ETHICAL TRAVEL

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The French Retreat is committed to reducing our carbon footprint.

We would encourage all visitors who are arriving by air to consider offsetting their carbon emissions.

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We have a tree planting programme to offset our emissions which you are invited to be part of here. Whatever you donate to offset your CO2 we will match and use to purchase and plant trees. 

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You can calculate  the output of your flight here. 

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BY TRAIN

 

The French Retreat is accessible by rail. Our nearest station is Chalais and we support all rail travellers with free transfers from Chalais train station to the French Retreat. Our nearest TGV stop is Angouleme.

 

Angouleme is on a TGV line between Paris and Lille to the north and Bordeaux to the south. From Angouleme you can take a direct local train to Chalais.

 

If you are coming from Bordeaux  the main station (also known as Bordeaux St Jean) to Chalais takes an hour and costs €15.70. You can book your tickets online here.

 

If you are travelling from London by Eurostar you can change in either Lille or Paris. You can book TGV tickets here.

 

 

BY AIR

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The French Retreat is accessible from Bordeaux Merignac (75mins) and Bergerac airport (85 mins). British Airways fly from Gatwick to Bordeaux daily. EasyJet have irregular Bristol-Bordeaux, Luton-Bordeaux flights and daily Gatwick-Bordeaux flights. RyanAir fly from Stanstead-Bergerac/Bordeaux. Prices can be cheaper if you fly midweek and add a few days to your stay.

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You can hire a car from Bordeaux Airport, or take the airport bus to Bordeaux St Jean train station and from there a train to Chalais where you can be picked up by Emma (by contacting her on UK mobile 07508 920583 or French landline 00 33 5 45 78 04 79).

 

If you need a taxi, the airport taxi rank is very expensive and if you are booking in advance we can find you better rates. Uber also operates in the area and is half the price of the airport cars. 

 

DRIVING

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For car sharing we use and recommend the excellent car share website BlaBlaCar.

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We are marked on google maps as The French Retreat. Head for the town of Chalais (16210) and from Chalais exit the town in the direction of Brossac on the D731 and take the 2nd left after you see the end of Chalais crossed out signs. The retreat is at the end of the track. 

 

Parking: 

There is ample parking at the house