Bourdounal
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The house
Bourdounal is an entirely detached ROMANTIC HOLIDAY HOME with a lovely spacious living room: sitting area, dining area, kitchen area, wood stove, doors adjacent to shaded veranda and large sunny terrace overlooking forest, meadow and river. Outside on the sunny terrace is a dining table and 6 wooden chairs, a large parasol, stone barbecue and trees to hang a hammock. There is a utility room with sink, fridge freezer, boiler, washing machine, baby bath; shower and toilet room.
Upstairs 1 large bedroom with double bed, which can be transformed into a spacious teleworking area in no time; 1 medium-sized bedroom with double bed and single bedstead; 1 landing with single bed and a single sofa bed in the living room. The comfortable good box spring beds can be moved around as needed (cots, high chair, terrace fence on request).
Facilities
- Independent
- Local contact
- Washing machine
- Iron
- Fenced garden
- Pets welcome
- Cot
- High chair
- Internet
- Fireplace
- Hair dryer
Surroundings
Click on image to open an interactive map
The holiday home Bourdounal is situated by one of the purest rivers in the country, the Viaur.
You can take a swim or go fishing from your own garden. It lies on the border between the departments Tarn and Aveyron.
Le Pont de Cirou is a picturesque hamlet, 3 km from the village Mirandol Bourgnounac, with an ancient bridge and half-timbered houses, a water-powered weaving and spinning mill, a former commandery, a ruined medieval church on top of the hill with a charming little cemetery, 2 hands full of permanent residents and some private gites in the old village houses.
The valley near the gorges du Viaur is a terraced landscape. Our terrain also consists of terraces; with little stairs you reach the next level. The house is 400 meters from the bridge, just outside le pont de cirou itself, easily accessible on a non-paved road, from the car two terraces lower. Unfortunately not doable with a wheelchair. Our neighbours live 300 metres away; this is really a detached house: you have the whole property for yourself!
There is plenty of space with pleasant places to stay, sun, shade, fire, rippling water of excellent natural quality. The grounds cover 2 hectares, with the characteristic terraces with walls of stacked natural stones, further woods and fields. Along the water, on the other side, runs the Grand Randonnee des Gorges du Viaur, which has one of its most beautiful passages here. This place is actually ideal to be away from infections. Do some shopping and you won't have to see a soul if you want to.
- Rural
- Hilly
- Meadows and woodland
- In or near a village
- Near swimming water
Reviews
Jurjen from Velserbroek,
Ik ben net weer een dagje terug van een heerlijke tijd in Bourdounal. 5 jaar geleden zijn we hier ook geweest met het gezin en nu ben ik er alleen geweest met de honden. Destijds vonden de kinderen het ook een fijne plek omdat ze lekker konden spelen in de schone rivier. Nu weer heb ik erg genoten van de stilte en het uitzicht en ‘s avonds van alle geluiden om je heen als de dieren zich veilig wanen. Het huisje is basic maar prima. Wel zeer ruime slaapkamer met goed bed. Je mist wel een 2e ligstoel buiten maar omdat ik alleen was was dat geen issue natuurlijk…er is een fijn zwem/vismeer in de buurt en alle mooie dorpen zijn ook de moeite waard. Je kan goed baantjes trekken in de rivier. Rob en Els zijn gastvrij en Rob is dezelfde dag dat ik er melding van maakte nog gekomen om met een wespensituatie te dealen. Ik/wij hopen snel weer terug te komen.
Sabrina Goegebeur from Evergem, België,
We kwamen dit jaar voor de tweede maal voor 2 weken naar Bourdounal, we waren er al eens in 2022. Omdat het moeilijk is om een praktisch vakantiehuisje te vinden met 3 honden, hadden we al ruim op voorhand geboekt bij Els en Rob! Wat trekt ons zo aan , aan dit huisje: de prachtige natuur, de rust en stilte, de privacy (je bent er helemaal alleen!) de rivier Viaur die enkele meters neerwaarts ligt. Een heldere zwemrivier met duizenden vissen, leuk om te zwemmen, zowel wij als onze honden! Als je van de stilte en de natuur houdt, is Bourdounal de ideale plaats.
