Justin's visit to Aquitaine 14-16 October 08

I've meaning to write trip blogs ever since I first read about the concept 2 or 3 years ago. I'm not exactly an 'early adopter, but better late than never, hey? Another easy flight into Bergerac from Exeter with flybe. At Exeter, I was 'air side' within 10 minutes of arriving at the airport - and that included arranging some EUROS (at a miserly rate of 1.12 by the way). For those of you that haven't used Bergerac, it's best described as a 'glorified shed'. Passport control, security and car hire are all handled within the same small hangar. Basically, the airport started life as an enthusiasts' aerodrome. There is development of a new terminal occurring but it would be a shame to lose its non-commercial charm. We'll see.

I've arrived as Aquitaine enjoys a glorious Autumn. I'd already seen that Biarritz had reached the low 80s Fahrenheit at the weekend - not bad for mid-October but not unusual either. So, I'd packed light and thrown-in some flip-flops as an after-thought. If you're ever travelling to the south west coast from Bergerac, you are faced with two route choices. Take the new motorway west to Bordeaux and then head south all the way to Bayonne. This has the advantage of being straightforward, cruise-control driving. But, it has the psychological disadvantage of having to start the journey heading north - in the opposite direction to one's ultimate destination. Plus, this initial drive takes you through the city centre of Bergerac. OK, so it's not a big city but it's still a bit of a drag. The alternative is to take a deep breath and follow a more-or-less straight line south west through the Landes forest. This offers more interesting scenery but the roads are mostly single lane. Still, there's plenty of opportunity for picking up speed on the long, Roman roads through the forest although you have to be extra vigilant in the towns and villages where Gendarmes lurk in the bushes with speed guns (I speak from experience...).

Well, this time I took the forest option and passed the time with a fine collection of CD listening material. This was dominated by my French Learning CDs as I'm about to kick-off my lessons again. A musical interlude with an iTunes compilation CD made by two sons (aged 7 & 5) helped break up the journey. Despite only a couple of brief stops, it still took me nearly 3 and a half hours to reach St Jean de Marsacq, just east of Bayonne. We already have one house on the outskirts of this village (Carolyn's cottage, Maison Marsacq #007) and one of our local owners (Lyn, Maison Baradet #047) alerted me to a possible new one in the village. I'm a big fan of St Jean de Marsacq: it's small but has a pretty church and an excellent restaurant - Le Galopin - with a good local reputation.

It was good to see Lyn again. We've been working together for 5 years now and I still remember our first ever conversation when we first started the business. I called her one evening from my home office (bedroom) as I knew she had a good-looking house in the right area. We had a good chat, I arranged to meet her on my next visit and we've been promoting Maison Baradet successfully ever since.

The new viewing at St Jean de Marsacq was an exciting one. It's a classic Maison de Maitre - partially covered in red ivy, old stonework, blue shuttered windows, flagstone flooring and a host of character features. This is a quintessentially French country house holiday rental. I immediately liked it. It has English owners who are currently doing some small works on the inside (a couple of new bathrooms, redecoration, that sort of thing). It's a big house - 7 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms, plus high ceilings on the ground and first floors. Outside, there's a large amount of garden including a large pool which I estimated to be 12x4 metres. We're very much hoping to be promoting this house for next summer so keep watching the website and ask now I then drove with Lyn back to her house, Maison Baradet, for a cuppa and a chat about the season just gone. Her partner Steve had just packed up for the day - he's finsighing the building of their new house next door. This is a quite different type of house. It's a modern design that's common now in lotissements throughout France. Not especially attractive to be quite honest and certainly not particularly French. But, my initial disappointment was allayed when I had a look around the house - it would make for a good rental. It has 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a spacious open-plan living area and a terrific covered terrace and pool area. I can see a family (or possibly two families together) really enjoying this house in the summer. Again, anyone wanting to make an early enquiry about it should contact us. I expect it will be on our website before Christmas.

I ended up spending a good 3+ hours with Lyn and Steve. This is one of the most rewarding parts of our job, catching up with our 'partners' talking about Aquitaine, in Aquitaine. So, rather later than planned, I drove off in the darkness to my resting place for the next two nights - the Mer & Golf Villas at Moliets Plage.

