The ground floor

Our gîte was very comfortable and modern. We had internet wifi, and the television service was fiber-optic, although it was just a basic subscription without all the fancy channels. The kitchen was well-equipped, with a gas stove top, electric oven, microwave, coffee maker, dishwasher, and clothes-washer. A half-bath was tucked under the stairs.

The living room. The stone in this region is black volcanic rock. It's everywhere.

The living room was very roomy, and equipped with a wood stove. The owners included firewood in the rental price, but since there was underfloor radiant heating, we really didn't need fires. Still, I turned the heat down and built a fire two of the nights we were there, just for the ambiance.

The kitchen, bright and modern with everything we needed to prepare meals. Except the food.

The upstairs bedrooms were heated by electric radiators, but we never turned them on. We both like sleeping in cool rooms with blankets. When we checked out, it turned out that we didn't use much electricity at all, so the owners decided not to charge us for it. That was very nice of them.

The wood stove is the same model as ours at home, but a size bigger.

We didn't use the clothes washing machine, but we did use the dishwasher, twice. We had brought a good amount of food with us and ate our meals in the gîte. It was too chilly for picnics out on the road. Most of the windows faced south, which meant that we got a lot of bright sun when the sun was out. Tasha and I got to sit out in the sun for a short time on two afternoons.