· Advice
· 5 min read · Advice
A week’s rental for six is decided in the first three hours. Here is what we have learned from watching families arrive, and what the regulars now do without thinking about it.
What you do not need to bring
The house is equipped for eight: crockery, cutlery, glasses, pans, serving dishes and everyday utensils. The kitchen has a dishwasher, an oven, a hob, a microwave, a filter coffee machine and a Senseo machine.
Above all, the utility room has a washing machine and a tumble dryer. This is what changes the luggage most: you can come for a week with three days of clothes per person, which is one suitcase fewer per child.
What you should remember to pack
- Bed linen, unless you ask us to provide it — mention it when booking.
- Closed shoes for the vineyard tracks, which stay stony even in fine weather.
- Rain gear, in every season: northern Burgundy is not Provence.
- A board game or two — although the lounge sideboard hides a few, inherited from previous summers.
- Toiletries and a first shop, if you are arriving late on a Saturday evening.
Shopping: everything is on foot
The centre of Chablis has a bakery, butcher, grocer, pharmacy and post office within a few minutes of the house. A small supermarket lets you do the bulk of the arrival shop without taking the car out again.
The weekly market is worth the detour for the cheeses of the Yonne — soumaintrain and époisses — and for putting together a lunch to carry straight out to the garden. For wine, there is no need to look for an aisle: the village cellars sell direct.
A wet afternoon, without a screen
This is the scenario every parent dreads in a rental. Here there are three answers:
The billiard room. A whole room, a French billiard table, and children who usually take it up before the adults. It is the facility that rescues the most days.
Indoor visits. Pontigny abbey some fifteen kilometres away, the Hôtel-Dieu at Tonnerre, the châteaux of Tanlay and Ancy-le-Franc: all of the region’s visits are under cover. Simply check off-season opening hours.
The kitchen. Large, separate and with a table in the middle: the ideal place to get children cooking. Burgundian gougères — little cheese choux — can be made with ingredients found in the village and will fill a good hour.
Three free outings that always work
- The banks of the Serein, on foot from the house: flat, shaded, pushchair-friendly, with fish visible from the bridge.
- The vineyard tracks by bike, on the bicycles the house lends. The first kilometres are flat.
- The Fosse Dionne at Tonnerre, a turquoise spring at the bottom of a circular washing pool, about twenty kilometres away. Spectacular, and a half-day out.
Dividing up the bedrooms
Three bedrooms: two with a double bed and one with two singles of 120 and 130 cm. The arrangements that work best are set out on the family stay page.
One tip: give the twin room to the children as soon as you arrive, and the room with the washbasin to whichever couple gets up earliest. It saves a good deal of negotiation on the first morning.
A question about your stay? Write to us: we answer any practical question before you arrive, which is far easier than working it out on the spot.
Come and see for yourself
The house is open all year. Send us your dates and we will reply quickly.