After a very quick turnaround I took my grumbling tummy to the sea-front to see which restaurants would be open at this time of year. Gratefully, Le Bellini obliged. This is a new one on me - I recall there being a TexMex type restaurant here on my last visit about 12 months ago. Well, Le Bellini is much better, with a good menu and bar. I tucked into a cold beer and an excellent pizza whilst watching France beat Tunisia 2-1 on the TV. Hunger abated, I retired to my villa for the evening.

I never seem to sleep well when I'm away and sure enough I was up and about before the alarm went off. I had a big day ahead. I was heading to Capbreton and Hossegor but first dropped in to the boulangerie at Moliets-et-Maa for essential provisions. Wiping crumbs and chocolate from my face, I then headed south to Vieux Boucau where I wanted to stop and look at the Belambra VVF Pinsolle venue, with a view to possibly adding it to out Family Holiday Sites collection. I have to say I was impressed with what I saw, the location adjacent to the lagoon being particularly inspiring. I will follow this one up when I'm back in the office and ask our Area Manager to make a detailed visit of the site, notably the accommodation as sometimes these French holiday complexes can be a little 'pokey'.

Next stop was Grant and Jemma's place in Capbreton - Villa Caicara #022. This is one of our quickest-booking villas. Each summer, Grant & Jemma move out for 10-12 weeks and we let the house for them. We've had to turn away several enquiries for 2009 already because there are plans to renovate the house and so we haven't yet been able to discuss the new tariff. The plans are really exciting and will involve a brand new kitchen/breakfast room opening to a new rear terrace; a brand new master bedroom with en-suite; a new en-suite for the upstairs bedroom; and a cloakroom downstairs also. This will obviously push up the price and I hope to have the new 2009 tariff live on our website in a few days' time.

Grant and Jemma look after several holiday properties in and around Hossegor. Our first stop was the new house of James and Michele Templeton who previously owned a villa on the edge of the lagoon of Hossegor. They've since sold that and bought a new villa in Capbreton, just round the corner from Grant and Jemma - Les Bruyeres #024. The pool at this villa is particularly good - it's large (10x5), heated, has an electric cover and easy access for young kids via the Roman steps. Swimming pools, in our experience, are often installed with very little thought for who will be using them. So, a pool with these features is sure to be popular. A job for me next week or the one after will be to update the description of Les Bruyeres #024 for our website, following my visit.

I was really looking forward to seeing the next property - Villa des Roses #061. Situated between the lagoon and the ocean, this is the prime residential territory in an already pretty exclusive resort. The villa didn't disappoint. It has a 'clean', 'contemporary' feel to it and whilst it came on to the lettings market quite late in 2008, we managed to book a handful of clients into here and it went down very well indeed. We've already secured a fortnight's booking for next summer and I expect it to be a popular choice again. A villa like this one is very rare indeed.

Quite a contrast for my next visit, but no less popular - Studio de l'Ocean #028. Situated at Notre Dame beach on the Hossegor side of the port (although it has a Capbreton postcode), we took on this holiday flat in the early part of summer 2008. Grant recommended it to us and whilst it was never going to be a luxury rental with a good rental income, it had appeal and I thought it would rent well, especially for couples on a budget who wanted to be close to the surf. The flat does this very well. The residence itself is one of those typically French blocks that, I'm afraid, do blight the coastlines throughout France. Once inside though, I could see what a good job the owners (Rob & Megan) had done. They've opened up the flat entirely so that it's all open-plan and have fitted a new kitchenette and shower room. There's a good size patio to sit and eat out and the sand is literally 2 minutes' walk. At the right price, this flat will let well again next year and will have a longer season than most properties because of it's appeal to surfers and non-family groups.

It was time to leave the sand dunes, lakes and pine forests of Les Landes and push further south to the Pays Basque. I'm often asked (by clients, partners and colleagues) where in Aquitaine would I most like to buy my own property? Well, there is no straight answer to that question and I could easily see myself choosing six different places. But, my heart has a significant soft-spot for the Basque Country. I started holidaying here with friends in the 1990s (golf and surf) and fell in love with the views, the beaches, the architecture, the language, well everything really. It just seemed to me to be so different, so distinctive. How come it was almost unheard of?

