Gîtes / bed and Breakfast

In the Mayenne on the Normandy / Pays de la Loire / brittany Border

2 luxury gîtes each for couples


Located on the Normandy / Pays de la Loire and Brittany border, our recently renovated barn was professionally renovated in 2020/21 to produce two luxury holiday gîtes. Each gîte is designed for two people and both are on two levels, downstairs with an open plan kitchen, living room and dining area. Upstairs, the bedrooms each have a Super King-size bed, en-suite bathroom and underfloor heating.

The barn has been tastefully renovated to create modern accommodation without losing the characteristics of the old barn.

Throughout the barn original parts have been recycled and renovated to become features.                                                                                                         

To see Reviews which guests have kindly left us on AirBnB, Booking.com, VRBO and Directly, please click on 'REVIEWS' above.

Since opening in April 2021 we have had over 600 guests stay with us from an incredible 40 different countries. 

 

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At La Martinière you will find yourself in a very rural location, near silent except for the sound of nature, cow bells and the occasional tractor working the fields . There are amazing views across the countryside, where orchards grow the apple and pears for the local cider and calvados and the cows are grazing to produce the milk for the famous Normandy cheeses.

 

Nature is all around us and at times we have deer in the garden. You will hear barn owls calling at night, buzzards circling overhead and in spring the House Martins, Swallows and Hoopoes arrive to nest. With little or no light pollution and on a cloudless night, you will get an incredible view of the stars enabling you to pick out the numerous constellations.

 

We are dog friendly and the location is perfect if you enjoy country walks, eating in local restaurants, visiting the local medieval towns with their markets or just relaxing in the garden with a book and a glass of wine.



La Martinière - A small hamlet in the heart of the Normandy / Loire countryside 

 




The Gîtes named after the birds which nest here in spring


The Gîtes are named after the birds which arrive in the garden in spring - L'Hirondelle (The Swallow) and La Huppe (The Hoopoe)

Each gîtes is very similar in design and decoration. L'Hirondelle, left side of the barn and La Huppe on the right. Both have the same facilities for you to enjoy whilst having a relaxing holiday here in this great part of France. The gîtes are ideal if you are looking for a base to either have a week or two in the Normandy/Loire countryside or you are touring France and looking for accommodation for a couple of nights or more before moving on. Our two large apartment style gîtes

(approx. 60m2) and garden offer you plenty of space to enjoy your holiday.                                                                                                    


Location of the Gîtes


Our local river, the River Colmont is the border between Lower Normandy and the Pays de la Loire. La Martinière is located just 200m over the river within the Department of Mayenne, a few kilometres north of the market town of Gorron. Our location in Northern Mayenne borders 3 regions of France - Normandy, Pays de la Loire and Brittany. Our most well known landmark, about an hour from us is the famous le Mont St.Michel which lies in the bay in Normandy and the border of Brittany. Our location whilst staying at La Martinière gives you the option to visit all three cultural regions. Please see the location page where a map pin points exactly where we are.



pet friendly


IMPORTANT IF YOU WISH TO BRING YOUR PET.

We welcome guests with their pets. We have had guests stay with their dogs and cats and even a couple who arrived with 3 parrots, which they free flew in the garden to give them exercise. Unfortunately we have recently had situations where our guest dogs were not controlled. We have therefore had to change our Pet policy. 

We are now asking guests to make a request to bring their pet in advance of making a reservation. We will now not accept Alsatians, Dobermans type dogs and other guard dog breeds which either bark continuously or are/can be aggressive to us or our other guests. 

 

Guests are able to walk their pets in a safe environment. There are no cows immediately by the house, but if walking and you come across cows or sheep in a field, the dog must be on a lead.

 

We have 3 cats - Delphine, who was abandoned outside the barn aged one month old. MamaCat, we think again was abandoned, she kept hanging around and we discovered she was pregnant. She had 6 kittens under a tree in the garden before moving them into the garage. We found good homes for 5 of them. However, we kept one of them, Gèrard, a ginger cat as he had wobbly cat syndrome. Sadly Gérard passed away in March 2023 - He was a very happy though a bit nervous and dealt with his condition and giving us hours of entertainment. All our cats will either be friendly with your pets or if cautious will hide away in the house. So they are no problem to our guests with pets.

 

Recently we gained another cat. Rousse (Redhead) is our new kitten who we think is a boy. Slowly Delphine and MamaCat are accepting him entering their domain. 


Your Hosts - David and Helen Wootton


We moved to La Martinière in December 2019 with plans to enjoy life in France plus to renovate the barn to create two holiday gîtes. Throughout 2020 and early 2021 we successfully renovated the barn during Covid lockdowns with the help of professional builders. And opened to guests in April 2021. 

 

David had dreams of moving to France for many years, his love of France coming from his French mother. Born and bred in West Norfolk where his family are arable farmers. David, a commercial photographer specialised in aerial and travel photography. Photography took him all over the world creating images for commercial clients, magazines and newspapers. Subjects included Paragliding - Mt. Kinabalu on Borneo, The Pamplona Bull Run in Spain, Tigers in India, Portraits of Cuba and Royal Marine jungle warfare training in Belize, to name a few.

 

Helen, also from West Norfolk married David in 2008. Helen also has the travel bug, having extensively travelled throughout Europe, Asia, South America and Australia. Keen on trekking she has walked the Great Wall of China, trekked to Angkor Wok in Cambodia and climbed up to Machu Picchu, Peru. Her career has been in hospitality with day-to-day management of a country pub in the UK and restaurants in Australia. Helen also has a great interest in complementary therapies and is fully qualified in massage, reflexology and Indian head massage.