Hosting you in Charente Maritime

Half from Surgères in Charente Maritime, half from Boulogne near Paris, Brigitte was born in Casablanca then brought up in many regions of France. Her parents, themselves brought up in Morocco and Viet-Nam, were always happy to receive family, friends or colleagues, even on last minute. Thus, Brigitte lived in opened houses and apartments and she was naturally trained by her Mum to decorate warm homes, to welcome people of all kind, to cook for them, to share time and space. Getting fond of this, she went on as a student in languages and international trade, then as a young working girl in Paris, then as a mother of three children and finally as a guest house hostess. Once an Export Sales Manager, then a spouse and mother dedicated to her family, at a time, she needed to resume a kind of an international job at home with her kids around. And she still enjoys it 26 years after the big life change!

Patrick was born in Lorraine and spent his childhood on Côte d'Azur before going back to his family's origin. He studied electronics and industrial data processing, and worked in various jobs and places in the high technology industry, travelling a lot in France and abroad. After many ups and downs during the 80's and 90's, tired of moving out again and again, Brigitte and Patrick decided to settle down and create a guest house in the country making their living on it. Back to Brigitte's mother's family area, they looked for an old mansion of outstanding character and, after a few months hunting houses, they found Le Clos de la Garenne... a Sleeping Beauty waiting for them during 7 years nearby a big wood! Fond of nature and animals since he was a boy, Patrick could achieve his "Daktari" dream in this 10 acres estate with its wild life, plus many animals along the years.

Since 1998, running a bed and breakfast has been a lifestyle choice, the outcome of our route refocused upon human values and the environment. Here, in our guest house which is also our family home, we've been able to conciliate our love for family and friends, our taste for nature and animals, our independence and innovation spirit, our various skills (either manual, technical, artistic or intellectual) and our appetite for international meetings. 

Here, we've brought up our three daughters who had the chance to eat and play with children of many origins and countries: their turn to catch the virus of languages and travels...

Welcoming many foreigners every year, we are proud of helping Charente Maritime, Poitou Charentes and Nouvelle Aquitaine shine all-over the world. We can speak English and Spanish fluently and have good notions of German and Italian.