Val and Paul were very welcoming when we stayed for a night after arriving in France from Cherbourg. A charming haven after a ferry trip with charming hosts. Val cooks and Paul serves and does the DIY around the properties. We had our own dining room and were trusted to help ourselves to the wine when the owners retired. Very friendly and chatty and accomodated all our different menu needs. We stayed as DB&B and were shown around the Gites. Fixtures and fittings were of 5* quality and we had only wished the owners of the Gite we went on to rent for a week in the Cote du Morbihan, had as much pride in their property as Val and Paul do. From The Webb Family.

We had stayed in the Bricquebec area 7 years ago and, on deciding to return this year, had intended to re-visit the gite we used then. However, it seems that this is no longer available so a quick trawl of Tripadvisor revealed La Lande as a potentially excellent alternative.

We were not disappointed and would certainly echo other reviewers universally favourable comments. The owners' own visitors book contains many many more in similar vein.

We did not arrive till about 8pm and had pre-booked an evening meal. This was first class both in quality and quantity and got our week's stay off to an excellent start.

Our party of 4 stayed in Kestrel which is well equipped, spacious and clean.

Other reviewers have commented on their children's enjoyment of the facilities. Our group of sixty somethings also made full use of the table tennis (especially fun after a few glasses of wine!) and our first stuttering attempts at archery.

La Lande is such a peaceful place but the nearest supermarket is only a 2 minute drive away, and the town just a 20 minute walk. You could certainly spend time chilling out here but La Lande is ideally located for Normandy's many attractions. We particularly liked Portbail, on the west coast, and Barfleur, on the north-east tip of the peninsula - both can be reached in about 30 minutes.

The Martins have done a remarkable job in creating La Lande in such a short space of time. It is a wonderful place to stay for both young and old, not least because of Val and Paul's friendly and welcoming approach. They genuinely want you to enjoy yourselves - and we did!

We stayed in Barn Owl Gite for two weeks from 18th August 2012 - 2 adults, a 6 year old and a 3 year old. This was easily the best gite we have stayed in, despite being the first we have tried without a swimming pool!

Val and Paul welcomed us on arrival, Val showing us the Gite and Paul taking the kids for a tour of the extensive grounds and to meet the chickens. Barn Owl is beautifully furnished and has everything you could need. The gite was spotlessly clean. The 2 downstairs bedrooms have en-suite bathrooms and there is a third, triple bedroom upstairs. It is worth noting that the upstairs bedroom leads straight from the lounge, and so might be tricky for young, light sleeping children to sleep in if parents are using the lounge/kitchen after their bedtime. Our two shared the downstairs room so this was not an issue for us.

The grounds of the gite are fantastic. There is huge amounts of space and the gardens are beautifully kept. The kids were well occupied by the trampoline, bikes, cars, table football, table tennis, boules, football goal, badminton, tennis, rugby balls, giant Jenga and of course, the Chickens! Our eldest particularly enjoyed his tour of the veg garden with Paul - we now need to find a bigger garden to start growing stuff!

Val and Paul really were the perfect hosts - nothing was too much trouble, from our many requests to borrow things (baking tin and rolling pin for a birthday cake, amongst other things), to their advice on where to visit. The food Val was regularly creating for DB&B guests looked and smelled fabulous. We even came home with a jar of home made jam!

Bricquebec is a nice town; in the end we only ate at one of the restaurants there, which did a good pizza. We ate at the Forge 3 times, which was excellent, and at the Creperie once, which was also good. These two restaurants are together, about a 7 minute drive towards Valognes. As everywhere in France, the 7pm opening of the restaurants posed a few challenges with the children, but they were happy enough staying up a little later! The market at Bricquebec was good; there are markets within driving distance every day. The 4/5 we visited were all well worth visiting.

On Val and Paul's advice we also went to Sciotot. This is a beachside village about 25-30 minutes from La Lande. The beach is huge and was quiet despite it being mid August. There is a large playground right next to the beach, with a snack bar next to it - we had a few beers and some chips here and it was good enough - not gourmet, but very nice having a beer in the sunshine whilst the kids played! Next to the beach there are also 2 restaurants. We went to Le Sauve Qui Pleut twice; this was lovely; a lovely setting, nice modern restaurant and most importantly, a small kid's playground which occupied our two until the food arrived, allowing us to relax! The food was good, although the menu is a little unusual - a range of salads and other dishes from around the world. They did the ubiquitous (but very good) Moules Frites, but also offered a couple of different veggie options (unusually for France) which made my wife happy! We also went to Carteret beach a few times which was lovely and a little more sheltered on breezy days. Carteret is a lovely town, with lots of good looking restaurants, the one we visited was very nice, but I am afraid I forgot what it was called! Barfleur is another town worth a visit.

The swimming pool at Beaumont-Hague was a huge hit with the children (and us to be honest, despite the silly Speedo rule for me!!!). The kids pool is 0.10m deep and incredibly warm, with lots of toys. There are two further pools, two excellent slides and also a jacuzzi, steam room etc.

Many of the D-Day sites/sights are within easy reach of the gite, making La Lande a great base from which to visit them. We did Ste Mere Eglise (the best one in my opinion, and only about 30 minutes away at most), and Omaha, Utah and Gold beaches without driving too much, which was important with the kids in tow. Arromanches and Longue Sur Mer are a must if you are interested in this stuff.

So, back to La Lande. We had a good tour of Kestrel gite and the 2 B&B rooms, and they all looked great. Kestrel can be extended using one of the B&B rooms, offering huge flexibility, and the B&B rooms were both huge and really nicely decorated. I am sure you will not find a warmer welcome anywhere!

Overall we were delighted. The gite was perfect, the grounds were fantastic, and Val and Paul could not have done more. We will almost certainly be back!!

We stayed here on the last night of a 2 week holiday in Normandy and Brittany. Chose the place because of its proximity to the Cherbourg ferry. This was a big mistake - one night was not enough ! The welcome from Val and Paul was great. Huge room with a comfy bed and a tv which receives Channel islands programmes.Excellent breafast - all home produced food - and good advice re pre ferry shopping in Cherbourg.Val also recommended a good restaurant in Briquebec . However if you book in advance she will do an evening meal for you.
We have been to France many time in the past but this was our first experience of the fastcat crossing to Cherbourg. We will definite travel this way in future and most certainly spend more time at La Lande.