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Our
recently restored gîtes, situated in a beautiful
Auvergnat hamlet in the Livradois Forez National
Park, are immaculately presented.
Each comes with
every convenience for the perfect French ‘vacance’.
The village, Le Vernet la Varenne is a five minute
car ride or fifteen minute bike ride away and boasts
a butchers, bakers, small supermarket, doctor,
dentist and bar, it also has a pretty
bathing lake with a life guard and pedaloes. Le
Vernet has morning market every second Monday, ideal
for savouring French village life.
Those of you who have seen the award winning
film Être et Avoir,
may find your surroundings familiar. The school
which features
in the film is
only 3
kms from La Vachère.
Within easy striking distance
of our hamlet there
are numerous excellent restaurants. La Bergerie
de Sarpoil is one of the best restaurants in the
Auvergne and is a 10 minute drive away. Not only
is the food and service excellent, the menu covers
every price range. The Civadoux is a real country
auberge, beautifully situated, again at most a
10 minute drive. The auberge serves excellent regional
food. Worth noting
is the fact that the Civadoux serves some very
tasty artisan beers which are, of course, brewed
in the Auvergne. The town of Sauxillanges 10 kilometres
away has some fine restaurants and a Tuesday
morning market. Nearby are the villages of Usson
and St
Genès la Tourette. Usson is a hilltop village
that has been awarded the title of "one of
the most beautiful villages in France", it
is worth a visit, and has a very good restaurant "Auberge
de Margot (phone - 04737 19792). In nearby St
Genès la Tourette is Bar St Thomas run by
John Scannell, it has a very welcoming
atmosphere , and an excellent well priced menu
(phone - 04737
12831). It is always advisable to phone and book
when eating out in France.
The principal town of the region,
Issoire, is a twenty minute drive away and has
a pretty pedestrian
shopping centre beside the beautiful Romanesque
church of St. Austremoine. Issoire has an
excellent regional market every Saturday. The range
and quality of local
produce is superb; not surprising since the Auvergne
is home to more appellation contrôlée cheeses
than any other region of France.
As well as the Saturday
market, Issoire has several small specialist
shops dotted about the medieval
town and three large and very well stocked supermarkets.
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