We were a large group of friends from across the UK. The house is huge. The pictures donât quite give a sense of the scale of the place and its grandeur. Parlours, sitting rooms, amazing kitchen and that brilliant dining room. All 11 of us had plenty of room to get together or have our own time away from the group. The pool is elevated and perfect. It gets the sun all day and heats up nicely. Worth mentioning is the winery directly facing the property. The young owners (American and French) are so accommodating and have a great story to tell. The wine is awesome and if you are there during grape picking theyâll even let you come along and turn your hand to it. Go see them, you wonât regret it. Also the tapas bar opposite the house is great fun, excellent cocktails and seafood too. Go explore carcassonne and narbonne if you feel like it or immerse yourself in local culture. This was the best find in the south of France. I imagine families would have an amazing time here too as the pool is easily secured and the grounds go on forever. Sabine the host is lovely and helpful. Wifi also great. Just book it!
Even though the photos on the web site made the house look well, we were really delighted to find it was even better than it seemed. It is a very spacious, old fashioned house, and full of character. There were 12 of us and there was room for quite a few more. Air conditioning would have been nice considering the 36 degrees heat, but I believe that that was an unusually warm spell of weather.
The kitchen is modern and spacious and the downstairs rooms are beautifully furnished (there is a baby grand piano in one room, which we played a lot even though it's well out of tune). There is a huge dining room and the table very comfortably sat 12.
The pool is secluded and secure and very clean. The kids loved it.
The grounds are extensive, well kept and beautiful, and the area outside the kitchen where we spent our evenings was lovely. The little bats and swallows and geckos kept us company and reduced the insect population.
The location is only 40 minutes from Carcassonne and its airport. It's close enough to visit all the Cathar castles (Queribus and Peyrepertuse are amazing). Also worth a visit is the Gorges de Galamus, - we found it by following bad advice from our Sat-Nav - it is impressive but a bit of a hairy drive.
Cruscades itself is a fairly sleepy town with just one shop that acts as bakery and general store - great for bread in the morning and pizzas in the evening. Try their Quiche Lorraine. The people in the town were very friendly and on our last day we were lucky to catch the start of their local festival. Wish we could have stayed for it all. In fact, all 12 of us wished we had booked two weeks instead of one.