| La
Giraudiere BROSSAC CHARENTE Southwest France Article on Gites in France |
 |
When searching for accommodation,
holiday accommodation or self
catering accommodation in France you
will come across the word Gite or
the organisation gite de France.
Gite
de France originally
started to help the falling income of agriculture industry in France.
Originally a gite de France would be an
extension of a traditional French farmhouse or
perhaps an annexe to. This part of the property was
made clean in preparation for the town folk to come and stay in the
country side. I remember my first stay in a gite de
France
and I will never forget it. Every
time we switch on an electric
appliance the lights would blow. The wiring would
glow during the night
which was perhaps our only
form of heating. The beds
were from the
Victorian age, this is only a guess as they were only 1.50 meters long
and my legs would hang out the bottom of the bed  so
the mosquitoes
could "manger une Anglais". The shower was not much better, enough hot
water for one person per day. Do not worry things have changed.
Now days gite
de France is a well organized body offering all different
classes of
accommodation within the French countryside..
All those
offering gites have regular inspections by gite
de France and
have to comply to the regulations of gite de France
. |
Gite Accommodation South West France Holiday Gites
All gites are classified according to their location, comfort and amenities and on merit are awarded an ear de corn ranging from one to four.
There
are 10 national guides labeled gite de France
ranging
from Snow to peche all
with the gite de France label and also
4 regional guides.
There are
over 55,000 registered gites belonging to the gite de France
body
and you can acquire
information
from any tourist office. For
those of us that have used gite
de France or had a gite
holiday in a French
gites we immediately relate the word French gite
to
self catering holiday
accommodation which is exactly what it is. But it is strange that the
word gite or French gites is not used in the
English speaking part of
the world except when referring to France. Even the English and other
nationalities that have settled in France use the word French
gite or gite to explain their holiday
accommodation. In France many forms of
gite or gites exist such has Gite Rural, Gite
Chambre d'hotes, Gite
d'enfants, Gite d'etape et gite
de sejour and Gite accessible. What is a French Gite Holiday in a French Gites Like ?
For those of us that have used gite de France or had a gite holiday in a French gites we immediately relate the word French gite to holiday accommodation which is exactly what it is. But it is strange that the word gite or French g
ites is not used in the
English speaking part of
the world except when referring to France. Even the English and other
nationalities that have settled
in France use the
word French gite or
gite to explain their holiday accommodation. The word
gite is
also becoming
popular with different regions of France
for instant
you have gite de Charente
or Gite Rural Limousin
last month alone
there was 569 searches each day for the word gite
rural limousin.
In our village they have started a website called Brossac
Gites and there are over 300
gites
upon it.
Gite De France |
French Gite Holiday |
| Contacts
for gite de France http:www.gites-de-france.com This is the national website for Gites de France who office is in Paris Maison des Gites de France et du Tourism Vert Metro Trinite 59 rue Saint Lazare 75439 Paris Cedex 9 France Telephone 01 49 70 75 75 Guides
Available from Gite
De France
There are 10 national guides gite de France ranging from Snow to peche all with the gite de France label and also 4 regional guides. There are over 55,000 registered gite de France and you can acquire information from any tourist office. For Charente http://www.gitescharente.com 23 Avenue des Marechaux 16000 Angouleme France Telephone 0545694862 E-mail relais@gitescharente.com another useful site for Charente http://www.lacharente.com |
The French
Gite Holiday
A typical French gite holiday After you have made your booking, which can be done in advance by witting, by telephone or on the Internet you load up your car with all that you may need including your bed linen toweling and probably a lot more than you will ever use you head off for the voyage ahead car full of kids and thoughts of previous French gite holidays. After negotiating the auto routes, service stations and not forgetting the peage (Otherwise know as a donation to the auto route de France) Eventually you arrive to be welcomed by the gite owner. You are all prepared with your rusty knowledge of the French language only to find the owner is Belgium or English and speaks perfect English. This could be the case now days as many foreigner who have settled in France run Gites or Gite holidays and do so very well. After you have unloaded the car made up the beds you may have time to rustle up something to eat before you can settle back and relax. The next morning it is up and off to the village to take on some bread and other French delicacies for breakfast (Remember they close at midday). You just have time to finish the last croissant and clear up the breakfast dishes before you are off to the supermarche to stock up and do not forget Lunch today. If you are like me you arrive at the supermarche just in time for Lunch closing and have to come back again at 3.00 o'clock. Well what ever you end up fighting your way round the supermarche eventually you check out Normally  they have 5 cash desks but
only
one
in operation because of staff holidays, I wonder if they are having a gite
holiday in a gite rural
limousin or Charente.
Anyway
it is back to the Gite for Lunch (Thats if you made it before 12) and
maybe just maybe you will have time for an excursion. The days
normally
pass this way it is a bit like being at home doing what you
normally do but in a different place. Having said all
this I have had some great gite holidays and some
awful ones as well but, I would recommend that you take one and then
let me know or write an article about your experiences and I will put
it upon this website page. |
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