ARTICLES
Below are articles that have been written by guests of ours and subsequently published. These are reproduced with the kind permission of the authors.
The challenge of twins.
Unless travelling by articulated lorry it is not possible to include two travel cots, two highchairs, a changing mat, potty, steriliser, plastic plates, baby walker or listeners etc. in your luggage. Discover odds of finding a place with these items are longer than Rapunzel’s hair. But this was not the case, which was fantastic as the challenge of twins on a daily basis is hard enough. After hours (in the evening!!) of searching French Travel magazines we came across Pagel and it seemed to be to good to be true. This was the Barber Family holiday. George and Emily were 20 months.
We did a lot in ‘The Lot’. There is nothing in life like discovering a new part of the world that is beautiful and has plenty of places to explore.
The quickest way to get to Pagel was by
plane. We were nervous because we had never flown as a family before. But to
our surprise we had an amazing journey over, not at all as expected. Left at a
sociable time of 9.00, all excited, packed and ready to go. Once parked at
Bristol airport we took a bus to the entrance pointing at tractors, beep – beeps
and planes along the way. Straight through the double door to check in, and
there was no queue. We dumped our luggage, pushchair and went to the café (not
the bar). I made some distracter packs for the children; they included
stickers, small toys, photographs, books to look at and chocolate buttons of
course!!
We picked up our hire car with car seats in ready and off we went. The journey was beautiful, past pretty French Towns and the gorgeous Dordogne River. The kids slept most of the hour and a half journey. We were at our destination in time for their afternoon play!!
On arrival toys everywhere (a bit like Christmas day), bikes, trikes, train on electric track, battery 4 by 4 cars, play house, one for babies, then a toddler playhouse and a fort for bigger boys and girls. The toddler house had so much to do – kitchen, dolls, and building, ironing, and washing. There were swings and slides, and so much more… We discovered all this before finding more toys in the gite – books, toys and games! Which was great for first thing in the morning and last thing at the end of the day.
We had many day trips out during our holiday to break the week up, we found it easy to spend the morning usually playing with the toys or going for a swim in the baby pool and then went to visit a local market or attraction during the afternoon. All the quests have children, which was great as playmates are handy on holiday. At the same time if you want some time alone the grounds are so big (fenced off so don’t worry about losing a child or two!!).
Pagel had a massive book to look through with leaflets to help decide what to do. We found it best just to ask the friendly owners Mark and Lara where to go as they had young children and plenty of experience.
We are looking forward to our visit in 2006. Our twins will be a whole year older and I can’t wait for them to have more imaginative fun. This time I will pack half the amount as Pagel really has it a lot there for you!!
THE WAY FOUNDATION
April in Pagel (written by Kate Howells, visiting member)
Widowed with children and holidays do not make easy bedfellows. The very idea of trying to have a ‘normal’ holiday often seems out of reach but now there is Pagel in April. Page, in the LOT region of Southern France, is an old farmhouse with guest accommodation run by Mark and Lara Bishop. In April each year, Mark and Lara offer WAY members the opportunity to go and stay for free in their beautiful Gites.
Pagel is a paradise for children up to the age of 12. There is everything for kids, heated swimming pool, trampoline, sandpit, numerous swings, slides and climbing frames, playhouse full of toys and books, a play fort complete with swords and shields and battery operated ride on jeeps! Each Gite is fully equipped for self-catering, including delicious fresh blue towels and interesting books. There is also a washing machine and all sorts of baby equipment that can be borrowed during the stay.
This year I stayed in a gite with my two boys and two other WAY members who came without their teenage children. As our balcony overlooked the pool and play areas, I was able to sit in the sun and chat with anyone who happened to be passing.
There were five other WAY’ers from all over the UK and we had all made our way to Pagel by different airports, in various travelling combinations. We all hired our own car, which was essential, as Pagel is rural.
