Three Normandy Cottages:
Apple Cottage, Cider Cottage & Orchard Cottage

(click on the ID number below to view details of Cider Cottage & Orchard Cottage)

ID874  ID964

Apple Cottage

Apple Cottage has the following accommodation:

Ground floor: Large, comfortable sitting-room with wood-burning stove. Television with Satellite TV, DVD and video player.

Well-equipped kitchen-diner, with gas cooker, dishwasher, fridge-freezer and microwave.

Bathroom with bath, shower and wash basin

Separate toilet

Utility space with electric water boiler and consumer unit

First floor

Two large bedrooms, one with king-size double bed, the other with three singles. Both bedrooms are carpeted with wardrobe, chests of drawers and hanging space.

All beds have duvets, pillows and linen – changed weekly – at a cost of 10 euros per bed, per week.

Large garden: Patio with garden furniture & barbecue.

Cider and Apple Cottages are semi-detached, with locked, adjoining doors. They can be rented separately but are also ideal for occupation as a large, single unit.

We welcome pets at our cottages.

Painting Holidays

French Coastal Breaks offers painting holidays based La Cidrerie. Hilary will be your experienced art tutor with husband John running the residential side, including details of course booking, knowledge of the French customs and language and transport where necessary.

Cider Cottage will be our painting base and it has access to a large ajoining barn for shelter and shade.

The area boasts a wide range of painting opportunities including Le Mont St Michel, sandy beaches, slat marshes, fishing ports, rural scenery and a wide variety of lively markets - all typical of this beautiful part of Normandy.

The Artist

Hilary Frame is a British teacher and artist with many years of teaching Art to a range of age groups including Adult Education and students up to 'A' level standard.

Hilary's work comprises mainly of watercolour and mixed media collage. Her subject matter is always taken from nature, buildings set within the countryside or seascapes.

Recently Hilary has been working on a freer approach abstraction in watercolour. Hilary has spent her teaching career bringing out the individual skills and abilities in a caring fun yet structured manner. Hilary is willing to work with a range of abilities and skills levels in order to encourage creativity and enjoyment of painting in any chosen media.

The painting Courses will run on a Saturday to Saturday basis and follow this scedule.

• Saturday - Welcome - Evening Meal - Introduction to the course
• Sunday - Getting to know you. Individual styles and media - Walk to the Abbaye for inspiration - Sketching and painting at La Cidrerie.
• Monday - Painting at La Cidrerie. Demonstration - Techniques
• Tuesday - Market Day at Villedieu les Poeles for inspiration - Sketching and painting at La Cidrerie
• Wednesday - Granville - sketching inspiration - Painting at La Cidrerie
• Thursday Friday - Evaluation
• Saturday - Depart for UK

Local Area

The history of the area goes back many centuries - from Norman times through to the moving story of the invasion of Normandy by the allied forces in 1944 to 1945.

The famous abbeys of La Lucerne and Hambye date from the 12th century, the small chateau in St. Pierre Langers was gifted to the family by William the Conqueror, for the part they played in the invasion of England.

Avranches was Patton's HQ following his 3rd Army's breakout to the Loire after D-Day (Cobra - 'La Percée'), and there are many poignant reminders of that time in the war graves around the area, particularly the American Cemetery at St. James and the German Cemetery at Huisines-sur-Mer, overlooking Mont St. Michel.

Granville - the 'Monaco of the North' - has an old town on a rocky promontary overlooking the sea, with the port and commercial district along the reclaimed land below, with its habourfront seafood restaurants and variety of nice shops.

There's a fine beach, complete with sea-water swimming pool and you can get a bird's-eye view of the old ramparts above the beach.

Art lovers will enjoy the Musée d'Art Moderne Richard Anacreon with its collection of Fauvist and Pointillist paintings. And Granville is also the birth place of Christian Dior, and his former summer house, the clifftop Villa les Rhumbs, is now the delightful Musée et Jardin Christian Dior.

The Chausey Islands (52 islands at high tide and 365 at low tide) are an interesting and attractive day out from Granville, and Jersey is also only a hour by hydrofoil from the town.

In Avranches there are also the famous Mont St. Michel Manuscripts, rescued from the Mont during the Revolution, on display in the Scriptorial.

Prices & Booking Information

2009/2010  Price per week

Apple Cottage:

January to May - £375

June to August - £500

September to December - £375

Bed linen is provided at a rate of 10 euros per bed per week, and there is a cleaning charge of 60 euros per week.

The cottage is cleaned, and the bedding changed, each Saturday.

Getting There

By road: La Cidrerie is 75 minutes from the ferry ports of Caen/ Ouistreham and Cherbourg, and an hour from St Malô. Le Havre is two hours away.

By air: There are direct flights by Ryanair to Dinard, Rennes and Beauvais.

By train: There is a fast train from Paris to Rennes, an hour south by autoroute, or you can take the normal train to Granville. Timetables and prices from SNCF.

To book this Normandy Cottage please contact the owner:

John Frame 

Tel: 01243 82 68 40 or 0033 (0) 233 58 96 80.

When booking this cottage please mention Relax in France