Camping Lac du Pont à l'Age

If you’re planning to spend a long time holed up in this forest idyll (and why not?) you might need to stock up in the bigger shops and supermarkets of Limoges (40 minutes’ drive). It’s well worth a day trip or two in any case, to visit the wildlife park inside the castle, stroll round the massive aquarium and see the cathedral it took six centuries to finish. If you’re more into scenery than the city, a drive of 50 minutes gets you to Crozant, the arty hub for the Valley of the Painters. In the 19th century, Monet and hordes of other artists flocked to this spot where the Creuse and Sédelle rivers join under a ruined white castle. It’s every bit as paintable now so bring your crayons, peruse the artistic history in the visitor centre or just wander the numerous trails taking it all in. (Boat trips on the Creuse give you another perspective with less legwork.) For wildlife watching, it’s around 50 minutes' drive from the site to the Parc Naturel Régional de la Brenne, a diverse wilderness of wetlands, prairies and moors home to such exotica as pond turtles and purple herons. There’s even wilder stuff of the tooth-bearing, treetop-grazing kind at Zoo Parc Reynou (also 50 minutes), while the furry team at Les Loups de Chabrières an hour away will have you wanting to take a wolf pack home with you.