Honestly we could have stayed at Pagel all week, and for two days we did just that. There are lovely walks nearby but what my children adored was playing with the other children (‘all without Daddies’ as my son commented) My favourite sights were of little Fleur aged 3 holding hands with Hannah 20 months negotiating the path up to the swings and of the boys sitting behind a huge sand wall just chatting.
Bedtime rather went out of the window, my boys went to bed as the sun began to go down 9.00pm and woke about 9.00am in the morning eager to go out to play. I sat in bed and read my book (unheard of at home as I get involved with making ‘warm honey milk’ and organising the TV viewing – not so at Pagel!). Both children were up and dressed, clinging onto a huge pain au chocolat as they raced out of the door to ‘bag’ the trampoline.
We explored this beautiful part of France too; a wonderful boat trip in Cahors, caves with prehistoric paintings at Ruffingnac, The Abbey and Castle carved into the rock at Roccamadour, and the medieval city of Carcassone by horse drawn carriage!
My lasting memory will be of a long table set for lunch for about 20 adults, where we all sat and ate delicious balsamic onion and goats cheese tart, chatting and laughing. We had made it – a holiday after all the heartache. We were meeting other adults, sharing our stories, shedding tears amidst all the laugher and joy that can be found in the middle of the turmoil. Somehow we were all in this together and these friendships would see us through. Pagel friendships would last much longer than the week’s holiday. A big ‘THANK YOU’ to Lara and Mark for a most precious gift.
If you would like to be considered for a place at Pagel in April 2005, please contact:
Carole Ellis via email carolemellis@hotmail.com or via the WAY telephone number 0870 011 3450.
Sunshine and butterflies in the South
of France.
We've just had a really relaxing and peaceful holiday, something
I
didn't think was possible with a 20 month old (Freya) to entertain who
is constantly on the go. The three of us spent a week in the Lot Valley
at a Gite called Pagel in the South of France. Pagel is a secluded
hamlet in the Lot region, consisting of the owners' farmhouse, four
three-bedroomed Gites (ours would have slept 6 adults, two kids and a
baby in a cot), a studio apartment and a heated swimming pool. It is
about a mile from the nearest small village, and three miles from the
town (which has a grocers, bakers, small supermarket and not much else
apart from a beautiful lake to picnic beside).
The Gites have been lovingly restored from an old barn and have all the
trappings a family could possibly want. Mark and Lara, the (English)
owners, have two children of their own (Benjamin and Charlie), and have
used their experience to ensure that every little detail is thought of -
from cots, high-chairs, stair gates, etc., through to plastic cutlery
and plates, and plenty of toys provided to suit the age range of your
child. The welcome basket of food and vases of fresh tulips provided
the finishing touches and ensured that we felt really at home
immediately we arrived.
The Gites don't have t.v's which had made us a little nervous (what no
'Noddy' Mummy??), but we were relieved to find that it is possible to
hire one, and a video plus lots of tapes for all ages - however, we
didn't make use of the service all week. Freya didn't even notice she
was without her beloved Tractor Tom video (and I can't say I missed it
either). We also didn't avail ourselves of the baby-sitting service
offered by Lara and Mark - although that had been one of the main
attractions when booking the holiday - we were just having such a nice
relaxing time we didn't want to go out!
During the days (which were blissfully sunny) Freya was a blur of
activity running from the playhouse (full of all sorts of toys), to the
play fort, to the sandpit, to the trampoline (or 'timpotine' as she
preferred to call it). She tootled around on an assortment of bikes,
tractors and cars, ably assisted by both Charlie (3) and Benjamin (7)
who were excellent hosts. Meanwhile we were forced to partake of the
(extremely good) local wine and sit in the sun reading books. In the
morning whilst we had breakfast in the sun on the patio we could listen
to woodpeckers and cuckoos in the surrounding woods.
