How did it all begin?
Our very first holiday together was a motorbike trip to France. Every year afterwards we couldn't fight the urge to go back. We would head off on our motorbike towards the discovery of a new region of France. We would spend the night either at a B&B or a campsite. Everywhere we were well received and we met friendly folk ready to give us a hand, especially when it started to rain just as we were putting up our tent!Every year, on our return journey, we would pass through the Massif Central and the area round Clermont-Ferrand. In this way we came know the Auvergne and the Puy-de-Dome. We fell head over heels in love with the magnificent scenery, the peace and quiet, the varied birdlife - from birds of prey to swallows - flying overhead. We were completely smitten by this wild corner of France still untouched by mass tourism.
The downside to this was the scarcity of B&B rooms and campsites. As a result we were often obliged to keep going for longer than planned in order to find somewhere to lay our heads. Still, we couldn't complain. After all, we would always find a pleasant place to spend the night after a good meal round the family table.
What a fantastic welcome one gets in the Combrailles. It became more and more difficult to leave behind all those little things which make one feel good and when it was time to take our leave, we would say to each other; "Oh, I wish we didn't have to go back. I feel so at home here". And so, in 2004 we attended our specialist foreign property fair in the Netherlands.
During 2005 we fixed our first appointments and spent several weekends visiting properties in France. It was on one of these weekends, on the eve of our return home, that our estate agent told us about a property which had just come back on the market and which she thought might suit us perfectly. According to her, the location was superb, easily accessible and with lots of space to create bed and breakfast rooms. Well, she was right! To be sure, one had to see past the cobwebs and years of accumulated clutter, but other than that it was exactly what we were looking for. We took the decision to make an offer that very day and three days later we heard that we were the proud owners (well, nearly!) of a magnificent old farmhouse on the Champeaux estate, close to the pretty village of Marcillat-en-Combraille and within the small commune of Ronnet.
All this took place in May 2005. That same October we signed the all the paperwork at the notaire's office and became the official proprietors. We'll spare you the boring details of the legal process; the main point being that we had finally succeeded!
We hope it won't be long before we welcome you at Champeaux. S0....see you soon!? Chambres d'hôtes chez Karin et Louis, chambres d'hôtes en France, hébergement à Champeaux, une nature encore préservée, Marcillat-en-Combraille, le petit village de Ronnet, en Auvergne, dans le Puy-de-Dôme, dans l'Allier