La Roseraie

A lazy lake day may be on the cards from here – and you’ll have a couple of options to weigh up. The first is the pretty Lac d'Éguzon (half an hour’s drive), where well-kept beaches are ripe swimming and picnicking grounds and the waters… well, they’re watersports central with everything from kayaking and paddleboarding to waterskiing. There are nature trails and waterfront cafés on the shore – and there's similar at Le Bourg-d'Hem (35 minutes), a particularly peaceful natural lake connected to the Creuse river with a playground, beach, swimming and paddleboarding activities and a restaurant or picnic areas. Now, how about the town? La Châtre (15 minutes) is a buzzy place with historic sites, footpaths, galleries, shops, a cinema, swimming pool and a market on Saturday. It’s well-connected by road to other parts of Indre, meaning you can easily take off towards Parc des Parelles (20 minutes), a nature reserve, or Brenne Natural Regional Park (an hour) for more wildlife spotting and watersports. For a rockier ramble, Les Pierres Jaumâtres and Toulx-Sainte-Croix (55 minutes) may be your next port of call. Here, the rocky hill formations have a woodland walk, a restaurant and café, children’s activities and the Tour d’observation with views all the way to Puy-de-Dôme.