There's point on the A63 auto-route heading south from Hossegor, when you see the Pyrenees for the first time. If you're lucky then you will see the peak of La Rhune, but more often than not there's cloud hugging the summit. At this point I sense a home-coming and when I catch my first glimpses of the Basque houses clinging to the green hillside, it never fails to inspire me and remind me that this is where Alternative Aquitaine really started.

I exited the auotroute at the Cambo turning and took the dual carriageway passed Makila, en-route towards St Jean Pied de Port. Once past Cambo, the road starts to wind and the mountains close in. It's a wonderful route and provides a sudden and dramatic contrast to the flatness and forests north of the Adour. I'm heading for St Martin d'Arrossa where there's a new house to look at, one which I was alerted to some time ago. We sent one of our Area Managers down to do an inspection and she came back with a glowing report. I was looking forward to this.
For once on these trips, I was running on time but I knew that I had nothing more than a house name to go on - no address, no grid reference or Google Earth. For those that know me, they would be shocked by my apparent lack of preparation. Fear not! From previous conversations with the owners - Murray and Pam Kent - I knew that they frequented the village hotel, the Eskiluanda. So, I pulled up there, wondered in and made enquiries with the chef. Needless to say he could give me faultless directions of how to find their house and even handed me a postcard from a rack in reception which showed an aerial view of the village - he pointed to Msr Kent's house.

Satisfied, I drove up past the cinema (a sight in itself - how does a village this small have a cinema?), entered the Place du Fronton (every Basque village has one) and took the little chemin signposted to the Eglise. A hundred yards or so later I pulled up outside the house to be greeted by the housekeeper, a convivial Basque lady, Mme Ithurralde. I have a real sense of admiration for British families and other nationalities who bought a property in this region many years ago. Not because they would have made a small fortune out of it by now - neither they nor I care about that. It's because they are the pioneers. The people who holidayed here 20 years ago or more, fell in love with the place and decided they wanted to live here at least part-time, if not more. These people did this long before half of Britain decided it would be a good idea to exit GB, buy a gite and some chickens in France and think it would be a 'get rich quick' scheme.

I digress. I love this house. It's not luxurious but offers a really authentic Basque Country experience. The accommodation is good, there's a lovely pool and the surroundings are blissful. I hope to be adding this one to our website by the end of the month so keep your eyes peeled and contact us now if you want to make an enquiry for next year.

I was only a few kms from St Jean Pied de Port, so I made that my next stop. One of our Family Holiday Sites - Le Parc d'Arradoy - is located here and whilst one of my colleagues, Alex, has made a visit here, I'd never seen it (it's only a year or so old) and I wanted to check the location. I was delighted to see that it really is less than a 5 minute walk into the town centre where there's numerous restaurants, cafes and shops. Plus, there's quite a famous postcard view of the houses over-hanging the river (similar but better to the one at Oloron Ste Marie) as well as the ramparts to enjoy. If you add in the fact this is the gateway to the mountains and to Spain (10 minutes' drive), you have an excellent town to enjoy. We'd like to acquire some more properties here.

I ambled round the town for half an hour. I like to ditch the car and look around on foot. For one thing you could a better feel for what's there but also it gives you a chance to measure distances a little better. It's important to let people know how far away amenities are from where they are staying. I was also on a mission to find a Basque flag car window sticker but failed miserably. Still, I had two Gateaux Basque for lunch.

The crumbs in the hire car were now at danger levels, but I carried on regardless, heading back north the way I'd come this morning. Some people have told me it's not much more than 'half an hour' to get to the coast from St Jean Pied de Port. This is utter nonsense. You need to allow an hour. I did know this as fact before this trip, but it was again reconfirmed as it took nearly an hour to get to Ascain, although I did choose to take a scenic route to Espelette via La Place. I'd never actually heard of the latter village but it was a real Basque gem.