Als je 's morgens heerlijk ontbijt op het overdekte terras komt de couleuvre à collier soms eens piepen uit de struiken (een ongevaarlijke slang die graag hagedissen en kikkers vangt) Je ziet hagedissen, een vliegend hert, je hoort 's nachts de brulkikkers en andere voor ons nog onbekende dieren, die rondlopen in het bos. Voor een natuurliefhebber in 1 woord : zalig!
Ook als fervente wandelaars komen we hier aan ons trekken. Makkelijke maar ook wat meer uitdagende wandelingen. We werken met een app ALL TRAILS en zo kan je de wandelingen in de buurt terugvinden en kan je nooit verloren lopen. Wij deden wandelingen in Monestiés (Borie Blanche), Salles (Bois de Salles), Pampelonne, Sentier du Pont de Cirou, Crespin (Sentier de l'Andouquette), wandeling rond Lac de la Roucarié (waar ook een privé strand is, maar geen honden toegelaten) . Soms adembenemende verzichten!
Ook kleine stadjes bezoeken kan je hier doen : Cordes sur Ciel, Najac, Gaillac, Albi met zijn mooie kathedraal, een beetje verder rijden (1u15) Saint Cirque de la Popie.
Maar ook niks doen kan hier perfect. Je kan uren op het terras genieten van een boek, een glas wijn, een dutje doen, de barbecue aansteken. Het huis is van alles voorzien, je komt niets tekort.
Wij zijn fan van dit huis en zijn omgeving, en het zal voor ons zeker niet de laatste keer zijn. We komen nog terug! En Els en Rob zorgen altijd voor een super ontvangst bij aankomst. Tot later nog eens!
groetjes
Sabrina en Steven uit België, Evergem
en de 3 honden Uziël, Lex en NoxMarike & Onno from Valkenswaard,
We hebben genoten van het heerlijke huis (waar het je aan niets ontbreekt) met fantastisch uitzicht, de rust en de rivier.
De tijd helemaal aan onszelf. Dit paradijsje maakt dat we helemaal uitgerust haar huis gingen. En onze honden hebben nog nooit zoveel ruimte/bos/ rivier/ tuin ter beschikking gehad.
De korte lijntjes met de eigenaars als er een probleem is voelen goed.
WiFi aanwezig en werkt top.
Enige puntje : het zou fijn zijn als er bij de rivier iets meer ruimte is om er langer te kunnen zijn.
Restaurants, food & wine
The extensive hot lunch is a good French habit. The streets are quiet at lunchtime (for the Dutch on holiday, it takes some getting used to; only large supermarkets remain open). There are well-equipped picnic areas in the most beautiful spots, often complete with barbecue. All the goodies you have just picked up at the market, or a ready-made dish from the caterer: it is made for you.
Simple and sometimes upmarket restaurants are within walking distance of the bridge, in Pampelonne, Tanus, Mirandol, Naucelle, st Martial, Carmaux, Albi, Rodez, Naucelle Gare, Cordes, Penne, Baraqueville.
Milk and coffee is your breakfast, you dip your bread in it. At 11 o'clock a meeting is sometimes spiced up with a shot of black coffee, but you go to someone for coffee after lunch. In fact, before lunch there should be an apéro! So if you are going to eat at noon.....! At four o'clock no soup but something sweet. At half past seven you can go back to the restaurants, usually for something more than a daily dish, for example foreign dishes like pizza and paella, or to a concert or ball that is accompanied by a meal. What we in the Netherlands called an American party is here called Auberge Espagnol: Spanish Inn; everyone brings a nice dish to share. Homemade, however simple, is more appreciated than something from a packet. If an event says 'picnic tiré du sac', you bring your own food.
