Children at 'Le Petit Lapin'

Picture by Ante & and Sara from Belgium

When I first started looking for a place in France, I decided that I wanted to have a gîte.  I imagined a cottage of two or maybe even three bedrooms… but once I found my house, the dictates of architecture and space and my own large family meant that I had to rethink what was possible and sensible and practical.  The result is ‘petit’: ‘Le Petit Lapin’ has a small footprint and there was nothing I could do to stretch those granite stones.

I was determined, however, to have enough space so that a family with one or two children could still come and enjoy all that this beautiful part of Brittany offers.  In addition to a proper bedroom for grown-ups, we managed to create a mezzanine, and it’s now the sort of space Heidi would have enjoyed, with a double bed under the eaves and a roof window with a view over the orchard and the valley to the south. 

Lots of children have visited ‘Le Petit Lapin’ and I am always delighted to welcome them here.  Their parents might think for a minute that the mezzanine is indeed small, but the children’s eyes light up when they see the staircase and discover their own private space at the top.  I am sometimes even lucky enough to receive in my guest book a special ‘thank you’ written by my young visitors-- like this sweet drawing of two happy little girls under one of my apple trees with three of my six farm cats.