Le Mayne de Boulède

Boulède is situated close to the medieval village of Monflanquin, between the rivers Dordogne and Lot, in the north of Lot-et-Garonne (also known as ‘the best-kept secret of south-west France’). The five holiday homes on the estate are spacious and cosy, with each one featuring its own covered terrace, a well-equipped kitchen and a cosy living room, bedrooms with comfortable beds, and one or more bathrooms. There are three six-person gîtes, one house for eight people and an XL holiday home for ten people. Two of the five properties are wheelchair accessible. The whole site is a green (play) paradise with two large fenced-off swimming pools – complete with spacious terraces offering both sun and shade, sturdy picnic and lounge tables, and hammocks perfect for dozing off in.

Near Boulède, in the historic village of Monflanquin (one of the ‘Most Beautiful Villages in France’), you can also book a lovely village flat through the same owners, where you can enjoy breakfast and make use of all of Boulède’s facilities, such as the swimming pools, massage treatments, table d’hôtes and the painting studio. The minimum stay for the flat is two nights.

Monflanquin, Lot et Garonne

Thanks to the rivers, the surrounding area is lush and green. The region, just a stone’s throw from the famous Dordogne, combines a stunning, water-rich hilly landscape of sunflower fields, fruit orchards, meadows, farmland and woodland with authentic medieval villages and castles, as well as a rich culinary tradition. It is not without reason that it is affectionately known as the ‘Tuscany of France’. The larger towns in the vicinity are Bergerac (which also has an airport), Périgueux, Agen and Cahors. Toulouse and Bordeaux are also just under a two-hour drive away and are well worth a visit.

History

In days gone by, Boulède was an old craft village, where various rural trades were practised, such as: a blacksmith (forgeron), a cooper (tonnelier), a winegrower (vigneron), a carpenter (menuisier) and a seamstress (couturière). The current names of the holiday homes refer to these hard-working residents of yesteryear. The blacksmith’s grandson (who was well over 80 at the time) would occasionally pay a visit and recount the most wonderful stories about his memories of Boulède, in the company of his friend Julien – who was of a similar age – whilst enjoying a glass of pastis. After that, from the war years of 1942 to 2002, the property was owned by the Decroix family from northern France and their descendants for sixty years. Rolf and Karen therefore purchased the hamlet in 2002 from a delegation of 14 heirs. Quite regularly, a family member drops by to have a look or even spends their holidays on their former family estate. If the walls could talk, every house would have its own rich history. Stories set in times long past, when holidays were not yet celebrated here, the property had not yet been renovated, and Rolf and Karen were not yet the owners.