La ruralité (1)

The first gîtes ruraux in France were set up in the early 1950s, down in the Alps. Two realities motivated the creators of such vacation rentals. First, after WWII, French people were abandoning the countryside in droves and moving to urban areas. There were a lot of empty houses and other buildings that could be converted into gîtes for tourists from the cities.

I've always thought of staying in a gîte as one step up on the comfort scale compared to tent camping. Sometimes bed or bathroom linens are not included in the rental fee, or are an option you pay for. Instead of paying, we just take our own sheets and towels with us. We are traveling by car. We also usually prepare foods that we can take to the gîte in a cooler, keep in the gîte's refrigerator or freezer, and re-heat for our evening meals while we're there. Remember, we are usually traveling with our dog. Also more and more gîtes are now equipped with wi-fi connections and televisions, so you don't feel cut off from the world unless you want to be.

Here are some photos of the atmosphere and environment we enjoyed in our gîte just five miles from the center of Mortagne-au-Perche back in 2011. (I posted pictures of the interior of the gîte yesterday.) It was pretty comfortable as gîtes go — gîtes are more and more luxurious nowadays. They still cost a lot less than hotel rooms.