La Bastide

Relaxing holiday

Stayed in: Cottage

Arriving in Puycavel is like going back in time, you may have to wait for the cows to move in order to access the lane up to La Bastide or you might encounter a community wedding with everyone from the village out to wish a local well. Whenever you arrive, be prepared to keep on the hilly very windy road signed to La Bastide until you see the arrow sign. Take a moment to admire the scenery when you reach the saddle point between two valleys and enjoy the view. This is France at its best, no main roads or large towns in view, just farms, hamlets and small villages. Wildlife is in abundance with a wide selection of interesting birds overhead, in the hedgerows and fields. The Owners house is the first building on the left as you descend the steep drive and the Cottage on the right adjoining a large leaf covered Barn. The cottage offers simple accommodation for couples or a small family (2 adults plus one 7 year old in our case) and is designed around a large open plan living room, kitchen and dining area. With its own little semi private garden with swinging garden sofa and private outdoor dining area where we spent most of our time eating outside. If you are up early enough then you can see the sun rise over the hill at the top of the drive and blast you with its warmth as you sip your morning coffee waiting for the family to wake up. A beautiful peaceful place.

The Cottage boasts a large bedroom with a decent double bed made up of two singles attached together, a vast wardrobe that our son wanted to live in for his holiday, a chest of drawers and two opening windows surrounded by plants. Our son could have slept out in the living room on a fold out camp-bed or in the bedroom which is large enough for us to leave bed up in the corner and allow us to have the living room to ourselves in the evening, we juggled between the two options. The bathroom is off this multipurpose living space and consists of shower cubical sink and toilet. There is no bath.
If you have children they will love the garden and there is also a play barn which is useful when the sun doesn’t shine and sky leaks. There are 2 other rental properties at La Bastide and it is likely you will meet the other guests at some point as you all have access to the swimming pool and trampoline at the bottom of the drive and around to the left of the large Farmhouse and Grange. The pool is of an excellent size and is fenced in as you would expect. It’s 12m long has a gentle shallow end and a deep end. There are a number of sun loungers and sunshades available. Next to the pool is a Trampoline which is about 3m in diameter and is netted.
Our son spent his whole time in the pool, on the trampoline or on the wooden climbing frame/slide/house. For him it was a perfect place to stay.

Around the area there is a lot to see. You are an easy drive away from Lautrec, Albi and Castres all of which are worth a visit and then there is the option of Walking and cycling immediately from the property all over and around the local hills. Canoeing is available on a lot of the local rivers and we would strongly urge a visit to St. Antonin sur Noble Val to paddle on the Aveyron either as a half day or a full day. Even a day trip to the Med is possible as is a visit to some of the more famous steep hill towns such as Corde Sur Ciel.

It’s a great place to stay offering good access to the famous Midi Pyrenees region and further afield. The owners are knowledgeable and friendly and the cottage simple but perfect for a couple looking to relax and get away from it all.