This beautifully restored former grain store is now an idyllic retreat for a family of 3-5 either as a few night's stop off en route to or from the South or a longer stay enjoying French village life and exploring the Loire region.
Owners and British ex-pats, Alex and Nicole brought up their two daughters in the area and are well-versed in how to make a stay in the region as fun and relaxing as possible with little people in tow. They converted the barn with families in mind and stocked it with plenty of baby kit, even creating a dedicated 'cot room' in addition to the well-sized double and twin bedrooms. A basket of toys and books keeps little ones occupied whilst parents relax with morning coffee and pastries or evening drinks on the lovely, south-facing, balcony. Its the perfect way to wind-down after a busy day exploring the area by car, or using bikes and child seats provided. Although, there's no need to venture far since the heart of the village with its handy boulangerie, grocery stores, bistros and heated open-air pool (open July & August) is with a short stroll from the apartment's private street entrance. Not to mention that there are play areas, picnic spots and traffic-free paths for walking and cycling within a few minutes from the front door and linking to many pretty villages all within a few miles of each other.
Chezania really is a lovely spot to enjoy a truly relaxing taste of genuine French village life. So much so, it seems a shame to only stay a few nights en route to a longer holiday in the South, four of five days would really do it justice.
Accommodation Overview:
Chezania Appartement is a duplex apartment with a street-level entrance opening onto a light, bright, double-height living space complete with comfortable sofa seating, a smart TV to stream Netflix etc, a dining table for six and an open-plan kitchen with all mod cons (oven, hob, microwave, kettle, toaster, coffee machine, fridge freezer etc.). A downstairs shower room (baby bath provide) also houses a handy washing machine whilst upstairs there's a further shower room, twin bedroom, cot room and spacious double bedroom with Juliet balconies. Light, bright and airy in Summer, the apartment is equally cosy in cooler months thanks to its thick stone walls, central heating and cosy log burner. The spacious balcony off teh lounge is a fabulously sunny spot for al fresco eating and is furnished with table and chairs for four.
The apartment is within a few minutes stroll of the heart of the pretty and historic town of le Grand Pressigny with its charming shops, bistros, bars and community open-air swimming pool (open in July & August). Alex & Nicole are happy loan guest bikes on which they can explore the quiet, relatively traffic free lanes around the area of simply nip out for a pre-breakfast trip to the local boulangerie!
For non-cyclists, there are many marked walking routes (randonnee), one of the most child friendly of which takes walkers around the back of the chateau at le Grand Pressigny, through the woods and wild flower meadows and back into town for a reward in the form of ice-cream and coffee stop. Alternatively, from June -August, cool off in the town's heated outdoor pool, which has paddling areas for babies and toddlers.
The multi pool, multi slide complex at nearby Descartes (10mins drive) will prove even more tempting for older children and can be combined with a visit to the town's Sunday morning market. Soak up the atmosphere from the one of the cafe's with outdoor seating. Delicious pastries can be scoffed from the neighbouring patisserie while you watch the world go by. The market is a great place to stock up with local produce or buy a picnic and head to the river and the fantastic public gardens with animals, play park, crazy golf, outdoor pool, rose garden, herb garden all laid out in a pushchair friendly way allowing children freedom to run ahead.
There are plenty of good traditional French bistros in the villages surrounding Chezania Appartement, most are at their most animated best during lunchtime service starting at midday - perfect for a meal with young children. Kiddie favourites are Grand’ma in le Grand Pressigny and Café de la Poste in nearby Barrou both serve great local food and are quite happy for little cherubs to be crayoning on the paper table mats between courses! Even more casual and just as delicious is 'Forza Pizza' night in le Grand Pressigny (Sats). A very unassuming mobile van arrives in the village square and offers hand-made, cooked to order pizza’s. Place an order, then sit back with your aperitif outside the bar opposite and wait to be called whilst the children play with the table-foot in the bar or outside on the wide paved area.
Alex & Nicole can also advise on and book various other activities from local Cookery workshops, golf or spa treatments at la Roche Posay, horse riding, canoeing, and even hot air ballooning over the Loire Valley chateaux. Alex himself offers fishing guiding and has over 25years Angling experienence.
Getting There:
The airports at Tours & Poiters are within an hour's drive, whilst La Rochelle and Limoges Airports are about 2hrs away by car.
