LA CHARRETTERIE (THE OLD WAGGON SHED)

La Charretterie means The Waggon Shed in French. 

 

Over 30 years ago we found this  venerable 500+ year old farm in the village of Houdetot in the Pays de Caux and fell in love with it. Over the years, we have been restoring the old farmhouse and nearby, the Charretterie (or Waggon Shed) which we have been letting for fifteen years. 

 

The Charreterie sleeps five comfortably,  in an apartment above the "waggon" area. There are two bedrooms, a bathroom and separate WC, and a large open-plan kitchen/dining/sitting room area. It's 7 km from the coast, so we have the best of both worlds - the quiet of the countryside and the pleasures of being near the seaside.

 

It is fully modernised and has a washing machine, dishwasher and internet access. The building is very well insulated and has electric heaters - for extra cosiness on very cold days, there is a wood-burning stove, though this throws out almost too much heat!

 

The property is south-facing and not overlooked, with its own private garden and parking area. All the rooms look out on the farm courtyard which extends as far as the church in the distance, which the monks who lived here, used to tend in the past. We still have their vaulted wine cellar.

 

The village of Houdetot feels remote; the pace of life is slow and peaceful.  We are twelve minutes' drive from the sea, where we have one of the (as voted on the internet!) prettiest villages in France: the seaside resort of Veules-les-Roses. There is a sandy beach and good swimming at Veules in summer, with excellent cliff walks, tennis, wind-surfing and sailing, shrimping and seafood gathering from the rockpools. You can find good seafood restaurants all along the coast. There is horse-riding nearby, a good golf course (2 kms away) and interesting cycle tracks to explore, including two converted railway lines which go far inland as well as parallel to the coast.

 

Dieppe, Fécamp and, of course, Rouen, the capital of Normandy are not far away, with plenty of things to visit and places to explore along the coast and inland too.

 

The Pays de Caux is not very well known. Because of this it is very unspoilt, with small fishing ports and coves lurking between the chalk cliffs from which the Pays de Caux takes its name. Further along the coast is Etretat, famed for its chalk arches and high cliffs. The Impressionists loved this area and there are traces of their inspiration  all the way down the coast.