Holiday House in Rochefort-en-Terre, Brittany, France
From May to October, Rochefort en Terre is ablaze with red and pink geraniums. The cottage is situated in the Vieux Bourg, which leads up to the main street with it's shops restaurants and cafes, so after a day of sight-seeing or sunbathing, you can walk to a bar for a drink or a creperie or restaurant for a meal without having to drive. There is a boulangerie in the town for your breakfast croissants and baguettes, also a chemist and a post office. The nearest supermarket is three miles away.
Rochefort has it's own château, which is really a reconstruction of what a small French château should be. It was bought and developed by an American artist early in the twentieth century, and is now owned by the department of Morbihan. The castles of Josselin and Suscinio are only a short drive away.
A lake, a twenty-minute walk or five minute drive from the cottage, should keep young children happy without the need to go to the seaside. It has a beach where you can swim, a playground, tennis courts, pedaloes and of course a café open in the summer months. It is approached through a woodland of pines and sweet chestnut trees.
Damgan, on the southern coast of Brittany, is twenty-four miles away with many other beaches within easy reach. Carnac, with it's beach and prehistoric stone alignments, is just the other side of Vannes, which is approximately 25 miles from Rochefort. Vannes is on the Gulf of Morbihan, which can be explored by taking one of the many boat rides which leave from Vannes or other points around the Gulf.
If you like to walk, you will enjoy the hills above the cottage or you can drive to the coast to walk the coastguards path. There are many small roads to explore by bicycle and the towpath of the Nantes-Brest canal system is easily accessible at St. Martin-sur-Ouest and Malestroit.