Ferry terminals at St Malo, Le Havre and Cherbourg are within about 4.5hrs drive , whilst Calais is about 6hrs away by car.
Click to enlarge
Check-in time: 16:00
Check-out time: 10:00
Reservation Deposit: EUR0.00 per week
Balance: 56 days prior to arrival
Check-in time: 16:00
Check-out time: 10:00
Reservation Deposit: EUR0.00 per week
Balance: 56 days prior to arrival
Minimum 2nts Stay Year-Round
Arrival: , Departure:
Price: EUR
5 nights for the price of 4: 03 Jun 2022 to 30 Jun 2022
2 guests: 20% (18 Jun 2022 to 31 Jul 2022) minimum of 4 nights , 3 guests: 15% (18 Jun 2022 to 31 Jul 2022) minimum of 4 nights
Check-in time: 16:00
Check-out time: 10:00
Reservation Deposit: EUR0.00 per week
Balance: 56 days prior to arrival
Minimum 2nts Stay Year-Round
Arrival: , Departure:
Price: EUR
5 nights for the price of 4: 03 Jun 2022 to 30 Jun 2022
2 guests: 20% (18 Jun 2022 to 31 Jul 2022) minimum of 4 nights , 3 guests: 15% (18 Jun 2022 to 31 Jul 2022) minimum of 4 nights
We are an English family of four living in le Grand-Pressigny since Sept 2006. Our girls are now 19 & 20 years old. They speak French better than we ever will & enjoy holidays, eating out in local restaurants, cycling to the village pool, canoeing & swimming in nearby rivers & lakes & being with their friends...
Alex & I split our time between welcoming and looking after our guests & looking after local private gardens for a mixture of French, English, permanent and second home residents.
We love living in the peace & quiet of the Loire Valley countryside, where 1km by car takes about a minute & so journeys are a breeze...certainly compared to our life before France in the South East of England.
There is much more blue sky & sunshine to be seen and less grey clouds. The lack of noise & light pollution makes for some great nature spotting - owls, bats, deer and wild boar are all out there to spot and millions of stars fill the sky after dark providing a very romantic back drop to an evening of wine & local goodies.
There is a plentiful choice of great local wine and food direct from local farms or a one of the many weekly markets in local villages & towns. There are a great choice of charming local restaurants (3 in le Grand-Pressigny) which in this rural area are at their animated best at lunchtime - perfect for eating out with kids in tow. We look forward to welcoming you to stay, Alex & Nicole Crawford May 2022
Our apartment is within a couple of minutes walk from all the amenities you could need for your Loire Valley break, boulangerie, an excellent general store, weekly market, a bar/bistro, 2 restaurants, bar/cafe, village pool, chateau & museum, pharmacy & other facilities. A wander or cycle down the lane offers visitors the chance to see troglodyte cave houses, horses, cows, lots of wildlife, visit goats cheese & dairy farm.
The apartment provides a home from home to relax and the perfect base to explore the historic local towns by car or on bikes with their farmers markets, bistros & excellent public gardens all within reach but for an excellent day out we also love nearby Loches, Tours or Chinon.
The headline chateaux & vineyards of the region are all easily reachable in an hour and we are happy to help plan your route to ensure there are interesting child friendly places to stop en route - excellent play areas, places to eat, picnic spots, places to paddle & play pooh sticks!
Despite the region being internationally well known & well visited for the wine, chateaux, history & culture, the local french people are charming and you often get the feeling of having the place to yourself, no traffic, no queues make it a relaxing place to allow smaller children a little more more freedom than in busy city environments. The gentle pace of life, great local food & wine & especially the extra sunshine we often enjoy makes this an easy place to live & love.
There are plenty of places for adults to grab a quiet moment with a glass of wine & a book and plenty of room and toys for kids to play.
The balcony provides a lovely way to enjoy family meals from flaky croissants for breakfast to apéros or a cooked to order meal from the local food trucks.
The play areas - trampoline, swings, slide, football goals, swing ball, sand table, games & more are all visible from the garden courtyard but allow older children the chance to make camps & adventure!
We provide a range of bikes for you to explore the quiet lanes en famille or just to give one of you some time to escape for an hour or two. There is an excellent and wide range of novel family friendly pedal powered transport fro hire along the cycle path in the next village, situated on an island in an idyllic spot for paddling, picnic and play!
