HOLIDAY RENTALS IN 

    ESPIRA DE L'AGLY NEAR PERPIGNAN, FRANCE

Sleeps up to 17 in total. 1 gite, sleeps 2 + child & baby, 1 gite sleeps up to 3 + baby, 1 gite sleeps up to 8 including  the ground floor bed/sitting room which sleeps 4 and can be used by two families.

      Air Conditioned/Heated Gites with HEATED Pool near Perpignan available all year round - short or long lets. Provides accommodation for up to 17 people (plus babies) by booking one, two or all three apartments. 

       Modern gites in restored stone built former convent located in centre of small village and within walking distance of all facilities. 

Holiday in Catalan/Cathar region with over 50 major tourist/natural heritage sites and over 300 sunshine days per year. 14km to Mediterranean beaches, 30 mins to Spanish border and Pyrenees. Convenient for airport.

This renovated, ivy clad, 18th C stone Mas near the centre of Espira once formed part of a large convent/monastery, which is now a college.The house was where the nuns lived, reared hens and rabbits and grew   vegetables and fruit. It was then surrounded by vineyards and was on the edge of  the village. 
   

Surrounded by stone walls it is a garden lovers delight.  It has several separate 'rooms' or gardens and terraces containing 300 yr old olive, lemon, orange, grape vines, banana, 3 different Strelitzia, Bougainvillea, a large flowering Magnolia Grandiflora together with many, many unusual plants giving a truly lush Mediterranean feel as well as an enclosed and productive fruit and vegetable garden. Children are welcome to join us to feed the fish in the evening.

Mas Grandiflora has a real sense of privacy although the property is within a few hundred yards of the centre square of the village. ESPIRA DE L'AGLY has some 3400 inhabitants and hosts a number of annual events including the honey and fig fairs. It has a 13th century church with earlier Roman history and is predominantly a wine making village with 12 producers including bio but also produces Apricots, Figs and Kiwis. We have 3 excellent boulangeries, pharmacy, doctors' surgery, dentist, masseur/physiotherapist, hairdresser, post office, Tabac/paper shop, Spar mini-market , small weekly market, bar/cafe, 2 restaurants and two pizza vans visiting. We also have a bio producer of figs/conserves and fig liqueurs. Le Jaumet,an open air restaurant  is within 5 mins walk. There is a bus service from the village to Perpignan and surrounding areas including nearby Rivesaltes with all commerce and where you can also find the Monday market. The Train Touristique has a station in our village and provides an excellent day out up the Agly valley to Axat with stop offs possible for the Gorge de Galamus and the Cathar castle of Pularens as well as villages along the route - 60kms of lovely scenery.

The owners Julia and Julian live on the premises and provide personal attention, 
information, help and advice to all guests. For lovers of Gourmet food and wine we can recommend many excellent restaurants and wine domaines with some really top class wines available within the village itself and or within a short drive of the property.

THE POOL AREA

The pool area is fully enclosed and has non-slip paving. It conforms to French law for pool security.The pool is shared with the other guests and the owners. There are numerous loungers, small tables and chairs with a fully tiled, enclosed and private shower area for your use.

The pool (7.5m x 4.5m) is heated and in use from May until October dependent on the weather. The pool has a salt chlorination system so is kind to the eyes and skin.

The Pool Shower/changing room

The working Well

                                                          Entrance to the pool

FLIGHTS

Direct to Perpignan from London Stanstead (STN), Southampton (SOU), Birmingham (BHX), Dublin (DUB), Paris Orly (ORY), Bruxelles Sud - Charleroi (CRL), Nantes (NTE), Palma (PMI).

See Travel section for details of other airports convieniently located in France. Probably the best offering a huge range of flights and the  cheapest is at Girona (GRO) Northern Spain, which also has cheaper car hire.