Normandy, France

Jamie Pearson and family find their perfect stress free family holiday in Normandy at La Cour Aux Bourgeois

Let me tell you about our last holiday, the one before La Cour aux Bourgeois. It may sound familiar. Having smugly secured what appeared to be child-friendly self-catering accommodations some months before, I began to pack for the entire family. Luckily we would be driving and not flying, so I could fill the car with reckless abandon. Since we would have no access to laundry facilities, I had no choice but to pack our entire wardrobes. Every last tiny little jumper and sock went into the car. Next, the kitchen. With children 2 and 4, we'd need plastic plates, plastic cups, bibs, booster seats, special foods unavailable at our destination. I wasn't half finished - the car was full to bursting. The prospect of a week without playthings was chilling, so I threw in about 150 pounds of toys, books, crayons, paper, and DVDs. Almost done now, I tossed in nappies, swim nappies, armbands, goggles, two baby gates, a travel cot, baby blankets, a baby monitor, a changing mat, and every medicine either of my children had ever taken for any reason whatsoever.
The holiday itself was exactly as expected. At the end of each long day spent chasing children with sunscreen and attempting to stop them beating on glass-top tables, I would have rather eaten toothpaste than cooked a nice dinner for my husband and myself. So we usually just did the washing up (again), ate bowls of cereal, and collapsed into bed. God only knows why I continued to consent to these so-called "holidays". But as we all know, the only thing worse than traveling with small children
is staying home with them. So I tried again.

This time we booked a post-Christmas week at La Cour aux Bourgeois. I literally cannot imagine how charming this place must be in spring and summer. We were there in the dead of winter (and were incidentally rewarded for our bravery with snow on New Year's Day), and still it was absolutely lovely.

Here are some of the things that set this 17th-century farmhouse gite apart from the usual self-catering holiday:
1. It's all on one floor. No stairs for your kids to fall down. No possibility of their being out of earshot.
2. Very spacious. Tastefully, yet casually furnished. The whole gite is set up for families. It's indestructible and pretty at the same time.
3. Playbarn, complete with safety-netted trampoline and oodles of toys.
4. Full-sized wooden crib, changing table, and booster seat. They've got plastic cups and plates, bibs, a baby monitor, and much more.
5. Location convenient to all the attractions of Normandy: Honfleur, Deauville, Trouville, the Bayeux tapestry, Mont St. Michel, countless chateaux, war memorials, military cemeteries, and of course the Normandy beaches.
6. Young, fun, friendly, non-intrusive hosts on site. Sarah and Laurent are very accommodating and generous with their time and advice.
7. Laundry, housekeeping, and babysitting services available. The antidote for everything you've ever hated about self-catering holidays!
8. Read this one slowly. Absorb the implications. Gourmet three-course dinners delivered to you at extremely reasonable cost. Wine included. Words are wholly inadequate to tell you how much we loved this.

During the late spring and summer months, I imagine the enormous garden and orchard must offer endless opportunity for al fresco play and dining. They have a paddling pool, swings, a hammock, and a sandpit.

There are planned improvements for next season as well. A dishwasher, some landscaping, new kitchen cupboards, the possible addition of sheep and chickens (which your kids will love)...in short it will be perfect. Sarah and Laurent have already taken several repeat bookings for next summer - a resounding endorsement if ever there was one. I urge you to make a reservation now while they still have availability.
You won't regret it.

NB: La Cour Aux Bourgeois is booked up until oct 2004. Bookings now being taken for later dates and for 2005.www.toddlerholiday.com


Space available out of school summer holiday periods in the very child friendly (and stylish) le Cheval Blanc, currently offering 20% discount to babygoes2 visitors. Sleeps up to14, prices for smaller parties too.
For great villa options in France (with or without chef/babysitters etc) contact www.quality-villas.co.uk quoting babygoes2.


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