We did venture out occasionally - the countryside is so beautiful that
it was enough to take a picnic to the lakeside and watch Freya trying to
catch butterflies. But there are also a variety of attractions within
easy driving distance (and a good local bus and train service too) -
plenty of grottos to explore and the spectacular Chateau de Bonaguil and
easy hours drive away. Further afield there are the attractions of the
Dordogne, and Toulouse, whilst the nearest major city is Cahors which is
famous for its attractive medieval fortified bridge - alas I can't
describe these as we enjoyed Pagel so much we found very little reason
to go further than the patisserie for our morning croissants!
Holidays with children can seem difficult to organise and it might feel
as if you need to take a small truck full of 'stuff' - at Pagel you can
leave all the organising to Mark and Lara and prepare yourself for a
wonderfully restful break (and prepare the kids for a fun packed
experience). If you are looking for a truly family friendly holiday I
highly recommend a visit - i know we'll be visiting again
soon.
Beccy Bowden
Going abroad with a six month old
On discovering that I was pregnant back in July 2002, I realised that, for my husband and I, our days of long haul holidays were over for the time being. As a first time expectant mother, I had a very naive belief that our lives would largely continue as before, with perhaps a few minor changes. The birth of baby Barnaby in March this year shattered my romantic illusions. Now life was so unpredictable, surely a holiday abroad was out of the question?
The answer came when I spotted an advert in the back of the NCT’s ‘New Generation’ magazine. A gite in southwest France. It looked perfect. The group of gites offered child friendly facilities and could provide, a cot, a steriliser, and high chair. This immediately sorted out some of the luggage problems and meant that there was still room for the Kitchen sink in our baggage. Plus it was only a short flight from Stansted airport.
Despite the prospect of a short flight, an air conditioned hire car at the other end, I had visions, of calming a screaming child whilst waiting for a delayed flight, or pacing the aeroplane aisle with a air sick baby whilst other passengers looked on either tutting or smiling sympathetically. In reality neither of these things happened. The flight departed on time, and Barney bounced up and down on Dads knee, whilst Mum clung to her armrests. (I have always hated take off).
The weather was beautiful as we touched down and stayed lovely all week. Our hire car was ready and waiting, complete with a child seat that we had booked. We drove through ever increasingly beautiful French countryside. The flat fields giving way to stunning mountains, and sheer ravines as we got closer to our destination. Watching the vineyards and the traditional French farm buildings whizzing past, our moods were buoyant and the excitement increased. By the time we reached the main town of Cahors just 15Km from our holiday home, we felt the need to mingle with the French. The town was stunning. Cahors is a medieval market town with a picturesque river running through the town and a reputable French market. We were overwhelmed by the choice of restaurants, all with seating under large canopies in the street. We sat down and with the baby in his Buggy next to us, ordered in our best GCE grade 2 French, 2 salads and 2 Perrier’s (we couldn’t remember the word for water – at first!). We took our own food for baby as he was only in the early stages of weaning.
Our image of the French as aloof and slightly rude could not have been more wrong. They helped us with our language and smiled politely when we looked lost. They loved the baby and all the time we were stopped by people in the street who wanted to coo and play with Barney. They were particularly accommodating of children in restaurants. Which is very different from in England. Once when Barney started crying, I felt the panic rising in me as the attention of those around me was attracted. Far from frowning other eaters just wanted to help, and started smiling and laughing at him. With all this attention, the baby soon cheered up.
The gite was great. They were in attractive settings and well maintained. The group of gites were specifically aimed at attracting families and I only wished that Barney were a little older so he could enjoy everything on offer. There was a swimming pool, a trampoline, swings, dens, and a sand pit. After spending some days leisurely shopping in local towns, and others touring the countryside, we supped copious amounts of the local vin rouge (£1.50 a bottle!), and watched some of the most colourful sunsets we have ever seen, followed by wide navy skies full of zillions of stars.
We returned to England,
happy and relieved, happy to be on home ground, but glad we had been a little
adventurous on our first holiday with the baby and promising to ourselves to go
even further a field next year.