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- Delightfully converted 19th-century farmhouse
- Private heated swimming pool
- Bikes, table football, table tennis and small football pitch
- Fishing in river alongside
- Simpson family extras available
Those who love getting out and about have a natural playground on their doorstep in the unspoilt Bocage Vendéen landscape, whilst this converted 19th-century farmhouse offers all the peace and privacy you’d like to come home to.
Set in landscaped grounds, separated by a secure fence from a small river, the quaint, ivy-covered exterior encloses light, open-plan living areas, spacious and high ceilinged, with views out to pretty gardens and the heated swimming pool. The rooms have been well thought out, with bedrooms upstairs and down to give guests plenty of space – ideal if several couples are travelling together or you’ve brought grandparents along. The well-equipped kitchen opens out onto a side terrace, so you can rustle up a coffee and croissant in the morning and slip outside without disturbing anyone.
Once you’ve exhausted activities around the farmhouse – as well as excellent fishing in the river, there’s boules, a fitness room, sauna, table football, badminton and bikes – there are walking and cycling tracks just a short distance away. At the end of the garden a gate leads on to a small private football pitch (for guests only). Or a few minutes in the car will take you to a dedicated leisure lake for sailing and canoeing. Just a 10-minute drive away you'll find the vast new (2022) aquatic centre at Chantonnay, complete with three indoor pools for both serious swimming and family fun, plus various play areas, a sauna, hammam and a salt cave, ideal for a dull weather day and open all year round.
If a cultural fix is required, make the four-kilometre drive to Bazoges-en-Pareds, a beautifully preserved medieval village. Or venture beyond to the picturesque village of Vouvant, one of the ‘Plus Beaux Villages de France’, just 20 kilometres away.
To stock up on provisions, there are shops, supermarkets and a Saturday market in Chantonnay, 10 kilometres away, or you can choose a restaurant there and leave the cooking for another day. For those food essentials at the start of your holiday, the little village of La Jaudonnière has a few shops to tide you over until you feel like venturing further afield.
The local area
Over half of the 250km Atlantic coastline of the Vendée is broad sandy beaches; you will find yourself basking in the sun, settling down for a nice lunch overlooking the waves, and enjoying the seaside ambience with plenty of room to spread out. The coastal towns are delightful, with the old fishing village of Les Sables-d’Olonne full of old world seaside charm, its broad beach lined with restaurants and cafés. It is famous as the starting point for the gruelling Vendée Globe sailing race. St-Jean-de-Monts is known as the biggest sandpit in western France, although La-Tranche-sur-Mer actually tops it with 13km of sandy beach. St-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie is the oldest port in the Vendée and if you like grilled sardines this is the place to go. Offshore, the islands of L’Ile-d’Yeu, with its wild coastline facing the Atlantic, and Noirmoutier, reached by its exceptional causeway the Passage du Gois (check the tide tables), are wonderful spots for day outings. Inland, the Marais Poitevin, known as the ‘Green Venice’, is an area of 90,000 hectares of canals and marshes, forests and abbeys, teeming with bird and aquatic life where the sea and fresh water meet. You can hire a small boat and drift lazily through the timeless waterworld.
An in-villa chef and meal delivery service is available by arrangement at all our French villas
Accommodation
Layout
- 4 bedroom villa (sleeps 8)
Ground floor
- Open-plan living area opens onto terrace and swimming pool
- Dining room
- Kitchen with hob, oven, microwave, kettle, toaster, fridge, freezer and dishwasher, opens onto side terrace
- Fitness room with sauna and shower
- Double bedroom with en-suite bathroom
- WC
- 2 staircases leading to 2 separate sections of the first floor
First floor (section 1)
- Double bedroom with en-suite bathroom
- Twin bedroom (converts to double on request)
- WC
First floor (section 2)
- Twin bedroom (converts to double on request)
- Shower room
- WC
General
- Complimentary WiFi
- Simpson Travel telephone representative
- Room for cleaning/preparing day's catch
- Washing machine and dryer
- 3 cots (linen supplied) and 2 highchairs
- Telephone (incoming/local calls)
- TV, video, DVD and CD players
- Heating (included)
- Fireplace (wood included)
- Fans
- Alarm
- Barbecue
- Table tennis, boules
- Swings, badminton, bikes, table football
- WC by pool
- Poolside shower
- Private swimming pool 10m x 5m (depth 1.1m – 1.8m), electric security cover, Roman steps, pool can be heated to 26°C weather permitting, open mid-April to end September
- For further information on Terms and Conditions specific to this French property please click here
Simpson family extras
- Family favourite range of toys and games, suitable for ages 5-11
WiFi
- All properties with WiFi are able to support basic functionality such as web browsing and checking emails*
* We aim to offer an uninterrupted service but sometimes due to factors beyond our control reliability can be affected.
