Hot weather

Its been a bit slow in starting but the summer has well and truly arrived so our guests here at le Deux Platanes can enjoy the garden, shade from the two magnificent plaine trees and the two terraces. It is however a constant task to keep all the flowers watered especially when the temperatures reach 30c plus. Once again  this year we have entered the regional holiday cottage flower garden competition and we hope our efforts will at least allow us into the finalists. The secret judges have, according to neighbors been twice already and Maureen did spot a lady taking a photo from the other side of the fence....was this a secret judge?

There is nothing better than enjoying a lazy breakfast on the lovely terrace directly in front of the cottage. A good local baker is highly respected and we have one of the best in Clion and another two in Chatillon. The French are extremely loyal to butchers and bakers and so we are to ours. We believe the ficells and viennoisserie are the best and our regular pre-breakfast trips to buy bread etc often means our guests have very fresh bread etc hanging on the door handle when they awake in the morning.

We are currently offering 10% off all 2017 bookings for the first week if reserved before the end of November 2016 and our prices are staying the same for 2017.

Gilbert and Sullivan - flowers that bloom in the spring!

Yes we are now leaving the spring weather behind and hopefully summer has arrived?  This spring has not been the best on record here in central France however the 400 plus tiny plug plants bought in April are now well established in the cottage garden and they do look magnificent. Many are still to come out or develop further. We have once again entered the regional competition for the best holiday home garden and hopefully we stand some chance.....we live in hope. The many gardens that enter the competition are judged by visiting 'secret' persons unknown however we did spot a couple who arrived last week and they took notes and a photo.....was this one of the secret visits?

The garden has two terraces for guests to use, this one with a canopy

The wall outside the cottage complete with flowers and 'model cottage'

 Our photographer friend Peter was here recently so we have taken the opportunity to take a range of new higher quality photos of the cottage that will eventually go onto this website and also onto the other websites we use for publicity. I have included a small number of the new photos below.

Note the strategically placed bottle of wine!

The fireplace in the cottage, not required as the temperature today is 27c

Repainted gates now compete with small painted cottage

The cottage 'Rose Room' . House slippers and dressing gowns are provided!

The 'Blue Room' with French style bedding

A new addition for 2016 is a wine barrel and two vines

Maureen as you may have spotted also offers meals as required. This year many guests have requested a meal from the menu (download from this website and available in the cottage as hard copy) . Last weeks guests requested a dinner on arrival and selected: 

Amuse Bouche – Maureen’s surprise !

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Avocado & prawn salad with walnut oil dressing

Fresh salad leaves from our garden, avocado tossed in lemon juice and large prawns all with Maureen’s special walnut oil** vinaigrette.

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Magret de Canard with Berrichon lentils

Classic French dish consisting of a generous planche fried

French duck breast thinly sliced and served on a bed of locally

produced green Berrichon lentils** gently cooked with garlic,

lardons and fine onions

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Fruit tartelette

A traditional French glazed tartlet served with cream or crème fraiche or ice cream. accompanied by a small glass of Coteaux du Layon**

Avocado and prawn salad