I am happy to share this article about my village.
LePetitOiseauBnB is in a tranquil home - it is not 'a `complex of Bed and Breakfast rooms. It is not a hotel. I remember when Chambre d'hôte was often offered as a room in a home. I wish it to be an enjoyable experience (Airbnb), not only a place where one rests one's head! Here it is within reach of the village and restuarants.
IDEAL for walking, cycling kayaking, wild swimming, resting, writing, painting, photography..
I present this article promoting a village where, when the sun shines, stress may melt away if you let it ... where one can smell history within streets of stone.
With gratitude to:
The best secret towns in France
Our writer is prepared to share five belles villes that the locals would much rather keep to themselves.
Angles-sur-l’Anglin, Poitou-Charentes
Were Angles-sur-l’Anglin — indeed the entire Anglin and (nearby) Gartempe valleys — in Provence or Tuscany, there would be standing room only in summer. But they’re not. They are east of Poitiers and, even in high season, you may have great stretches to yourself, which is good, for we are among startling bucolic comeliness, punctuated by moments of grandeur. The village itself is so outrageously picturesque that it brings you up short. This might also be connected with getting breath back — Angles rises surprisingly sharp from the river, in a jumbled conspiracy of stone, flowers and thigh-sapping ginnels.
Up on a rocky spur, the village castle is crumbled to perfection. Across the way, the Roc-aux-Sorciers centre recreates the world’s most substantial Magdalenian sculpted frieze (£5.70; roc-aux-sorciers.fr). Its 65ft include savage animals and naked women: key interests haven’t much changed in 15,000 years. The original is too fragile for public visits.
The castle in Angles-sur-l’Anglin BRUNO DE HOGUES/GETTY
Not far away, lively, lovely villages proliferate, several yards, and hours, to the side of mainstream France. Montmorillon is a Hay-on-Wye book village full of fine French volumes and, at James Fraser’s Glass Key shop, English ones, too. Chauvigny has a 12th-century church with startling red and white capitals, as well as five chateaux. One hosts the most seriously hurtling birds-of-prey shows I’ve recently seen (£10.50, kids £7; geantsduciel.com). Nearby, St Savin’s abbey church is coated with romanesque frescoes unequalled anywhere. I mean that: the greatest in the world, 50 OT episodes, Genesis through Exodus, covering the ceiling for the instruction of illiterate peasants. It may be the best £6 you spend in France (abbaye-saint-savin.fr).
Thus back to Angles-sur-l’Anglin. You will have checked in at the Artémisia — as civilised as B&Bs get (doubles from £69, B&B; gites-de-france.com). Down the hill, Le Goût des Mets is the best-value restaurant I’ve encountered in France over the past 12 months. With a terrace overlooking the countryside, it’s also one of the pleasantest (menus from £14; anglessuranglin.com).
Fly To Poitiers with Ryanair; it’s a further hour to Angles-sur-l’Anglin.
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You could take the strain with TVG / LVG to Chatellerault, Poitiers or Futuroscope> Ta ke note that transport to the village is by TAXI - from 70e to 100e more or less! Sometimes a bus to a nearby village and shanks' pony is a long ride which keeps this village so remote and tempting for the madding crowd who flock here in July and August.
Hire a car from a company or a local!
Drive through BELLE FRANCE PROFONDE, or, if you must, along the AUTOROUTE.