Services
- Bed linen, bath and pool towels are provided
- Weekly linen change for bookings of two weeks or more
- Mid stay clean for bookings of more than one week
- Additional cleaning €25 per hour (minimum 2 hours)
- All services payable locally
- Prices quoted are subject to change
Access times
- Check-in time – 4.00-7.00pm
- Check-out time – 10.00am
Getting there
- Airports
La Rochelle 70km
Nantes 91km
Poitiers 144km - Ferry ports
St-Malo 283km
Caen-Ouistreham 401km
Cherbourg 435km
Le Havre 463km
Calais 644km - TGV stations
La Roche-sur-Yon 43km
La Rochelle 69km
Niort 74km
Les Sables-d'Olonne 82km
Nantes 89km
Location
Key information
- Restaurants (Bazoges-en-Pareds) 10min drive
- Shops (La Jaudonnière) 6min drive
- Beach (La Faute-sur-Mer) 1hr drive
- Puy du Fou 35min drive
- La Rochelle airport 1hr 15min drive
Villages
- La Jaudonnière (3km) – small village with basic shops
Towns
- Chantonnay (10km) – all shops, services and supermarkets
- Fontenay-le-Comte (25km)
- La Rochelle (66km)
- Niort (68km)
- Les Sables d'Olonne (86km)
- Nantes (90km)
Market days
- Chantonnay (10km) – Saturdays
- Saint-Juire-Champgillon (15km) – Sundays
- Bournezeau (24km) – Fridays
- Fontenay-le-Comte (25km) – Saturdays
- La-Roche-Sur-Yon (40km) – every day except Monday and Sunday
- Damvix (56km) – 3rd Wednesday of each month
- Benet (58km) – Mondays
Recommended restaurants
- Bazoges-en-Pareds (4km) – Auberge du Donjon
- Sigournais (8km) – La Morlière
- La Caillère-Saint-Hilaire (9km) – L’ Assiette Gourmande
- Chantonnay (10km) – Le Touchegray
- Saint-Juire-Champgillon (13km) – Le Saint Georges
- Saint-Sulpice-le-Verdon (63km) – Le Logis de la Chabotterie, 2 Michelin stars
- Les Sables d’Olonne (77km) – Le Cayola, 1 Michelin star
These restaurants have been recommended by our owners and this list is updated as often as possible. Ownership and quality may have changed since the last update.
Places to see
- Bazoges-en-Pareds (4km) – a beautifully preserved medieval village compound with an imposing donjon
- Puy du Fou (35km) – a spectacular medieval theme park, great for all the family
- The Marais Poitevin is the 'Green Venice of France' – a wonderful place to row along the canals and small rivers, picnic along the shores and observe the rich wildlife; one of the starting points is the pretty village of Maillezais (50km)
- Vouvant (20km) – the only ‘Plus beau village de France’ in Vendée, a lovely small town
- There are four main vineyards in Mareuil, Pissotte, Brem and Vix which make up the Fiefs Vendéens
Local events
- Fête de la Musique – 21 June
- Poupet Music and dance festival at St Malo du Bois (39km) in July
- Medieval festival at Bazoges-en-Pareds (4km) in August
- Many fêtes in other villages in the summer
Beaches
- La Faute-sur-Mer (55km) – sandy
- La Tranche-sur-Mery (61km) – sandy
- Longeville-sur-Mer (65km) – sandy
- Les Sables d'Olonne (86km) – sandy
Activities
- Fishing is possible at the property
- Fishing, sailing and canoeing at the leisure lake of Lac de Rochereau (5km)
- Horse riding at the Centre Equestre de la Tuilerie at Le Tallud-Sainte-Gemme (7km)
- Tennis at Chantonnay (8km)
- Water activities – large public pool with aqua power, aqua cycling and other water-based activities at Les Herbiers (32km)
- Cycling – the property is just 100m away from the starting point of the Circuit des Vergers which joins another circuit called Vendée Vélo 1km away and allows access to the entire Vendée cycling circuit – about 1,000km – and from this circuit you can discover the entire heritage of the Vendée
- Sailing school at Lac de Mervent (33km) in a superb natural setting
- 18-hole golf course at Nesmy (44km)
Flights
This property is priced on an accommodation-only basis, but we are happy to arrange flights for you if required. Please contact us for assistance. For information on ferry routes, please visit our France Travel page.
