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Our 'Songbird Sanctuary' has two traditional guest houses and a fabulous 'troglogite', you can rent one or combine them, making a perfect trip for one to 18 people!
Here, you are reading about our three bedroom main house, ‘The Swan’. It is 165m², with a kitchen, two bathrooms, lots of comfortable spread-out space and three bedrooms. The kitchen is fully equipped with full size refrigerator and freezer, four burner gas stove top, electric oven, dishwasher and small appliances. There is a shower in the downstairs bathroom and a bathtub in the upstairs bathroom. There is a clothes washer and dryer in the downstairs bathroom.
Coming from the other courtyard, you find the other traditional gite, an 80m² charmer called ‘The Dove’, which has a fully equipped open kitchen in the living/dinin...Our 'Songbird Sanctuary' has two traditional guest houses and a fabulous 'troglogite', you can rent one or combine them, making a perfect trip for one to 18 people!
Here, you are reading about our three bedroom main house, ‘The Swan’. It is 165m², with a kitchen, two bathrooms, lots of comfortable spread-out space and three bedrooms. The kitchen is fully equipped with full size refrigerator and freezer, four burner gas stove top, electric oven, dishwasher and small appliances. There is a shower in the downstairs bathroom and a bathtub in the upstairs bathroom. There is a clothes washer and dryer in the downstairs bathroom.
Coming from the other courtyard, you find the other traditional gite, an 80m² charmer called ‘The Dove’, which has a fully equipped open kitchen in the living/dining room space, two bedrooms and a bathroom. Sharing that courtyard is our fabulous troglogite, 'The Skylark', a spacious 80m², with large living/dining/den space, kitchen, bathroom and bedroom in three contiguous caves.
The property is set up on three levels. There is a lovely pathway to the left, leading to the courtyard where you will find the Swan on the second level, and a staircase on the right, leading to the courtyard where you will find the Dove and Skylark, also on the second level. There is also a road that leads to this courtyard, so that you can bring your luggage up to the Dove or Skylark by car, before parking back down on the lower level.
The courtyards on both sides have a steep but beautiful stone staircase leading up to the land above the caves, which is our third level. At the street, we have several caves cut into the rock and forming the foundations of the house above. Here we have the laundry that the Dove and Skylark share, and one enclosed parking - there is additional outdoor parking both on the property and on a piece of land we have just down the street. We also keep several bicycles in our ground-floor caves, that you are welcome to use.
The place is beautifully quiet, however there is a train track that passes right behind the houses on the other side of the road. We are a bit removed from that, since the gites are on the courtyards up on the second level, not directly facing the street - and are therefore somewhat shielded. There is no visual connection but you will be aware of the occasional train when it goes by.
The previous owners were bird lovers, and had built some lovely nesting places into the cliff face, hence our decision on the names.
House Rules
Pet-friendlyKid friendlyNo smoking
Bedrooms
2 Doubles1 Sofa2 Singles
Bathrooms
2 Full baths
Meet the host
Naomi B
Hosting since July 2009
Languages spoken: English, French
Response Time: Within a few hours
Interaction with guests: We do not live on site yet - eventually, I hope to be there much more, and maybe operate as a B&B or even propose a 'table d'hote'! However, for the moment we are based in Paris. I try to get out to the Loire to meet people, but if I can't, I leave the keys in a lock-box and instructions in the house. I also have my trustworthy cleaning lady nearby; who can assist if anything comes up that needs assistance.
If you are looking to spend some time in the Loire Valley, this location is fabulous – you can walk to Chenonceau, we are very near the river Cher. There are multiple bicycle routes; we keep some bicycles in our storage cave for people staying here to borrow. There is a canoe rental place by the river Cher, a few minutes’ walk from our house; you can canoe right under Chenonceau! There are many castles in the area; you are close to Amboise and the wonderful museum at Clos Lucé, Leonardo da Vinci’s residence, which houses many of his experiments, designs and paintings. You’re a half-hour drive to Tours in one direction along the Cher, and a half-hour drive to Beauval Zoo & Park in the other direction.
Getting around
To take full advantage of the Loire Valley, you really need a car. We have our own parking available right by the Songbird Sanctuary. You can take the train from Paris (or the airport) into Tours – the high-speed train takes a little over an hour – and rent a car there, if you don’t want to drive too long a distance. Or you can take a train directly into Chenonceau or Blére, both are a few kilometers from our place – which would be about a 40 minute walk, but if you are planning to get around by bicycle, this could be a good solution for you. You can also take your bicycles on the train. There are taxi services in Bléré. There is also the incredibly inexpensive Ouibus that goes from Paris to Tours - prices are usually between 9 and 15€!
Things to know
Cancellation policy
100% refund within 24 hours after booking (provided the stay is at least 60 days away).
50% refund* if you cancel at least 4 weeks before check-in
25% refund* if you cancel at least 2 weeks before check-in
No refund available once booking is confirmed
About this property
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