About us

We are Giles and Sarah Curtis. Over the last twelve years Sarah and I have been fortunate enough to share our time between Courant and London, where we have a Children's Indoor Adventure Playground, the Pirates Playhouse. (www.piratesplayhouse.com). Our four children George, Anna, Phoebe and Teddy have grown used to summers in France. Anna particularly, under the rather too close supervision of Florian, has fluent French and as well as our guests we have a regular passage of friends coming to see us.

Where and how our idea for French Family Gites originated:

Sometime ago when our children were young we hired a villa with a swimming pool in the Vendee.  We spent much of our time entertaining our children or saving them from the perils of the site! Occasionally we ate  in a small restaurant next to the beach and one day talked to a couple whose children were of a similar age. They, unlike us, were staying on a large camp site and there were plenty of other children to help entertain and play with their own.

A couple of years later, after a financial crisis of dramatic proportions we too decided to go camping. It was a success in that our children were sufficiently entertained for us to feel like we were actually having a holiday, however the shower block was a good trek away, inconvenient for washing and doing dishes. I therefore took the unconventional route of driving the dishes to the washing area!

When it was hot, it was very hot in our dark roofed tent ad when it rained it became like a mud bath. Thankfully it was never too cold. Not ideal for a family of six.

With French Family Gites we aim to bring you the very best of both worlds; chatting peacefully outside the cottages while the kids maraud on site. The bathroom and kitchen are not too far away either! The stone buildings are cool when the temperature rises and a pleasant retreat should the sky erupt.