Sue & Trevor

Life in the UK was all pretty normal for us - I was a project manager with Xerox, Sue was a supply teacher at local schools and our two girls were happy at the local village school when the reality of redundancy reared its ugly head for me.

After trying to start my own business, without success, Sue and I realised we needed a new challenge and after much thought I had the idea of moving to the Loire Valley in France (much to the initial shock of Sue and all the family) and running gites.

Still - I can be persuasive! So we started searching for our dream property: one that provided a calm and peaceful environment in the beautiful French countryside so that we could create a holiday location that people would enjoy, free from noise and light pollution, without having to be located in the middle of nowhere and miles from any amenities - not an easy task! After spending over a year looking for the right place we came upon Le Bouchet, an old farm on a small hill just a few kilometres from the town of Descartes and the village of Abilly.

Le Bouchet has a very long history in the region and is marked, with its original tower on one of the very first maps ever made of the area in the Eighteenth century and its buildings were perfect for our gites. We loved Le Bouchet's location in the Loire Valley and on the border with the Vienne: having easy access to the major Loire Chateaux, Futuroscope theme park and Brenne National Park, it was ideal for holidays.
So, late 2004 we finally moved here - two children, two cats and a dog! Since then the menagerie has grown - two goats, chickens, various hamsters and guinea pigs and even some cute and cuddly moles (!?!) which pop up far too frequently and we can't get rid of (despite the TNT!!!).

The "good life" is being had by all - we have our own vegetable garden and orchard - the wildlife and birdlife in and around Le Bouchet, the Loire Valley and the Vienne is absolutely fantastic, the weather is generally brilliant and the night sky is absolutely unbelievable with no light pollution!

Archie the dog
Barney the goat
Shifu & Ollie the cats
Nellie, Gladys & Joyce the chickens