Maine-et-Loire holiday house: Le Puy Notre Dame, near Montreuil Bellay

We stayed in the smaller of the two houses, Petite Maison. The house was very clean and practically laid out. Useful to have two toilets. Kitchen was very well equipped and a complimentary bottle of wine was a nice gesture. The garden was large and we played badminton and sunbathed in privacy. We used the bikes to ride to the lake and the children were entertained playing table tennis in the barn. they did not put the TV on once!! The owners were very friendly and helpful and left us loads of useful information and showed us the caves- fascinating.visited a lovely restaurant on their recommendation at Le Puy Notre Dame.
we would definitely recommend this to anyone who wants a quiet relaxing place to stay.

Just the two of us were on holiday as a couple, so we stayed in the Petite Maison, which offered us plenty of room.

The property is pure delight (as is the Villa Patrick), and was clean and welcoming when we arrived. It is well equipped in terms of kitchen equipment, bed linen and towels, books and other entertainment,

Peter and Margaret, the owners, are quite brilliant. You are made to feel immdiately welcome, and if you need help, advice or information they will always give it (though you are unlikely to need much more information given the comprehensive information pack they supply about the region. But they don't intrude. They have a delightfully discreet light touch.

Both houses have plenty of outdoor space, and organised in such a way that there are distinct areas for those in each property.

There is lots that you can do. The region is beautiful. If you enjoy wine there are producteurs in all directions - three actually in the village, chateaux, rivers and much more. We enjoyed some good meals in Saumur and Montreuil-Bellay, but also enjoyed visiting local markets and cooking delicious items bought there back at home.

If you want a break from the car there are bikes that you can use, and lots of other useful things, not least if you have children. But you want just to be still the garden is the perfect spot to relax in. Each of us got through three books while we were there.

For us this was one of the best holidays ever. Indeed we are going back next year and staying this time in Villa Patrik, with the next two generations down going with us on the basis of the reports we gave them.

The Petite Maison is a comfortable, well appointed house that we used as a base for our recent two week stay in the Saumur region. The owners are welcoming and friendly, the house has everything you could possibly need for a self-catering holiday, and the Saumur region itself is an absolute treasure. There was so much to see and do, there was barely enough time to do it all. Highlights included numerous chateaux, abbeys and other historical sites; the local wines (some produced within the village of Sanziers itself); the tank museum in Saumur; and a collection of machines at the Maurice Dufresne museum in Marnay.

We will certainly return to this area in the future for another holiday, and when we do, we will hope to rent this charming gite once again. Highly recommended.