So how do we now find ourselves as the proud owners of a gite in Brittany, France, being responsible for other peoples holidays who we have never met and praying that they have a fantastic time? Well it started in the summer of 2005.

That year we went on holiday to the Canary Islands and had a lovely time with my parents (wonderful baby sitters!!), but the flight out was bad and the flight back was horrendous. With hindsight flying with two 1 year old’s that had just started to walk was a little adventurous, walking was new and fun and they wanted do it all the time so being cramped up on an airplane sitting on our laps was not their idea of fun!

So on the way back we decided to board the plane last rather than first as had been offered. Big mistake, we ended up standing in the aisle of the plane trying to hold onto two screaming one year old’s for an hour while the cabin crew tried to sort out seats for us!

After that I refused to fly again so in 2006 we were looking for somewhere a little closer to home. Kate had been to Brittany before as a child and had a great time so we decided a holiday that you can drive to was a great idea. We didn’t want to drive too far so decided on the Cotes d’Armor and found a lovely gite complex near Dinan.

Although now two years old, the amount of paraphernalia you need for two children is amazing! So off we went, car loaded to the gunnel’s. The ferry journey was wonderful, the children could run around, sit at a table and draw and even play in a soft play area with a ball pit. I was converted to travelling by ferry, with small children you just can’t beat it.

Once off the ferry the drive to Brittany was amazing, the roads were great and there wasn’t much traffic and this was July, even the tolls didn’t amount to much. When we arrived at the gite it was perfect, arriving to croissants is always a good start, plenty of space for the four of us and those babysitters, I mean grand parents, Kate’s mum and husband Mike, that were joining us for the second week. There was a large play area with a trampoline that the girls just fell in love with.

Having never been to Brittany before I didn’t really know what to expect. The countryside was wonderful, the beaches were truly amazing and really reminded me of the family holidays I had as a child in Cornwall, but quieter and warmer. There were so many amazing towns and villages nearby, we just strolled around, sat and had a coffee and watched the world go by, well for as long as 2 two year old’s can sit still for!

There was plenty to do with the children and after a hard day out and about getting back to the gite and being able to put the girls on the trampoline to get rid of that final burst of energy was just great. So after two weeks we were hooked on Brittany, it was a wonderful place for a family holiday and as soon as we got back we started looking into our next holiday.

So how did we go from having a wonderful holiday to owning a property. Well for the past couple of years my parents had been looking into buying a small property in Spain and had been out a few times looking, but everything seemed to be part of a large development where your small villa was one of about 20,000 being built, there seemed to be very few traditional villas available, certainly not within their budget. Then we all started looking at investing together in Bulgaria and thought that would be a good emerging market but when we looked into it further we saw the number of developments being built was staggering, so we weren’t sure what the market would be like in a couple of years.

We then had a quick look at Brittany, just to compare the prices to Bulgaria, and found to our amazement that you didn’t have to spend a fortune to get a really pretty traditional house in Brittany, which was a good job as we didn’t have a fortune to spend. So we decided to start looking seriously at Brittany as we loved it, knew we were going to spend a lot of holidays there with the girls in the future and thought that though tough, there was definitely a decent rental market for the sought of property we wanted. Amazing idea!

So that’s how we started on this wonderful journey. Next some thoughts on starting the property hunt.

2 Bedroom Self Catering Cottage / Gite near Dinan, Brittany, France

Buying, Owning and Running a Gite in Brittany Blog

©Derek Arkwright 2007

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