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Crunch baguette by the river, play on the 'toy' railway, amble back to modest, independent gîtes - with 12th to 18th-century character

After years in tourism and adventure sports, this dynamic couple met a greater challenge: to transform a hotchpotch of rambling ruins (dated 1100s to 1700s: carvings, towers, remnants of former rustic grandeur) where the local lord reigned. The river Dore (for picnics) and railway run at the bottom, fields stretch to distant hills, birds flock, dogs rush to greet you. With their own high barn door and great hallway, the two modest gîtes are independent in blue, white and pine with good fittings, kitchen equipment and bedding. The big first-floor flat is fully child-friendly (stair gates, cots, high chair). A vast plateau of a living room, pine-floored, beamed and light, leads out to a private patio-terrace and up to three bedrooms, one blue, one green, one peach, under the sloping roof: simple and pretty, with practical hanging racks and sock baskets. Within immensely thick walls, the small ground-floor flat, without a garden, is cosy and just as well done. Fiona leaves a super welcome quiche. She and Graham are fascinating about their project-of-a-lifetime but you can be as close or distant as you please.

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