A copy of Don's tips on accommodations in rural France and Italy, presented at the September, 2006 meeting of the Travel Club.
If you are traveling in Europe and you would like to try a different experience, staying in rural homes and farmhouses is a “closer-to-the-people” way of doing it. There is a “blanket” organization, Eurogîtes, which brings together European organizations and associations specializing in country holidays. The two most well-known to Americans are Gîtes de France and Italian agritourism. These organizations make available a wide range of accommodations—B & B’s, farmhouses, homes in small villages, etc.—for one or two day stays to a week or more; commonly, in the high season they are available for one or more weeks at a time.
My wife, Judy, and I have stayed in Gîtes de France in Burgundy (one week), Provence (one week) and the Dordogne (two weeks). In Italy we’ve stayed in an agritourism farm in Umbria (one week). The stays in Burgundy and Provence were facilitated by friends living in Germany, who had a high school French teacher take care of translating letters and telephone calls. When you arrive you are on your own; your landlord will most likely speak only French. A limited French vocabulary will get you by in almost all situations; pantomime and gesture and smiles will carry the day. We arrived at our Burgundy gîte in the village of Colombier in the hills twenty miles north and west of Beaune, about 6:00 in the evening. The village is very small—no commercial stores; only farmhouses and one chateau at the end of the lane. The gîte is fully-furnished for cooking. Restaurants were nearby in larger villages. You definitely need a detailed map to find your way around, but that is a fun part of your adventure. On the day of our departure, Madame Brocard, our landlady, invited Judy and Carolyn in for coffee.
Our gîte in Provence, one week âfter the Burgundy stay, was also in a very rural area near the small village of Oppede le Vieux. We arrived at the owner’s home, but she wasn’t there so we asked around at different places in the village where Madame Daume was. Suddenly a small car beeped its horn and Madame Daume showed up; word of mouth that we were there traveled through the village to her and she tracked us down. Our gîte was located out in the country among vineyards. We walked two miles round trip in the morning to a bakery and got our rolls and pastries for breakfast.
There are two main ways to contact gîtes: one is to call or write the contact person; the second way, in France, is to contact the tourist information office in larger towns and get a booklet of gîtes and other rentals. The tourist office will act as the go-between: making contact, collecting the money from you and directing you how to find the gte. The booklet has a photo of the place, a detailed listing of facilities, size, rooms and weekly rate. Most weekly stays are from Saturday to Saturday. So, if you know the area you wish to stay, you can often get a listing of the gîtes and make your plans. There are also many websites that will provide information, but you make the contact. In France, for example, there are between 42,000 and 55,000(depending on your source) gîte rentals available. No one site carries all possibilities, but you will never lack for a place to stay that will fit your budget and requirements.
For gîtes in France: www.Gites-de-France.fr is a great beginning (it can be viewed in English).
In Italy: http://www.agritourism.it/; http://www.viaggiaedormi.it/ ; http://www.agriturismo.it/
