Staying in a gîte rural

In two weeks, we are going on vacation. And for that vacation, we've rented a house in the country. Since we already live pretty much in the country, the environment won't be a big change for us. We hope the weather will be good. We're going to Le Perche, a region that is sort of sandwiched in between Normandy and the Loire Valley and is a 2½-hour drive north of Saint-Aignan.

The gîte rural that we are renting in the Perche region

The house is what is called a gîte rural in France. Gîte means shelter, a bed, a place to sleep. When somebody provides you room and board, you are being given le gîte et le couvert. Couvert means a place setting at the table (why do we call that "board"?) Because it's le couvert is why some restaurants have what is called a "cover charge" — they charge you just to sit down at the table.

Here's the living room.

A gîte rural is a vacation house in the country. The original idea was that you'd be staying in a farmhouse on a working farm. There aren't that many real farms anymore, however. I think gîtes ruraux are popular in France because so many people live packed into densely populated cities, and renting a house out in the country gives them a chance to breath fresh air, enjoy some sunshine if they're lucky with the weather, and eat farm-fresh food. Listen to roosters crow and cows moo.

The bedrooms and one of the bathrooms

Gîtes seem to appeal more to Europeans that to Americans, according to everything I read. They usually are rustic, not luxurious. Some owners speak English, of course, but maybe not that many. Besides, some basics are not provided by many owners. For example, you might need to bring your own sheets and towels. You might find a gîte that has a TV antenna but no TV — you bring your own. There's probably no radio or wi-fi. Heat might be an extra charge.

Here's the kitchen.

This is all because the prices are very low. And it's because French people and other Europeans who rent gîtes arrive by car. You can't really stay out in the French countryside without a car nowadays, anyway. But Americans, arriving by airplane, can't really bring sheets and towels and TV sets and radios with them. Besides, U.S. TV sets won't even work in Europe. Often gîtes don't have a telephone in them these days, because everybody seems to have a cell/mobile phone.

Another view of the front of the old farmhouse

Prices are very low, as I said, by most standards. The gîte we've rented, near Mortagne-au-Perche and Nogent-le-Rotrou, a little farther from Chartres and Alençon, rents for 375 euros per week, all fees included, for a week in high season. It's a lot less in low season. And you can rent sheets and I assume towels from the owner if you need to. We'll take our own, because we can.

And here's the floor plan — one bedroom and one bathroom
upstairs, and everything else on ground level.

Since there will be five of us, the price per person will be 75 euros — for the week. The gîte is a typical old French farmhouse, and it might look a little old-fashioned to you in the pictures. That's kind of the point. It's supposed to be an authentic rural experience.

This gîte has three bedrooms and two bathrooms, an equipped kitchen, and a garage. There's a telephone, a TV set, a washing machine, a dishwasher, a microwave, a freezer, and a fireplace (hope we won't need that!). Why go to the Perche? Because it's there, and because we've never been there before. The local culinary specialty is boudin noir — black pudding, or blood sausage, it's called in English.

There are some pictures here of a gîte we rented a couple of years ago in the Auvergne region of central France. That one was even larger and even less expensive that the one you see in the pictures above (which are publicity photos I grabbed from the Gîte de France website).