Mouth-watering: fresh baguette, fouace (milk bread with fruit) and croissants from the baker's; duck breast, fresh pork sausage, hams and pâté, wild boar, veal, trout, tripous for lovers, aligot, soupe au fromage, mushrooms, chestnuts, honey from small local beekeepers, walnuts, gourgettes, blett, tomatoes and lettuce, fruitcake, ice cream; everything has more flavour than in Holland. More sun, of the season or more pure?
Regional blue cheeses, including Roquefort from sheep and Bleu des Causses from cows that graze in the mountains, are world famous.
Very tasty Chêvre, goat's cheese, fresh and made by small companies or families.
Delicious cheeses from the Pyrenees and the Massif Central, where we live exactly in between.
People who eat cheese for breakfast are looked at strangely, unless of course it is fresh cheese, which in Holland is called cottage cheese.
They also make good wines here: Gaillac, a supple red, available in bottle with seal or from the barrel, which tastes fine without exception.
Gaillac perlé, dry, slightly tingling, or Gaillac mousseux, as champagne, just great without fuss.
The much smaller wine region north of here, Marcillac-Vallon, also has a very good reputation in red and rosé.
The true connoisseur will of course search for the best matching region or grape for each occasion, so the wine departments of the supermarkets are well stocked with wines, mostly of French origin.
In the evening, after seven o'clock, just after work, the glass is raised; something soft or a beer is considered normal earlier in the afternoon.
We think that a glass of red wine with a drink is a common choice, but it is not really the case here. It is more for with dinner.
There are all kinds of aperitifs, which are prepared at home according to old recipes,
With wild berries, walnut extract, special cherries, spice mixtures, also countless mixed drinks with strange names and crazy colours.
Although beer and whisky are increasing in popularity, local people still regularly order a pastis in the pub,
an aniseed liqueur originally from Marseille, which is drunk with water and ice.
Don't think that every pastis has the same taste, regardless of the brand,
There are plenty of experts in the field who will initiate you in this matter.
Finally, for the die-hards, there is a small cup of strong black coffee and a choice of eaux-de-vie, from plum to pear, as a digestif after a festive meal. If you're taking it easy, ask for tisane, which is herbal tea for the after-dinner drink. (The term thé, - noir/vert is only for black and green tea!)
Activities
You can step into the wonderful SWIMMING RIVEL from the grounds of the completely free holiday home, which we find much more interesting than the average HOLIDAY HOME WITH SWIMMING POOL, and there is so much more! As soon as you get on the small roads and paths, you imagine yourself in a totally different world, a pleasure to hike or mountain bike here. There are many marked trails (GRAND RANDONNEE DU PAYS), a detailed map is available in the house. Discover the SEGALA countryside with its remote abandoned buildings, overgrown with ivy, ruins of stacked stones and clay, mysterious and intriguing, whose HISTORY sometimes goes back to before the Middle Ages; silent witnesses to a bygone age, the rise and fall of the WATER MOLES. Places with ancient names such as Jouqueviel, Roumegousse, Montirat, La Garde Viaur with its cheerful waterside restaurant in summer, Las Plancas, ruins of a hamlet with its 11th century chapel. Climb the remains of the Thuries fortress. Hire a canoe and explore the UNPRESSED GORGES DU VIAUR from the water. At the tourist office, you can also sign up for all kinds of organised walks, "randonnées". Tennis courts in Lespinasolle and Pampelonne, 4 or 7 km; golf course in Albi, 25 km; riding schools 10 or 15 km away, you can bring your own horse of course, he can graze in the field below; swimming pools in Carmaux and Albi with whirlpool, sauna and hammam and an outdoor pool in Naucelle; 10 km away is a landscaped sandy beach at the Plan d'eau de la Roucarié. You can swim, sail, row, pedal boat and surf there, run around 7km and cycle without any gradient, and of course have a picnic.
Cap Decouverte is a cultural and recreational park with spectacular attractions for young and old. Almost every year the TOUR DE FRANCE passes nearby, and we see many tough amateur cyclists following the stage; hats off to them in the summer heat with the tough slopes from the river valley.
