Trip Advisor - July 2011
I’d give this 6 stars if I could and I think we all would.
We had the best time ever at Le Gaudin. We rented the entire place for a week to celebrate my husband’s 60th (now everyone knows!). It is the perfect venue for a house party and has 6 very comfortable and well-furnished en-suite bedrooms, sleeping a total of 12 + 1.
There is a huge hall-style living room with squashy sofas, big log fire, satellite TV, CD and dining area. A separate dining/breakfast room leads on to a cosy den with sofas, another satellite TV, log burning stove and an office area with free internet Wi-Fi access – we took a laptop for the guests to use. The kitchen is large and very well equipped with a separate laundry room.
The grounds are fabulous; a big gravelled drive area directly in front of the house leads onto a large lawn with fruit and walnut trees and views to the forested hills to the left. The Bakehouse is set back around the corner, behind the stone log store. There is a gas bbq next to an old outhouse on the gravel and at the back of this the lawns drop gently away down to a magical lake. Behind the lake are the remains of an ancient abbey and the walls lead on to a pilgrim’s woodland road where you can walk or cycle for miles.
The nearest small town is Aunay, a couple of miles away, with the usual small bakeries, butchers, groceries and florists. It was completely destroyed in the 2nd world war and rebuilt in the 1940’s but still an attractive small town with a beautiful church. There are a lot of local attractions, including the D-Day beaches, Bayeux, Môn St Michel and Caen within striking distance. Normandy cheeses, cider, calvados, pork, apples and Isigny sea salt are amongst the most popular regional delicacies.
We had friends arrive from all directions at different times, including Australia, Oman, Canada and Frankfurt, some stayed with us and some in other places but without exception we all loved Le Gaudin. It is such a comfortable place. If house guests with jet lag or just the party animals want to stay up to chat and play cards, nobody else is disturbed. Our guests drifted off to bed when they wanted to and got up when they felt like it.
Somehow we would manage to meet for a late continental breakfast and after spending our days as we each wanted; walking, shopping, eating or sightseeing, we all made our way home in the early evening where someone would light the log fire and someone would open up the wine. Because of the location, it isn’t really a place where you would bother or plan to go out to a restaurant at night, so we bought, prepared and ate great food between us. We laughed and drank wine and reminisced. As friends we are all different people with different ideas as to what constitutes a great place to stay but everyone was happy, comfortable, relaxed and enjoyed themselves.
The owners, Clive and Denise decamped to the Bakehouse for our stay. They are very talented people and they have their business down to a T. They catered for the birthday meal and it was a wonderful spread of roast suckling pig, salads, puddings and Kir Normande with wine that Clive supplied at a really good price. We sat outside the front of the farmhouse under a small marquee, with French cafe music and twinkling lights. That night will stick in our memories forever we all enjoyed it so much.
Knowing that Le Gaudin is primarily a B&B and that Clive has a reputation for being a bit of a gourmet chef I was impressed that he surrendered his kitchen and equipment with grace and aplomb and that they handed over to us, what at the end of the day is their business to a bunch of complete strangers for a week. I’m sure it isn’t part of the deal but Denise was travelling back to the UK and gave ‘Crocodile Dundee’, (our Aussie friend who had managed to book his departure ticket from France to the UK for the day before he’d even arrived in France) a door to door lift as she was passing his hotel. The word ‘jammy’ springs to mind!
What a wonderful place, what a great week, what a memorable birthday, we are all still smiling. My husband says he’s going back next month, so would I - apart from the fact it's fully booked and we have to go back to work!
Foxie - England
