We had a very pleasant week here. The location is so good - a ten minute stroll along the towpath to the town, and Josselin itself is charming and peaceful but still a working town.

This is a proper holiday cottage for a family or group, a place to sprawl and relax. It is not a twee and over-decorated B&B where you are afraid to move lest you knock something over, and where you need to keep your children on a leash - it is a place to slump down in a chair with a cup of tea or a glass of wine and a detective story (and there is a fair library of easy holiday reading in the cottage, and a fine English bookshop in the town). Or to sit around the kitchen table and argue about how little to do tomorrow. The washing machine was a trifle idiosyncratic and may need to be shot soon, but everything worked. The beds were comfortable. The architecture is not entirely uniform, but that contributes to the holiday house atmosphere. The weather was fine, so we did not have to test the heating and cannot comment on that. Badminton in the garden was a high point with the children (you might bring some shuttlecocks as we wore them all out).

Joyce was very kind and helpful, and understood the complications of coming from the other side of the world.

We took a train from Paris to Rennes and then a car, which worked well (navigation was easy, simple directions, double highway all the way, although Rennes itself needs a bit of map reading). The car was necessary - to get there, for supermarket shopping, and for touring. There is a small general store a short walk along the road into town and all the usual shops and bars and restaurants in the town, so you can ignore the car for a day or two if you want to. The English tour of the Chateau is worth doing, and for a bit of walking (or jogging if you must), the tow path is ideal - it goes for miles in both directions and mostly you have it pretty much to yourself.

We would certainly recommend the cottage to friends, both for its relaxing and unpretentious atmosphere, and for the welcome. Indeed, we chose it ahead of its final rival on our short list because Joyce sent such a friendly response to our first enquiry. We would happily stay there again.