Simply Canvas

Once you’ve scuttled around the local villages, head off to some of the larger ones for more shops, markets and restaurants: Eymet, Miramont-de-Guyenne, Duras and Sainte-Foy-la-Grande are all within a 20-minute drive and all good sources of tasty treats. If it’s wine that brings you to this area, it’s a fine idea to bring bikes along to pedal your way between the wineries – there are several within a half-hour cycle. Other top destinations for vino fans include Bergerac (half an hour’s drive), Saint-Émilion (50 minutes) and the famed cellars of Bordeaux (an hour and a half). For a break from all the eats and drinks (advisable once in a while), it’ll take you 20 minutes or so to drive to the banks of the Dordogne for canoe trips or wild swims, or half an hour to get to the owners’ fave lake beach for sunbathing, swims and screaming down the waterslide. For a day out dappled with culture and history, shoot off to Château de Bridoire (25 minutes) to wander round the elegant mansion before getting stuck in to its collection of medieval games.