Location

Le Petit Manoir du Tartre is located near the pretty fishing villages of Port Maubert and Vitrezay, on the longest, widest estuary in Europe, the majestic Gironde.

The local village of St Thomas de Conac is 3 kilometres away, where can be found a wonderful bakery, butcher, general store, bar/ restaurant etc.

The Windmill at St Thomas de Conac.

The nearest large supermarket is in Mirambeau, about 6 kilometres away.  The award winning beautiful sandy beaches and coves of Meschers, Saint Georges de Didonne and Royan are not far away.  A short drive will take you to the wonderfully interesting towns of Cognac, Saintes and Pons.  Within an hour you can be in the ancient port of La Rochelle with its airport and Ryanair and flybe flights.  Beautiful Bordeaux is only 45 minutes away, with its International Airport and UK connections with British Airways, Air France, Ryanair,  bmibaby, Easyjet and flybe amongst others.

Le Petit Manoir du Tartre is very easy to drive to, as it is only 5 kilometres from Junction37 of the A10 motorway.  It is less than four and a half hours from St Malo, where Brittany Ferries have connections to Portsmouth.


Climate

This area benefits from a wonderful warm climate, extending from early Spring right through to late Autumn due to the effect of the Gulf Stream – it is the second sunniest area in France.  It boasts over 2600 hours of sunshine a year.

Things to Do

There is so much more to do and see in this area than just playing on the beach all day, from Cognac and Pineau des Charentes tastings, visits to the Roman amphitheatre or troglodyte caves, or a visit to the new Dinosaur Park.  The area is teeming with wild life and there are a number of nature reserves, with a new one close by at Vitrezay of over 175 acres.

Chateau de Beaulon.

Why not try a local speciality Pineau and Cognac house, Chateau de Beaulon, only 3 kms away?

How about a visit to the world famous vineyards of the Medoc?  Take the Blaye Ferry to Lamarque near Margaux and visit the Chateaux of St-Julien, Paulliac, St Estephe and perhaps return via the Ferry from Le Verdon to Royan.

Within a 15 minute drive there is a huge variety of restaurants, ranging from an exclusive chateau, harbour side pizzerias and local sea food speciality restaurants.  After all that you’ll probably need some exercise – take your choice from golf at Royan, Saintes and Cognac, tennis, horse riding in St Thomas, cycling with special tracks for mountain bikes, sailing, windsurfing, bird watching and fishing.  Rambling is well catered for, with 80 signed circuits amongst the vineyards, ancient forests and the estuary.  What could be more delightful than walking past the Romanesque churches along the Gironde, sometimes perched up on the hillsides, sometimes nestling in the valleys?  Saint Thomas de Conac, Petit Niort and Consac have some very early features, while Saint Fort sur Gironde is an example of the later Romanesque period.

Maybe just relax meandering through the vineyards and sunflowers along the estuary, with the long opal ribbon of the majestic Gironde constantly in the background.

Places to Visit

There is an endless list of places to visit; here are a few to try:

Visit La Palmyre Zoo , Europe’s largest private zoo; also in Royan there is the Les Jardins du Monde which has one of the largest orchid greenhouses in the world.

France’s second most visited city, La Rochelle, is only one hour away.

The famous cognac houses of Remy Martin, Martell, Hennessy, Otard etc all have guided tours and tastings.

Visit Rochefort, a major maritime town, with the Royal Rope Factory, maritime museum and the reconstruction, using traditional skills and methods, of La Fayette’s XVIII Century frigate, the Hermione, in the dry dock . Rochefort also has the largest collection of begonias in France, with over 1300 species.

Travel alongside the Gironde towards Vauban’s architectural masterpiece, the Citadel of Blaye, where you can shop at its twice weekly markets, or maybe catch the ferry across to the renowned  Medoc Region.