A large French market, a cinema and a glass museum with glass-blowing demonstrations in Carmaux, a mining museum in Cagnac, world heritage site Le Saut du Tarn in St Juery. The history of the industry and its logical connection to nature in the region.
Enjoy the summer village meals, followed by a ball with accordion music, sometimes even a fair, fireworks, clay pigeon shooting, cards, boules, theme markets or a game of skittles in the atmospheric squares.
Unique and close by: the Episcopal city of Albi (UNESCO world heritage, historic town centre, beautiful location on the river Tarn, Toulouse Lautrec museum, unique Gothic brick cathedral, markets, theatre and festivals, extensive range of shops) 25 minutes by car.
Toulouse ( historic city centre, pink city due to brick, beautiful location on the Garonne and canal belt, student city, markets, theatre, opera and festivals, large range of shops, numerous museums, including contemporary art and modern technology, space travel). 70 min. by car
Many beautiful medieval towns in the neighbourhood, like Monestiés, Cordes sur Ciel, Najac, Sauveterre de Rouergue, Lisle sur Tarn. Furthermore Conques, Carcassonne, Castres (Goya print collection, French baroque gardens Le Notre) Rodez (cathedral and museums including Soulages) The Gaillac region with its vineyards, Millau (largest viaduct in the world)
The tourist office in Mirandol has many more tips about the TARN department, the tourist office in Naucelle about the AVEYRON; we are right in the middle of it!
Our guests appreciate besides all this the rural character of the picturesque southern French cottage Bourdounal itself, where they can quietly read in their hammock, or FISH with their feet in the cool Viaur River, playing board games, painting and crafts under the porch, (where enthusiasts can of course also undisturbed smoking, They can play board games, paint and do arts and crafts under the veranda (where the fans can also smoke without being disturbed, which is why they are also welcome) or make music, light a fire in the barbecue, play table tennis, try out their bow and arrow or their drone, float on an air mattress in the stream, or take a stroll in our own forest, in late summer and autumn in search of blackberries, nuts, apples, figs, mushrooms and chestnuts. At night, they look at the really dark sky with thousands of stars, see a deer, a fox, a boar, a seven-layer, a bat, a lizard, a buzzard or an otter; finally, they just go their own way, discovering tranquillity as a great quality for a great holiday.
This RARE BEAUTIFUL PLACE is a paradise for those who want it, an opportunity.
- Bicycle
- Near hiking trails
- Near ATB trails
- Near riding
- Near theme park
- Fishing
- Water sports
- Mountain sports
Further remarks
Because of its location on the sunny and sheltered side of the valley, you sit outside with us all year round.
With the jotul wood stove and some electric radiators, the house is well warm in the winter to stoke. There is plenty of dry firewood available.
We get new fans every year, especially fire refugees with a dog and telecommuters outside the high season.
Especially enterprising curious children, dog owners and nature lovers are immediately 'sold'.
The feeling of freedom in Bourdounal is fantastic, you really have your own private domain.
There is a private water supply, the mains being fed by a spring. The water is soft and pure. It gives you beautiful hair and a flawless skin.
By the river, water shoes give protection and comfort on the pebble beach.
Are you an angler or a diver? Don't forget to pack an inflatable boat, a snorkel, a landing net, a fishing rod or a pile of books... your holiday is guaranteed to be memorable.
We have a landline phone and wifi, mainly because there is no mobile coverage. It can also be switched off; take your pick!
Video
Additional price info and offers
Pets welcome. (Conditions to be agreed upon) Dog counts as a person; example: 4 persons with 2 dogs=included;
6 persons with dog =7, a surcharge :1/6 of the rent applies.
Do not hesitate to ask us if you have any special requests; we will do what we can to ensure you have a successful holiday!
Dry sawn and cleaved wood for the stove 100€ per m3. Unforeseen additional cleaning fee if needed after departure 100€.
Price exclusive
- Safety deposit € 100.00
- Cleaning fee (compulsory) € 65.00
- Price bed linen per person (optional) € 15.00
- Price towels per person (optional) € 5.00