Sustainable Tourism

When we moved to France we always had the aim of living in harmony with our natural surroundings as much as possible.  We have invested heavily in solar and efficient heating/hot water systems to minimise our use of non-renewable energy.  We have also put into practice a rainwater collection system and, at a smaller scale, composting and recycling which clients can assist with during their stays.  The key sustainable features are:

A 3kw Ground Mounted Solar PV Array providing electricity for direct consumption. Excess energy feeds into the grid.

An on-site electric vehicle charging point.

A highly efficient log burning heating/hot water system with insulated heat store.  This combines with roof mounted solar heating panels.  Our hot water from May to September is almost entirely provided by solar heating.  Over the winter we harvest wood from our own land to burn, replanting or coppicing to create new growth. 

10,000 litre rainwater collection system.  All the rainwater from the roof of our house and the gites is transferred via underground pipes to storage containers which are used to provide water for the potager and photography pools etc during the summer.

Composters provided in both gites.  We encourage composting to reduce landfill.  Composted material is then utilised in our potager/vegetable garden.

Small recycling bins to enable waste sorting are provided in the gites.  Large communal bins for general waste, recyclables and glass are also available nearby for you to transfer waste to at the end of your stay.

In Summer 2025 we won an Eco-défis (Eco Challenges) Gold Award from the Lot Department. This recognises our efforts to operate sustainably and limit our environmental impact.  The award places us within the top percentile of eco-friendly business within the Department.