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A Charming Gite In A Quiet Picturesque Valley overlooking the 12c. Abbaye d'Hambye.
Our recently renovated property is typical of the area, and offers an ideal base for exploring the beautiful region of Normandy. The cottage is well equipped and comfortable with full central heating and a log burner, and can be enjoyed all year round.
Normandy is renowned for its cullinary excellence, and the local restaurants often endeavour to use local produce especially its meat, cheese, fish & shellfish, cider and calvados!
The cottage is a lovely place to relax, and is well suited to walkers and cyclists with the countryside on your dorstep and very near the junction of several rambling routes. The trout and salmon fishing river Sienne is only 200m away. There is one of the best gourmet restaurants...A Charming Gite In A Quiet Picturesque Valley overlooking the 12c. Abbaye d'Hambye.
Our recently renovated property is typical of the area, and offers an ideal base for exploring the beautiful region of Normandy. The cottage is well equipped and comfortable with full central heating and a log burner, and can be enjoyed all year round.
Normandy is renowned for its cullinary excellence, and the local restaurants often endeavour to use local produce especially its meat, cheese, fish & shellfish, cider and calvados!
The cottage is a lovely place to relax, and is well suited to walkers and cyclists with the countryside on your dorstep and very near the junction of several rambling routes. The trout and salmon fishing river Sienne is only 200m away. There is one of the best gourmet restaurants in Normandy within half a mile.
The sea, and miles of sandy beaches are only 20minutes away by car. A shorter journey will get you to the historic town of Villedieu les Pôeles with its shops museums, market and local swimming pool.
Within a 30 minute drive you will find More beaches, Golf courses, Zoos, Childrens attractions, Horse riding, go-karting, Bowling, and the towns of Coutances, St Lo, Granville and Avranches.
Arromanches, the Bayeaux Tapestry, the D.Day landing beaches and Mont St Michel are all within an hour's drive.
Tourist License / Licencia de turismo N °: NONEREQUIRED
We found the cottage to be not as we had expected from the reviews and pictures posted. The outside of the property was more unkempt than the pictures captured. Not all the equipment was in good condition and in our opinion maybe not that safe.
Inside was not as bright and homely as the pictures suggested to us. Some rooms were to us dismal and uninviting. As we both have some medical impediments we had great difficulties with the stairs to the bedrooms and bathroom. We really believe that there should be some mention in the information that these may be difficult for anyone with mobility or medical conditions.
There is a large step from the main bedroom to the bathroom that can be difficult to distinguish, particularly if someone has a visual impairment, which one of us has. The owner has put a night light here that is a great help for night time trips and this is a welcome addition.
The kitchen cupboards were mostly full of opened bags, bottles, etc. left by previous occupants. This left very little room for items we had purchased.
There are a lot of ornaments and novelties that are once again in our opinion just dust collectors/clutter. It left us short of places to use. It was possible to draw in the dust on certain items like the satellite box, etc.
We found the owner very friendly and they had left us a bottle of red wine and lemon drizzle cake, which were most welcome and acceptable, along with the free eggs.
The area is most definitely rural with only a Michelin rated hotel/restaurant within easy walking distance, apart from the abbey. There are a few marked paths for dog walking but I did need my phone for maps on two different occasions when it wasn’t too obvious which direction to go.
We had planned to stay two weeks but because of the stairs and the other issues we encountered, we decided to only stay one. Obviously other people were more than satisfied with the cottage and surroundings. However, for us it was not as we had expected or been accustomed to at other French properties we have been fortunate to have stayed.
Visited June 2022
Written July 8, 2022. This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Brian David C
3 contributions
Delightful cottage in quiet rural location.
Cottage is delightful, well equipped throughout, nicely furnished, plenty of easy onsite parking. English TV and broadband was enjoyed.
Enjoyed the daily visits by the chickens (as well as their eggs).
Local town of Hambye is only few minutes away for bread and patisseries.
Good base for touring historical sites and local market towns as well as the D-day beaches and museums.
Our host, Chris, made us very welcome with a home made lemon cake and a bottle of red wine on arrival.
We would recommend and hope to visit again.
Visited September 2018
Written September 22, 2018. This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Neddiemo7
16 contributions
Great base to visit Normandy
A lovely place with very attentive owners who want to make sure your stay is comfortable and enjoyable.
Scrummy lemon cake on arrival and a bottle of wine which went down very nicely, as did the fresh eggs.
The gite had everything you could want and it was a really nice touch that there was easy to replace store cupboard produce available for us to use on arrival after the long journey. A tip, shop when you see supermarkets as the shops nearby are sometimes closed.
We were very cosy in the comfortable lounge despite the miserable weather. The weather didn't stop us visiting Mont St Michel, Bayeaux and the landing beaches which are all worth a visit.
Woody thoroughly enjoyed playing with the owners dogs and was fascinated by the chickens and cockerel.
Visited September 2017
Written September 21, 2017. This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Written January 2, 2017. This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Naile B
1 contribution
Excellent!
It was spacious, neat and lovely gite! Very friendly hosts. Enjoyed daily fresh eggs from the chickens in the garden. Loved our walks on the beach and surroundings. This was our best stay in Normandy and will certainly come back!!
Visited October 2016
Written October 27, 2016. This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Written October 12, 2016. This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Wayne_Gina2003
Germany1 contribution
Fantastic little cottage located in a tranquil village, making a very relaxing vacation.
Dear Chris & Carolyn
We had a lovely stay at Cottage La Hamel au Maigre, it worked perfectly well for us as a family of four plus 2 dogs. We were looking for a quiet getaway with plenty of countryside walks along with easy driving distance for day trips to key locations in Normandy, such as Omaha beach, Arromanches and Mont Saint Michel. Kids really loved it there, they were so excited with the chickens and Sheep not to mention collecting eggs for the morning breakfast. Chris & Carolyn were extremely friendly a lovely Family. On our arrival we were greeted with a lovely bottle of red wine, a delicious homemade cake oh and beers too...:-) very welcoming after our long drive from Germany! Chris and Carolyn were very good hosts who left plenty of information at hand so that one can plan their journey on things to do and see in the Normandy region and believe me there is plenty....extremely educational. I would Highly recommended this cute little cottage and we'd definitely consider staying again for our next visit to Normandy thank you again :-):-):-)
Gina, Wayne, Marcus & Harvey (Tia and Toby)
Visited October 2015 Traveled with family
Written October 11, 2015. This review is the subjective opinion of an individual traveler and not of Tripadvisor LLC nor of its partners. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Curiosity584631
Thank you. We are delighted you enjoyed your stay, and will look foward to welcoming you all back next time you visit Normandy.
Chris & Carolyn.
Written October 12, 2015. This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
David P
Blackpool, United Kingdom2 contributions
Charming holiday gite
We arrived late at night and found the fridge had all the essentials needed as we had forgotten to visit a supermarket on route. It is a charming gite with apatio area that is an absolute sun trap where you can just sit and relax and totally de stress. Excellantly situated for all the normandy sites. Mr and Mrs Watts live nearby and are extremely helpful people no problem is to small.
Visited September 2014 Traveled as a couple
Written August 9, 2015. This review is the subjective opinion of an individual traveler and not of Tripadvisor LLC nor of its partners. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Paula L
Portsmouth, United Kingdom1 contribution
Cosy cottage in convenient location for touring all that Normandy has to offer
Written July 30, 2015. This review is the subjective opinion of an individual traveler and not of Tripadvisor LLC nor of its partners. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
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