Rachel - Netherlands

After a long car journey we were welcomed by Neil and David with drinks under a beautiful old tree in the charming garden of La Banne. Chairs were set up in a circle and we got acquainted while carefully maintaining social distancing. 

Our fear of travelling in the first week of the post-confinement era was quickly dissipated when we were shown our accommodation.  Neil and David keep everything spotless and make following the covid-protocol sound easy.  

This was our first time in the Dordogne region and we had put together a rather packed schedule for ourselves - from visiting cities with names that take you straight back to the Middle Ages like Castelnaud-la-Chapelle, Sarlat-la-Canéda, Monpazier, Beynac and La Roque-Gageac to kayaking down the Dordogne river, hot air ballooning and hiking. We quickly found ourselves having to fight the urge to just stay in and enjoy the garden and the pool. On a few occasions we indulged ourselves and lost pre-ordered tickets just for the pleasure of 'doing absolutely nothing' at La Banne.

Time goes by slowly and peacefully at La Banne and yet when it was time to leave (after 7 full days) we felt it had all gone by too quickly and could not resolve ourselves to leave the magic behind. We would have certainly stayed longer just to continue to enjoy a cup on tea on the balcony which overlooks the garden and the pool and from which, if we rose early, we could sometimes see a wandering deer and a few rabbits. La Banne means birds chirping, starry nights that simply don’t exist in cities, siestas in the shade of a tree, drinks by the pool, meals with fresh local produce, time to dream and re-connect, amazingly caring hosts and much more. And if after a day of ‘dolce far niente’ we fancied a nice meal out, there were plenty of simple and more upscale restaurants within a 5 to 30-minute driving range. 

We found La Banne to be the perfect type of accommodation for a family of 4 with two young adults. My husband and I stayed in the very comfortable and independent en-suite room on the ground floor. Each of our sons had their own en-suite bedroom in the top-floor apartment and could also enjoy the spacious and extremely well-equipped kitchen/living/dining room area. The balcony of the top floor apartment is wonderful. From top to bottom, left and right, everything was sparkling clean and very well-organized with an eye for detail! Bravo!!!

Thank you Neil and David for a fantastic week which was definitely too brief! We hope to return again next year!