Highlight trips for kids: Chateau du Rivau, Loches market & medieval castle, Swimming in the river at Lesigny, Canoeing in the Indre or Creuse, Descartes for the farmers market & picnic in the fabulous park, swimming in the pool in Descartes park, Zoo Beauval, the forest at Preuilly sur Claise, Montresor for a walk by the river and lunch followed by and afternoon at the lake (Chemille-sur-Indrois)
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Sleeps 6 + cots in a self contained 2.5 bedroom apartment comprising a double, a twin and a nursery, plus two shower rooms and an open-plan living area with full kitchen. |
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![]() | Several airports nearby including Tours & Poiters within approx 60mins drive & Limoges or La Rochelle both within about 120mins drive, |
![]() | St Malo, Cherbourg & Le Havre are within about 4hrs drive and Calais approx. 6hrs. |
![]() | The apartment is within a short stroll of several restaurants, bistros, bakers, grocery store and weekly market plus community swimming pool (open July & August). |
![]() | A relaxing back massage, or reflexology can be arranged in the comfort of your apartment or in the local spa town of La Roche Posay. |
![]() | This baby-friendly gite offers wooden cot, travel cot, highchairs, potty, bathroom step, baby bath & baby/toddler cutlery & crockery (including sippy cups) provided |
![]() | This child-friendly gite boasts a basket of toys and books for babies and toddlers. |
![]() | The owners offer a free pre-arrival baby essentials shopping service to include nappies, wipes, baby food etc. and two food trucks offer take away twice a week with collection only a few minutes from the apartment door. |
![]() | A selection of bikes, child seats and a balance bike for tots are available on free loan |
![]() | Stairgate provided |
![]() | Balcony with dining furniture |
![]() | Wi-Fi provided |
![]() | Up to 2 highchairs and cots can be provided |
![]() | The apartment has a cosy log burner in the lounge for cooler evenings in Spring, Autumn or Winter |
Please click the text to scroll through reviews.
This is a really 'chilled out' location. You can easily spend lazy days at the Gite, relaxing in the garden. Great fun for little ones. Very quiet location. Masses of toys, books, DVDs and outdoor toys.
We loved it. The owners are on site, and pass by occasionally for a friendly chat, but are far from intrusive, makes for perfect holiday.
We; me, my husband and our 6-year-old daughter, stayed in Saule gite for 7 nights in July. We arrived on a Sunday evening and really appreciated the welcome pack of food left in the fridge for us; cafetiere coffee, proper milk (not UHT!) eggs from the resident chickens, peaches, tomatoes, wine.
The garden is very large and beautiful; chickens, herbs, flowers, vegetables, lots of green lawn for playing, swings, trampoline. And a very cute kitten!
The setting is so quiet, surrounded by farmland, but a 5 min drive to the village which has a boulangerie, post office, bookshop/newsagents, little supermarket, butcher and weekly market, church, restaurants, bars, plus a fantastic prehistoric museum which has an interactive festival annually.
Really helpful info folder in the gite with advice on local produce, places to see etc. We visited Loches, medieval town, a chateau (many chateaux in this region) open air pool in Descartes. Nicole and Ale ...
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We really enjoyed our stay and the boys had plenty to do. Great welcome and hospitality.
Lovely, romantic getaway from the hustle and bustle of London. Situated in a location where you can hide away or explore to your hearts content. Kids loved it!
Everything that you could want for your baby or toddler is provided for here - just bring things you need for the journey and pack light! Superb child-friendly environment - the smallholding itself has chickens, flowers and interest a-plenty as well as all the toys, and the farms around are also a source of wonder to smaller children. Hosts Nicole and Alex are supremely helpful and their suggested itineraries, along with the wealth of information about local sites and attractions provided in the gites, can really help you make the most of even a short break.
This was the first time time we used a baby friendly property and we would definitely repeat the experience. We have been on holiday with our toddler before but this was the first occasion that my husband and I felt like we'd had a holiday. Nicole and Alex were so welcoming and had thought of everything. Loads of age appropriate toys and some great suggestions of places to visit. I especially enjoyed Nicole's home cooked meals, just delicious and a real treat not to cook.