Car hire
We are happy to arrange your car hire in France; please click here to view options and prices. All hire cars booked with us include:
- Fully inclusive insurance, with zero excess*
- One free additional driver
*for full insurance details, please refer to the France car hire page.
The holiday experience was brilliant from beginning to end our concierge Penny was helpful and friendly and answered any queries quickly. The booking process was easy and everything happened exactly as described. The host Marc was brilliant and the Gite is stunning. Faciltities are second to none from the pool to the gite itself were perfect. Iris the horse and automatic lawn mowers thoroughly entertained our 3 year old aswell. Thanks again would 100% recommend
Beautiful property as advertised, great location lovely swimming pool and facilities our family really enjoyed. Nice additional touches like local honey and wine for sale. Simpson Travel made the booking and arrangements easy, very professional, felt well looked after.
Lovely villa, 4th time we have been here, very quiet and peaceful area. Local shops only 15 minute drive away. The owner has made some changes such as a new shower in the master bedroom. I understand he is redoing the kitchen next year. Always very helpful and quick to respond, as is the Simpson local rep, Sarah.
We did enjoy our week and the garden and pool were glorious with only birdsong all day long. Marc was delightful and a great help.
This is the 4th time I have used Simpson Travel, my sister was already a regular customer and highly recommended them. Their villas are always of a high standard and their staff are excellent. In particular their customer service is top quality, especially if things go wrong (I may add this has always been outside of their control). It’s the 3rd time I have stayed at Villa Du Bocage and it’s a lovely property, with a delightful owner and perfect for a quiet family getaway.
We had a wonderful stay at the Villa du Bocage, the setting was really tranquil and the villa was equipped with everything you could think of. Simpson's travel were also really helpful and quick to respond to any queries we had.
A tranquil idyll set in a beautiful countryside with fantastic facilities especially the pool. Marc the owner was very helpful and friendly. There are lots of great places to visit no more than one hour's drive away. Would definitely go back!
Lovely facilities and very quiet location perfect for families, everything you could need and lots to do.
Lovely villa, great amenities and very clean. The host, Marc, is responsive and helpful. Second time at this villa and recommend.
We went as a family of six adults. The villa was perfect for our needs and the facilities created a great family atmosphere with games and competitions! But everyone could enjoy their own space. Marc, the owner, could not have done more to make our stay so memorable.
Villa du Bocage is situated in a very peaceful rural location, surrounded by fields. Its own river access suitable for fishing makes it perfect for a relaxing family holiday. The villa is spacious with good-sized reception areas and a stunning pool area that is equipped with plenty of sunbeds – ideal for making the most of the sunshine and there are shady areas ideal for dining al fresco.
Our choice of French properties is diverse, ranging from simple charm to genuine luxury and style. Much of our portfolio is privately owned, and price alone is therefore not a universal guide. We contract all our accommodation in person, and each property has its individual appeal.
To help you make the right choice based on your own priorities, we have devised a simple grading guide to be considered in conjunction with each individual property description, awarding up to a maximum of five stars for the below categories.
* For further clarification on Facilities and Amenities, please view the 'Details' tab for each property or speak to one of our experienced sales consultants.
They may not have Côte d’Azur chic, but the charming towns along Vendée’s Atlantic coastline have 200km of sandy beaches to make up for it. And don’t miss the old fishing village of Les Sables-d’Olonne, one of France’s original seaside destinations. Vendée is also home to La Roche-sur-Yon, a stately town built by Napoleon, who never envisaged the waterpark and golf courses there today. Venture inland and you’ll find the Marais Poitevin (Green Venice) with its canals, forest-covered hills, picturesque villages and historic abbeys.
And to complete the picture, choose from our handpicked collection of Vendée villas for a comfortable home from home to return to.
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