8 sources to find a great French country vacation
“To err is human. To loaf is Parisian.” -Victor Hugo
With an agritourism or country vacation in France, you get to loaf and savor the best wines, while you bathe your senses in the surrounding lavender fields. The simple way to this is take an agritourism vacation.
What is it?
Agritourism. It’s rural tourism, or farm stays, or guest ranches, or farmhouse B&Bs, or whatever you choose to call the chance to stay on a working farm. It started in Europe in the 1990s and continues to gain enthusiastic tourists.
Where to stay?
Instead of stale, standard hotel, there’s variety, such as: vineyards and dairy farms, barns amid olive groves and frescoed villas next to horse stables. You might even sleep for the night in a B&B converted from a farmhouse. Then, there are times that you could actually stick around to do volunteer work for a few days (a week, two months, a year), as with the worldwide WWOOF network. If you just enjoy the countryside and country life, you can rent a cottage in a rural area where sheep wander past your window is enough to count.
What’s the cost?
Each has offered a different experience of European farm life for a fraction the cost of a hotel; double rooms run anywhere from $20 to $200, but usually around $40 to $70. Many agritourism require a three-night minimum stay (for some, a week). Roughly half accept credit cards.
There are times that you get four-star luxury and satellite TV. Other times, you’re a straw’s-width from sleeping in a stall. Generally, the stays are just what you’d expect from a farmhouse B&B: simple comforts, solid country furnishings, and rural tranquility—barnyard noises excepted.
How to find your French country vacation?
By starting here for suggestions:
Provence 
Airbnb offers unique locations in people’s home. Visit: Airbnb
Normandy
Cider and Cheese: Burgeoning agrotourism in Normandy.
Visit: Plumedeluxe
1001 holiday houses give some ideas for Normandy stays.
Visit: 1001holidayhouses
Burgundy
This booking.com site lets you search for farm stays in Burgundy. Visit: booking
Choose your region
Gites de Frances provides 466 bed and breakfast and 1225 holidays rentals in many French regions. Visit. gitesdefrance
Responsiblevacation lists French cottages and farmstay vacations
Visit: responsiblevacations
Enjoy your stay