We were really impressed with how easy Alex and Nicole have made it to get away as a family for a holiday. Everything we needed for our one year old had been thought of. The site is beautiful and the location is a great base from which to begin exploring the surrounding villages and chateaux.
Very nice spot - helpful and friendly owners, beautiful garden, very relaxing location.
great place, owners lovely..and fab food if you dont feel like cooking ..even better a cosy little bar on site.... happy days!
Excellent accomodation in a superb location. Very baby friendly for our toddler (2,5years) and baby (11months) whilst being adult friendly too. Highly recommend. Superb hosts.
My husband and I and our 4 year old daughter have just
returned from an idyllic stay in Chêne cottage, les Limornières. I cannot
praise Nicole and Alex enough for the wonderful setting they have created and
their warm hospitality, les Limornières is simply magical and Chêne cottage was
just perfect for us. On arrival Nicole and Alex had provided us with bread and
cheeses, red wine, milk, jam, eggs; they were even thoughtful enough to drop
over a bottle of fizzy for my husband's birthday. There were toys, books and
DVD's in abundance for our little girl within the cottage and she has come home
requesting new 'heart' bed linen just like she had at the gîte. Outside, where
she spent most of her time, the grounds are large and great to run around, ride
a bike or space hopper between the chickens, vegetable patches, swings, slide
and trampoline. There are a few farms around that you can walk to to buy fresh
dairy produce; Les Limornièr ...
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We recently spent a week in Saule cottage - Les Limonieres and would recommend it to anybody. The setting is gorgeous, the accommodation superb and the Crawfords were the perfect hosts, always going that extra mile to make sure we had everything we needed. In terms of travelling with a young child it was about as stress free as it could have been. This was due to the fact that the cottage was so well equipped and stocked with all manner of age appropriate toys/books etc. This, coupled with the play barn, swings, slide, trampoline, chickens and ample space meant that there was never a dull moment for our little girl (18 months old). Amelie and Isabella were fantastic playmates too and made Eve's first holiday one to remember. Thank you!
We have just had a long weekend at ChezANIA, Les Limornieres, and we have come
back feeling refreshed and relaxed. With so many self catering holidays or
breaks for mum it feels like the same old routine just somewhere different....
This is where Nicole and Alex make a difference. All the details are thought
out, including a wonderful welcome of snacks, cheese and wine on your arrival
(seriously who has family and friends that even do that for you?!) to toys,
dvd's, games, books, bedding, cutlery, high chair etc etc for our daughter.
Mums, I highly recommend you opt for the great value menu option that Nicole
does - without so much as lifting a teaspoon - et viola - there was a delicious
three course home made dinner complete with cheese and bottle of wine....
heaven! The gite is spotlessly clean, the environment, gardens and play areas
are just right and perfectly safe. The gite itself is a cosy, large one
bedroomed cottage with a love ...
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A great place to stay with small children, ours loved everything from feeding the chickens and collecting the eggs, to bouncing on the trampoline, swinging on the swings, playing in the sandpit and riding on the (toy) tractor. They EVEN ate the meals that Nicole made for us - what more can you ask for?
We had a fantastic time and could not find fault with either the accommodation or the property owners, Nicole and Alex. It was more like staying with friends as I had exchanged several emails with Nicole before our arrival.The Crawford's have 2 children themselves and so they are used to kids running around their property making lots of noise. There were lots on indoor and outdoor toys for our son to play with, not forgetting their two girls who are absolutely lovely, a true credit to their parents. We would certainly consider returning here for a holiday and would recommend this accomadation as somewhere you can actually relax with children!
We had a lovely time at Les Limornieres...the Crawfords are lovely people. They had thoughtfully left a box of age-appropriate toys and books and Nicole changed them midway through our stay, which thrilled our daughter who also loved petting the friendly cat, watching the chickens, riding on a child-sized toy tractor, jumping on the trampoline, swinging on the swings and romping around the enclosed grassy courtyard. Les Limornieres is located in a lovely area within a gentle hour's drive of several of the most-visited Loire/Cher/Vienne/Indre chateaux. But just visiting the local markets and poking around smaller villages is also very interesting. We can't wait to go back!
*Ratings by verified BFB guests who stayed here with young children.
Rated by 15 guests.