We stayed at Haras Picard du Sant for 5 nights and very much enjoyed our stay. We had a two bedroom ’apartment’, which was a nice surprise as we thought we had simply booked two bedrooms (one for us, one for our two children). Our apartment had two bathrooms, a very well stocked kitchen/dining area, a comfortable living area and a lovely deck overlooking the mountains and with a couple of horses in the paddock in front, which of course enthralled my children !
The accommodation itself is comfortable and a bit quirky in its furnishings - the waterbed in our room was unexpected but led to very good nights’ sleep (also helped by the quiet and dark in the morning !). Both bedrooms had loft rooms with the ability to sleep an additional two people as well - at one point some friends were going to stay with us and we could easily have fitted in their 4 person family in one room/loft while we moved our family into the other. A word of warning - there were a lot of steep (and creaky !) stairs which made it a little more difficult with a one year old (plus the deck had open railings...).
The breakfast provided was simple - a loaf of bread, homemade jam and butter, plus cornflakes and milk. Adequate.
Location is in the foothills of the Pyrenees, about 15 mins drive from St Girons, about an hour’s drive to Foix. Reasonably convenient but if you intended to do a lot in the mountains without having to drive as much you may want to stay on the other side of St Girons.
Jean Louis is very hospitable and enthusiastic about the area and his horses. He took us to see the foals in another paddock on the farm, which my girls loved.
I would like to come back and participate in some of the activities offered - the transhumance (moving the horses from the mountains back to the farm) sounds amazing ! A bit difficult to do though with young children.
Séjour du Octobre 2011 - voyage en famille