Charente farmhouse for long term rentals France

This lovely cottage is located in a small hamlet, close to the villages of Mons and Aigre. Aigre has a small supermarket, a couple of restaurants, hairdressers, newsagent, a florist, a butcher and a medical centre. In the other direction, the larger town of Matha, has a a greater range of shops, including a large Intermarché supermarket.

The nearby village of Tusson, is a perfect example of a typical medieval Charente village, with the streets lined with the stone cottages made from the local Charente limestone and workshops for potters and glassmakers. It is one of the prettiest villages in Charente. On the edge of the village, there are four large Neolithic burial mounds, which date back to 7,000BC.

The Charente is a beautiful area of South-West France. It lies above Dordogne and Bordeaux, towards the Atlantic coast. The area is known for its lush rolling hills and vineyards, dotted with medieval villages and towns. The Charente is famous for its Cognac Brandy (Hennesy, Remy Martin, Martell, etc), produced in and around the town of Cognac in the west of the department. Cognac is a prosperous area, which can be seen in the surrounding towns and villages such as Jarnac (home to Courvoisier Brandy and also the birthplace of the French President, Francoise Mitterand), Dompierre-sur-Charente, Burie and the beautiful village of Bourg-Charente.

In the south of Charente, you will find beautiful villages, like Villebois-Lavalette, Chalais and Aubeterre-sur-Dronne, regularly voted one of the prettiest villages in France. Aubeterre especially, is a charming village with cobbled streets and whitewashed houses with red tiled roofs, is located on the banks of the Dronne river and attracts thousands of visitors during the summer and to its weekly market every Sunday.

In the North of the Charente, you have the lovely market towns of Ruffec and Confolens, both of which act as local hub towns to the surrounding villages and hamlets dotted across this important farming area (in some areas, the local Limousin cows outnumber the number). The beautiful villages of Verteuil-sur-Charente and Nanteuil-en-Vallée are popular with visitors.

In the centre of Charente, there is Angoulême, which is the capital of the department. Angoulême is a town of about 40,000 people. It is built around a rocky outcrop above the Charente river and the historic centre is very pleasant, with cobbled streets old stone buildings and an impressive cathedral. The city has held an annual International Comic festival for the last 50 years and this history, together with the local University teaching a range of Multimedia courses, has helped Angoulême become an important centre for video games production. It is estimated that more than half of the games sold in France are produced in the city.

Nearby to Angoulême, you will find the stunning Château de Rochefoucauld, a magnificent castle that dates back to the 14th Century. The centrepiece of the castle is a large staircase designed by Leonardo da Vinci in the 16th century.