Charente
Self catering Charente holiday Cottages, Houses and Villas
Search Rent-in-France holiday homes for self catering rental cottages, houses and villas in Charente, France. The department is situated in southwestern Franceand named after the Charente River. Charente is part of the Poitou-Charentes region and its capital is Angouleme. It is a landlocked department and its neighboring departments are the Dordogne, Vienne, Deux-Sevres, Haute-Vienne and Charente-Maritime. It also contains part of the geographical regions of Limousin and Poitou. Charente is a rural area that with its graceful chateaux and magnificent sweeping vineyards will of you a peaceful and relaxing break.
Stay in a Charente Holiday cottage and enjoy the many outdoor activities in Charente including walking and rambling, horse riding, cycling, canoeing, swimming, rowing, windsurfing, fishing and golf. The area is home to four fantastic golf courses which range from the hilly challenging course at Angouleme to the vineyard bordered course in the town of Cognac. For you fishing fans out there, the majority of the rivers and lakes in Charente are a fisherman’s paradise when renting a holiday home in Charente. There are plenty of bream, roach, gudgeon, catfish, trout and carp to be caught in Charente and can be taken home for dinner and cooked using traditional techniques during your holiday rental. The large number of abbeys, museums, chateaus and castles that enhance the wonderful countryside of the area will offer you a great understanding of the cultural background of the Charente department during your self-catering holiday. Charente, to many, is probably best known for Cognac which takes its name from the town surrounded by a number of vineyards. Cognac has been produced in this area since the 18th Century when the famous names Hennessy arrived from Ireland and Martell from Jersey.
Places to visit in Charente, France
Angouleme Capital of the Charente department. This beautiful medieval town is almost overflowing with art and history. The town is encircled by a number of boulevards situated above the old city walls, known as the ramparts. A number of magnificent views can be enjoyed looking across the department from all directions. The town centre sees the traditional narrow streets with the old town having been preserved and maintained wonderfully. The old town is mainly reserved for pedestrians where you will find a number of boutiques, galleries and fine restaurants located throughout the cobbled street and appreciated by the locals and visitors each year. One of the town`s biggest attractions is the Angouleme Cathedral, a church that dates back since the 11th and 12th century in a Byzantine–Romanesque style. The cathedral was dedicated to Saint Peter and has undergone frequent restoration over the years. Animation has become the main artistic heritage of Angouleme as it entered the 20th century. Many artists have left their heroes ornamented on the walls throughout the town.
Aubeterre-sur-Dronne. A Beautiful village located on the borders of the Dordogne and the Charente. The village is full of wonderful white buildings and takes its name from the Latin alba terre which means white earth, the reason for this is because of the white chalk rock face that overlooks the town. During your Rent-in-France self catering holiday rental be sure to visit Eglise Saint-Jean, an underground church/monolithic church which contains a Roman reliquary and a crypt. It is believed this was discovered back in 1958, the necropolis contains more than 80 sarcophagi.
Cognac Located on the banks of the Charente River this beautiful medieval town is where the world famous Cognac brandy originated from. Situated between the towns of Saintes and Angouleme a large part of the town has been built on the left bank of the river. Cognac is also home to the French Air Force training base. The town contains a number of unusual buildings which were built between the 15th and 18th centuries, its narrow cobbled streets contain many sculptures of salamanders and Gargoyles and the buildings have richly decorated facades. Many of the narrow winding streets emerge into old Cognac warehouses and cork manufacturers, both of which offer tours educating you on Cognac production when taking holiday cottages in Charente.
The Charente department is one of the sunniest parts of France and benefits from a high number of sunshine hours each year, approximately 2250 hours. The only places in France that exceed this are the departments located on the Mediterranean coastal strip. The winters are relatively mild but its inland location mean that the Charente department can see up to 40 days per year of frosty nights as the temperature drops. Snow is very rare in this area. Being close to the Atlantic Ocean means spring usually comes early in Charente with the trees and flowers coming to life as early as March, this is earlier than most other locations across France.
Your Rent-in-France self catering holiday rental in Charente will be located no more than an hour and a half of Bordeaux(BOD), Bergerac(EGC) and Poitiers airports. All of these airports are all serviced well by a number of low cost airlines from across Britain.