Special Places to Stay - More than a bed for the night

This village cottage seduces all. Britta is a gifted artist with an eye for light, harmony and spotting the potential in bric-a-brac finds. She has restored the three-storey house with sympathy and skill – walls are stone or limewashed, floors warm terracotta, beams darkly aged, colours pure and natural. The ground-floor bedroom, a creamy space of painted wooden furniture and pretty fabrics, opens to a small, bamboo-edged herb garden scented with lavender, rosemary and thyme. Its bathroom, equally spacious, is Country-Living perfect with a claw-foot bath. The romantic top bedroom, with sparkling shower room, is tucked under the eaves. In between is the light-washed living room – elegantly simple with candlesticks, neutral curtains and wine-dark sofa – and, a few steps up, the rustic dining room/kitchen with pine dresser and thick, cream china. The living is easy here: step out to the baker's and the grocer's, basket in hand. Take the children to the water park at Uzès, swim in the river Cèze, hunt for bargains in village markets, then return to your little garden, and feel at peace with the world. Exceptional.