfortable furniture, with a sofa bed, television (satellite) and a radio cassette player. The kitchen area is separated from this room by a counter bar; it is well equipped with fridge-freezer, 4-ring electric hob, microwave and electric kettle. There is one bedroom with a wide double bed, 160cm, which has lovely views, and there is a shower room with washing machine and there is a separate W.C. Walking: The village of Gattières itself, with its winding narrow streets, is best explored on foot. Indeed, the surrounding area is renowned for its extensive hiking trails. The well known GR51 crosses Gattières, for those who enjoy serious walking. The owners are great walkers and will gladly provide details of these circuits.
how to find us
The property is in a great location for clients who are coming from Nice airport, as it is an easy 20-minute drive. The apartment is about 800m from Gattières village – it is a steep walk home.how this holiday makes a difference
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The owners of this garden apartment are very keen to reduce the negative impact of tourism on the environment and to promote good practice. When tenants arrive they indicate the nearby recycling collection point for paper, plastic and glass. There are composting facilities for garden waste which tenants are encouraged to use. The property has solar panels for heating the water and rainwater is recycled for watering the garden.
The owners are also very knowledgeable about the local flora and fauna, particularly butterflies, and would be delighted to discuss these with any tenants who share this interest. Although this property is only 20 minutes from the centre of Nice in the busy Côte d’Azur region, visitors are able to enjoy and appreciate traditional village life in the ancient medieval village of Gattières. This village has retained its authenticity and the owners provide detailed information about the local shops, farmers’ markets and restaurants as they want visitors to sample the delicious locally produced food. The area is renowned for its superb fruit and vegetables (cherries, peppers, aubergines etc) grown on the sunny plains of the Var valley. Also, in the village there are arts and crafts workers producing beautiful silk paintings and wrought iron work and a potter who has designed a beautiful garden displaying her sculpture. The owners employ a cleaner to look after the property. All this, along with renting the property, injects money into the local economy and supports life in rural France. Although a car is necessary to get to the property, there is a good bus service for exploring the area and timetables are provided at the property. It is also very easy to explore the coast by train: from Nice station the train stops in the centre of all the Riviera towns. We support a range of charities and projects in France and worldwide which provide aid to vulnerable communities and habitats, e.g. ASSOHUMA, a French charity which organises trips taking humanitarian and medical aid to women in Afghanistan and families in remote Sénégal; Shared Interest, a co-operative lending society which provides funding for Third World producers. Our office in Devon is in a redundant agricultural building which we re-built using reclaimed, traditional materials. We support the Devon Wildlife Trust and we have nest boxes and feeding stations in the office grounds to encourage the birds. Our water for the office comes from a spring and is pumped by a water-powered ram. We do not produce a paper brochure; our bookings and enquiries are handled by email and all our office paper and printing cartridges are re-cycled. Our shredded documents go on the compost heap. |
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