La Gaudière24 June 2009
It is certainly too far to drive back from the Cap d'Agde to London all in one day, so this was a good opportunity to make a first and very belated visit to William Page's famous Le Lièvre Gourmand in Vailly-sur-Sauldre. Le Lièvre's website recommended chambres d'hôtes is La Gaudière in the nearby village of Dampierre-en-Crot. This charming and very peaceful bed and breakfast is just to the east of the little village and is run by Catherine and Dominique Friedlander. They are another couple who, fed up with the pressures of life in Paris, opted for the peace of the French countryside. They sold up and moved here in August 2003 in the middle of the heatwave. They have created four bedrooms in a converted barn and there is plenty of space to wander around as there are seven hectares attached to the property.
Dampierre-en-Crot is five kilometres from Vailly, so it's just over a five-minute drive from La Gaudière to Le Lièvre Gourmand. For breakfast we had freshly picked cherries from Friedlander's garden along with homemade jams – plum, apricot and myrtille. All of this for 50€ for bed and breakfast for two – remarkable value! Unfortunately their bedrooms are not ideal for anyone with restricted mobility as they are all on the upper floor.
Catherine and Dominique Friedlander
La Gaudière
18260 Dampierre-en-Crot
Tel: 02.48.73.84.46
It is certainly too far to drive back from the Cap d'Agde to London all in one day, so this was a good opportunity to make a first and very belated visit to William Page's famous Le Lièvre Gourmand in Vailly-sur-Sauldre. Le Lièvre's website recommended chambres d'hôtes is La Gaudière in the nearby village of Dampierre-en-Crot. This charming and very peaceful bed and breakfast is just to the east of the little village and is run by Catherine and Dominique Friedlander. They are another couple who, fed up with the pressures of life in Paris, opted for the peace of the French countryside. They sold up and moved here in August 2003 in the middle of the heatwave. They have created four bedrooms in a converted barn and there is plenty of space to wander around as there are seven hectares attached to the property.
Dampierre-en-Crot is five kilometres from Vailly, so it's just over a five-minute drive from La Gaudière to Le Lièvre Gourmand. For breakfast we had freshly picked cherries from Friedlander's garden along with homemade jams – plum, apricot and myrtille. All of this for 50€ for bed and breakfast for two – remarkable value! Unfortunately their bedrooms are not ideal for anyone with restricted mobility as they are all on the upper floor.
Catherine and Dominique Friedlander
La Gaudière
18260 Dampierre-en-Crot
Tel: 02.48.73.84.46
