When planning our 2014 Summer European Road Trip, we knew we were going to need some down time. After scouring the web for the perfect accommodation, we found the perfect cottage in Champagne France. In France a cottage is often referred to as a gite, and this was named Gite La Chayotte. As you know we love to share with you where we’ve stayed and give a little love to our hosts as well.
Our Cottage in Champagne France
Imagine driving along rolling hills covered in beautifully organized rows of grapes! For any neat freak, this is a sight to see.
Everything lined up so nice and neat, with an occasional town peeping through the greenery. This was going to be the perfect 5 nights of “chill time” for us. We had reserved a cottage owned by Champagne makers, near the vineyards and couldn’t wait to arrive in our small town of Trélou-sur-Marne. With the population near 1000, we knew it was going to be quite the contrast from our time in Amsterdam.
Location
Trélou-sur-Marne is located a little over an hour East of Paris and about 20-30 minutes from Épernay and Reims, France.
For us this was the ideal location, set in the Champagne France countryside. This little town has many Champagne makers and is on the Champagne tourist route. If you are after the “big names”, you won’t have far to travel as there are plenty nearby in Reims and Épernay. The owners shared their Champagne cellars and gave us a private tour. You can’t beat that! Alan wrote all about it please check it out.
The Cottage Interior
I have to say, this was far more spacious than I anticipated. It felt like an old farm cottage inside, so I guess that would be the real “French Country” feel. There was so much character with the old rustic feel of the 2 foot thick stone walls and dark wood beams exposed on the ceiling. The fireplace was so huge, we could just imagine having a snuggle on a cold winter day. That said, we visited in July and we were tempted to light up a fire a couple of days.
Downstairs we had a large open space (family room and dining room) with a huge fireplace. We also had a very good-sized and extremely well equipped, eat-in kitchen. We had a gas stove, microwave, oven, dishwasher, toaster, kettle, food processor and plenty of cooking dishes. Just off of the kitchen was a storage room with the washing machine and 4 bikes, for our use.
Upstairs we had 3 bedrooms (2 with queen beds and 1 with 2 twins). There was also a small toilet room and a good-sized bathroom. We loved the jetted tub and the rain shower. All of the fittings were very modern and looked recently renovated.
Overall Thoughts
The price was right, the location was perfect and the owners were wonderful. We give it double thumbs up. We found this to be a wonderful romantic getaway, even with the kids. Now that the kids are a bit older, we are fine with going out for a couples walk and leaving the kids behind. The hosts had a bottle of champagne awaiting our arrival as well. This really was just what we needed.
Contact and Booking Info
We found their cottage via Vrbo, find your vacation rental now. They are also listed on Airbnb and their own site.
If you decide to stay with them, please say “hello” to Sylviane and Edmond from Wagoners Abroad!
Would you like to stay here too?