Le Tilleul Gites - holiday cottages in Western France

24/06/2023

A few venues to choose from near here to see the Olympic Flame .... not long to go now!

Exciting news for next year!

25/04/2023

Saint-Hilaire is the most beautiful church, one of 3 romanesque churches we are lucky to have in Melle. Worth a visit but the guided tour sounds like a good way to find out more about the church

Découvrez l'histoire et l'architecture de l'église Saint-Hilaire de Melle au cours d'une visite guidée de Melle

07/04/2023

Happy Easter ... sending good wishes this Easter weekend

05/04/2023

Our local town of Melle ... the market place lit up

31/03/2023

Celebrating Easter in France

From uniquely French traditions and regional specialties to egg hunts and chocolate bunnies - here’s how the French celebrate Easter or “Paques”.

01/03/2023

24/12/2022

Wishing all our lovely guests and friends a very Happy Christmas and all the best for 2023 - Vicky and Bill x

26/11/2022

What's your favourite? Mine is a millefeuille ... as long as I don't have to ask for it as I can never pronounce it 😄

31/10/2022

La Toussaint national holiday actually represents two holy days - All Saints Day and All Souls Day - and it is one of the most respected national public days in France.

During this bank holiday, French people traditionally pay respect to their relatives but La Toussaint is also an occasion to get together and spend time with the family.

November the 1st is a national Jour Férié in France, so most of the shops, restaurants, schools and businesses are closed.
Although deeply rooted in the Catholic religion, La Toussaint is actually widely respected in France.

On this day French people attend the All Saints Mass to remember the Catholic Saints as well as honour their late relatives. Then they will usually visit the cemetery and lay a bunch of chrysanthemums or wreaths of 'immortelles' (everlasting flowers) on the graves of their loved ones.

Because chrysanthemums are so closely linked to La Toussaint the French never give them as a gift.
So although they are very beautiful flowers, remember never to give chrysanthemums to your French friends!

01/10/2022

19/08/2022

Chateau de Javarzay ... well worth spending a couple of hours visiting.

09/08/2022

A 20 minute ride on the boat bus from La Rochelle to Minimes ... the beach was fairly quiet and the sea looked very inviting. A lovely place to go

24/07/2022

Looks like fun for all ages and Lezay is only a few km from us.

Lezay land en mode playa transats soleil jeux aquatiques pour tous les âges

14/07/2022

Happy Fête Nationale from a hot and sunny France.

10/07/2022

Good to see Niort Market is mentioned in the top 10 of French Markets.

Il est bon de voir que le marché de Niort est mentionné dans le top 10 des marchés français.

The results are in! Here are the top 10 best markets in France for 2022 as voted for by the French…

09/07/2022

A visit to our local vineyard to buy wine for our guests' welcome packs. It's a lovely, scenic 20 minute drive there and as well as wine they have Cognac, Pineau and other delicious flavoured aperitifs to buy.

03/07/2022

The perfect way to start a Sunday morning is with freshly baked bread. There are so many different sizes and shapes of bread to choose from in one of our local boulangeries ... as well as home made chocolates, lots of patisserie and you can also sit and relax with a coffee and pain au raisin, pain au chocolat or croissant

26/06/2022

It's great that we can go back to visiting Zoodyssee and see the animals again. These two little bears look like they could be fun to watch play.

Less than half an hour's drive from here, Zoodyssee is a lovely day or afternoon out for everyone 🐻🐻🐻

C'est génial que nous puissions retourner visiter le Zoodyssee et voir les animaux à nouveau. Ces deux petits ours ont l'air d'être amusants à regarder jouer.

A moins d'une demi-heure de route d'ici, Zoodyssee est une belle sortie pour tout le monde. 🐻🐻🐻

🐻❤️ BIENVENUE !! ❤️🐻
Nous sommes heureux de vous annoncer l'arrivée de 2 jeunes oursonnes à Zoodyssée !!!
🏔 Elles rejoignent la famille des pensionnaires de notre Odyssée des Montagnes.
Venue d'un parc de Suède, les petites nouvelles se sont installées dans leur enclos de 7000 m² et elles y ont déjà repéré quelques coins-jeux en tout genre !
👉 Venez leur rendre une petite visite !
ℹ️ Le Parc est ouvert tous les jours de 10h à 19h - www.zoodyssee.fr