Arriving at Ascain late afternoon, the temperature was 26 Celsius and there were groups of people sitting outside the cafes. I'm very fond of Ascain; it's pretty, has good amenities and a lovely setting. The sort of place my parents would appreciate. With the help of Google Earth, I quickly located the house for which I was searching. It's owned by Graham Whitely, another British pioneer of the Basque Country. I only had the chance to see it from the outside - our Area Manager is coming to do an inspection soon. But I was in the area and wanted to see it for myself. The house does not have a pool but it's a short walk to the village and that counts for an awful lot as so few holiday homes have this feature. And what a lovely village to have on your doorstep. I hope to have this house featured on our website before Christmas so please keep an eye out for it and contact us if you want some more information about it.

Time to say “goodbye” to the Basque Country for another year. I head north again, destination Hossegor. En-route, I drove into the Residence Allee des Dunes at Ondres-Plage. This was new to our Family Holiday Site collection in 2008 and we’ve made several bookings there. It’s a peaceful location 1.5kms from the beach. Ondres has special memories for me as it’s where Claire (my then pregnant wife), William (then less than 2 years old) based ourselves for 6 weeks whilst we blitzed the region building an initial portfolio of holiday lets. We’ve come a long way since but I’ll never forget that initial trip.

Back into Hossegor – Estagnots to be precise – where I meet Toby and Sara at their unbelievable beach house at Estagnots. Toby has only this year finished renovating La Ferme Marqueze which will be available again for letting next summer. He is also considering letting his wonderful, contemporary beach house. If we are fortunate enough to add this property to our website, it will quickly become one of our Top 3 most prestigious rentals (if you’re curious, check out Manoir de Maremne and Maison des Pecheurs too).

This beach house is one of the most photogenic properties I’ve come across and features a magnificent floodlit pool, practise putting area and gym. We’ll know within the next few weeks if the villa will be available to let. I already have some clients in mind.

Once again, I finish the day in darkness – just the way I started the day. Still, it’s an easy 20 minute journey back up the coast to Moliets Plage where I return to my villa for the night. Of course, I nipped back to Le Bellini for a beer and a bite to eat (a pretty impressive Salade Landaise).

After another pathetic night’s sleep and I’m up at 5am planning the day ahead and writing up notes from yesterday. Anything I can do now will save time when I’m back in the office. I’m feeling particularly pressed for time as I’m back in France again on Monday and Tuesday next week, then away on Friday which leaves just two days in the office next week. Still, the time has thus far been very productive.

Today I met up with our villa partner at Moliets Golf Villa Resort – Eurogroup Vacances – to review the 2008 season, inspect a selection of villas, speak with as many staff as possible and discuss ideas and changes for 2009. I understand that we’re Eurogroup’s top-performing agent for Moliets – it’s nice to hear news like that for a ‘little’ company like ours. We take in several villas at Club Aquitaine, Club Royal, Club Clairiere and Club Prestige. It’s a great location for family summer holidays and the sites are in good condition.

And now for my last appointment of this trip. A late afternoon visit to the glorious Manoir de Maremne. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call this property a stately home. It’s a wonderful estate and a superbly thought-through holiday let. It’s my first visit and I’ve really been looking forward to this one, not least to meet the ever-helpful owners, Quintin and Merrilyn. What a fabulous job they’ve done here, lifting the luxury, catered ski chalet concept and bringing it to the south west coast. We’re very grateful. Manoir de Maremne is not your average rental. In fact, it’s more boutique hotel than holiday let, as the package here includes all manner of meals and services. I absolutely adore this place and it’s beautiful country house architecture. The facilities aren’t bad either – a huge heated swimming pool and a private tennis court, for example. Our challenge is to develop a proposition for this type of product so that visitors to our website understand the offer and see the value for money in spite of the high price tag. I look forward to getting to grips with that.

I couldn’t finish this trip blog without adding that I’m staying the night at Mont-de-Marsan Campanile Hotel – a regular stop-over of mine on the way back to Bergerac. The rooms are comfortable and the cuisine is surprisingly good – the panacotta au figues desert was outstanding and this is a motel! Vive la France!