La Lidoire: Cottage Rental, 2 Bedrooms, Sleeps 6 in La Rochebeaucourt et Argentine

We cannot begin to praise Nicky & Rich enough for making Les Rivieres such a wonderful place to spend the summer holidays. This is the second time we have stayed here, and have already booked for a third time, which pays testiment to what a fantastic time we have here. We can honestly say that we have previously never spent more than one year holidaying in the same location, but Les Rivieres is so special it makes you want to keep coming back.
Nicky & Rich are very friendly, welcoming hosts, who go out of their way to ensure guests are happy. They have an excellent knowlegde of the local area and places to visit, and will happily make reservations/bookings on your behalf. They are always on hand if required, yet still allow you the space to relax and enjoy your holiday.
The facilities available are second to none - the pool is large enough to never feel crowded and is clean and well equipped with sun loungers and parasols. The games room provides ample activities to keep the children occupied, as well as there being swings, a trampoline and a badminton court in the grounds. Bikes of all sizes are available to borrow, with suggestions of where to cycle to. The well-stocked fishing lake is a real hit with our family, who have spent many an evening with Rich trying their luck to catch 'the big one'.
The gites are very well equipped, and furnished to a high standard whilst still keeping the rustic feel of a converted farm building. We have always found the gites to be immaculately clean upon arrival, and want for nothing during our time there.
During our stays, we have kayaked around Brantome, visited local caves with Rich as our guide, as well as Grottes de Villars, just a few km's away. The busy market at Riberac is well worth a visit. The lakes at St Estephe and Le Jemaye provide safe swimming out to a pontoon for diving, with free canoes available. The underground church at Auberterre is fascinating, as is the abandoned village of Oradour sur Glane, albeit rather sobering. Our children thoroughly enjoyed the Parc d'Aventure at Massignac, giving them the chance to climb high ropes up in the trees & whizz down zip wires at great speed. A smaller version at Soyeux was also an afternoon well spent. The velorail is great fun and something different.
All in all it's a big 10 out of 10 to Nicky & Rich, who should be extremely proud of the properties and service they provide. We would (& have) recommended their properties to friends & family.

The area in which Les Rivieres is situated is unspoilt countryside with quiet roads to cycle on and little villages to visit. Our gite Le Martrieux was comfortably furnished and had plenty of room for 6 of us. The extra bedroom option downstairs was extremely useful. The bedrooms were all spacious and beds very comfortable. The gite had it's own garden which was well-tended and private. The cherry trees dripping with dark red fruit were a real bonus. The pool has a lovely open feel and is extremely clean plus it was big enough for a proper swim. There are lots of historical sites in the area which can be visited without driving too far. Angouleme has a great new museum. The canoeing from Brantome is highly recommended and very good value.
Nicky and Richard were very helpful and welcoming but left us to ourselves which was nice. Richard took our son fishing which he really enjoyed. The lake is a quiet place to wander down to and the woods above the gites have deer and red squirrel which we saw.
We would definitely return in the future when we can.

Whilst the gite we stayed in is not amongst the pictures above and was a little older in style, it was very spacious, warm and comfortable, whether it was cold or warm outside.

Our hosts were considerate and friendly but not in the least intrusive. They offered us fresh eggs and even advice on some of the local estate agencies as well as the loan of a laptop so we could check them out and view properties online before visiting in person.

It was also refreshing not to be ripped off in this part of France too, so overall we had a great, value-for-money break in very pleasant surroundings and would definitely recommend Les Rivieres to others.