Our Story
Living in, and loving France
How we came to live here
our story
The story starts in the 1980s when I came to this area with my family to visit my cousins in the summer holidays. I fell in love with the weather, landscape, buildings, markets, and lifestyle. Fast forward many years, and I introduced Alex to the area, and from there I think we always knew we might have a holiday home, but as our lives changed, we reached a point where the decision to move was made.
In February 2014 we arrived in France in our motorhome, having only booked the ferry one way! We’d prearranged property viewings, and visited at least 12, before our agent said “I really think you should look at the one you rejected as not being big enough”. We did, and realised it was perfect for us because of the location, the character of the property, and it didn’t need lots of work. That’s Alex in the photo on that day.
We went back to UK to sell our house (I’d already left my job), then all the stars aligned, and we moved to France in mid June of that year. We had our first guests just over a week later!
Linda James
linda
About us
I trained as a chef, and my last job before I left the UK was as a Catering Manager at a university. I was a champion of sustainability for my department, and try to continue what I practised in our business here. My life here is busy gardening, painting our shutters etc., basically what needs doing in and on our gite business. I still go to French lessons too. I started walking last year in preparation for walking part of the Camino de Santiago, so have discovered a lot more of our area. Alex is an artist and has sold many paintings on an African theme through a gallery in South Africa, and more recently their gallery in London. He's in charge of the pool, mowing etc.
Pebble the cat
Pebble appeared in our lives in August 2019, very thin and hungry. We had 2 families with children staying at the time, and they ignored our pleas not to feed the cat (we had guinea pigs and didn't want a cat), so they did, and he was quite happy to be cuddled as well. The kids named him Beyonce as they thought he was a girl, but the vet told us he was boy and about 6 years old, but wasn't chipped. He's very much ours now, but loves the summer when we have families with children here.
Our leaving party thrown by our friends
Bristol 2014
The Le Pommier team
Meet Linda, Alex and Pebble
Linda
Alex
Pebbles
You ask, we answer
Frequently asked questions
How do we get there?
Our nearest airport is Bergerac at an easy 1 hour drive away from us. Bordeaux is around 1.5 to 2hrs depending on traffic around the city. Limoges and Brive are within 2hrs as well. You’ll need to book a hire car from the airport.
Driving here? If travelling from the Uk, you could use the tunnel or a cross channel ferry. We travel between Portsmouth and Caen with Brittany Ferries. The drive from Caen is about 6hrs.
How far is it to the supermarket?
It’s a 6 minute drive to Leclerc, our biggest supermarket. Some other shops, including an organic supermarket, plus the petrol station, are on the road below Leclerc.
There’s also an Intermarche, Lidl, and Aldi in Riberac.
What day is market day?
Friday is market day in Riberac, and the stalls are only there until 12.30/13.00. We can give you a tip on where to park, but recommend going fairly early. That will give you time to wander round all the stalls and have a coffee/beer/glass of wine/lunch. Your choice!
There are markets on different days of the week in other towns and villages. Perigueux market is on Saturday.
What time is check-in and check-out?
We usually request arrival after 4pm, and departure by 10am. Sometimes we can be flexible, just ask.
Is the pool just for us?
Yes! From summer 2025, guests in La Belle Maison will have exclusive use of the pool.