Villa Fol Avril

Activities

• Start with a stroll around this quaint village perché (hill-village), whose Romanesque church dates back to the 12th century and boasts the largest dog gargoyles ever seen. Amble down the cobbled lanes with their honey-stone houses and rose-decked gardens, past the tempting epicerie (deli) and bakery
  
  
• Relax by the swimming pool (new in 2010) with its elegant decked area for sunbathing
  
  
• If you’re into hiking, this undulating region is crisscrossed with well-marked footpaths; make sure you stop off at La Bourdiniere farm shop a couple of miles away for an unbeatable picnic of home-made bread and goats cheese
  
  
• If you prefer to see it on horseback, there’s a pony trekking centre on the edge of the village, or if you prefer to ride a mighty Percheron, just ask Sandrine - she is passionate about horses and happy to fix you up. Bring your own gear and pay by the hour or per day
  
  
• Go fishing on a lake nearby – bring your own gear. Hunting and shooting are also available, as is golf at Belleme, 28 km away
  
  
• Visit the region's tiny fairy-tale manor houses , many of them still inhabited by their original land-owning families
  
  
• The historic town of Mortagne-au-Perche, with its ancient houses, crumbling convents and monumental portal, is less than half an hour’s drive away. On Saturdays it holds a great market in the central square, and at the end of March and you’ll catch the annual Foire au Boudin (black pudding fair) when over 5 km of the dark sausages are sold
  
  
• The pretty town of Bellême boasts some of the best artisanal shops, including the chocolatier of Charles Bataille (14 Boulevard Bansard des Bois), the homewares and tea-shop of Le Comptoir du Porche Adorable (1 Rue du Château) and the usual weekly market (Thursdays)
  
  
• Chartres is less than an hour's drive away (55km), with its soaring Gothic cathedral, its pretty half-timbered houses and the languid waters of the river Eure bisecting the old town