Our family home swap in Provence in a few words

Provencal villa in beautiful grounds situated amongst the hill-top villages behind Cannes, French Riviera, Provence, South of France, 40 minutes from the sea, 1 hour from Nice. A 3-bedroom villa, with large garden and a private heated swimming pool.

• Nearest large City : Saint-Raphael, Cannes, Grasse
• Nearest major Airport : Nice Côte d’Azur international airport
• Our home can accommodate : 5-7 people, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 1 flat. Animals to be taken care of.
• Car exchange, pets allowed
• Exchange dates : 1 school year from August 2011 to June 2012
• Country choice : England, Scotland, Ireland…
• People in our exchange party : 3 (2 adults and a child), a dog and a cat

The house is located 20 minutes away from Mons and 10 minutes away from Callian, two charming hill top villages located half an hour away from Cannes, Frejus and its beaches, Saint-Raphaël and the Estérel. One hour away from: Nice, Nice airport , Saint-Tropez, Gorges du Verdon, Aix en Provence. Direct access from motorway A8 (about 20 minutes by car) Aix-Nice or by TGV train from Saint-Raphaël. A lot of restaurants. Supermarkets about 15 minutes away. Mons and Callian are vibrant villages all year  round, with schools and activities for adults and children. Cinema in Montauroux.

Less than 20 minutes from:

• Markets in the village of Fayence, and the antiques fair.
• The St Cassien lake: bathing, fishing, pedalos, cyclocross.
• The international gliding center of Fayence where you can try your first flight in a glider.
• The Domain of Terre Blanche golf course (2×18 holes).
• Horse riding, tennis (Fayence, Montaroux), hiking…

Less than 45 minutes from:

• The mimosa road (grow January to March) 130 kms of gorgeous landscape, visit the greenhouses of Tanneron.
• The beaches of the Var coast and the Alpes Maritimes.
• The perfume shops of Grasse, the City of the Perfumes, where you can even create your own perfume formula.
• The Bamboo plantation in Montauroux.
• St Cézaire’s caves
• Shopping and visit of Cannes, famous for its film Festival and its Croisette, Marineland in Antibes to see performing dolphins, killer whales
• The Gorges of Verdon and Pennafort…

Home for 5/7 people family

The house is in a residential estate of 20 villas in wooded surroundings, altitude about 450 meters (N 43°39.604 E 6°43.374 ). The school bus stop is in front of the villa. The villa is recent: 10 years old,  we bought it in 2006. We have renovated it: swimming pool, 5,000 m2 fenced garden with flowers (very old olive tree, greenery, roses and typical provençal plants), automatic watering, and large terraces in teck with a pergola. Covered patio with a barbecue. Heated swimming pool 10*5 m, alarm, child’s pool shallower for children,  1.60 max deep. A locked garage will be built in 2010.

Inside
A new kitchen (2010) with gas cooker and 2 electric ovens. Oak furniture. American fridge, microwave oven. Cellar with washing machine, wine cellar, freezer.
All the house has air conditioning (dual system for cold and hot).

A dining room and sitting room with flat screen TV, Satellite international channels, Canal +, DVD, hi-fi. Provençal decoration with white beams, marmorino paint, leather sofas and provencal furniture.
Separate toilet with washing basin.

Downstairs

One large double bedroom (bed 55 inches x 75 inches) with ensuite bathroom with a bath and a shower. TV with flat screen.
Office room, with Wi-Fi.

Studio flat
The studio flat is joined to the villa, it has a separate entrance and a private terrace ourselves. A large livingroom with a fully fitted kitchen corner. Bedding for 2, a shower room.
The studio will be probably used sometimes by our children, who are staying in France, during a few week-ends or school holidays. They can help you if you have any questions about the house or animals. We may come back to the studio a few times for business purposes.

Upstairs
1 double bedroom (55 inches)
1 single/double bedroom (35 inches + 1 mini single)
Large shower room with 2 basins, shower and a toilet.
Dressing room.

Our animals to be taken care of are:
A Shetland pony, named “Blanche Neige”. 18 years old, 90 cm tall. Docile , friendly with children. (Perhaps she will have a baby…)
And adopted cat “Momo”, he is terribly shy and he never come into the house.

The organic vegetable garden

Exchange

For you:
We want to exchange for one year : from August 2011 to July 2012 (one school year). Ideally, we want to exchange with a family of up to 5 people, or a couple who like animals and gardens. No smokers please. A car exchange is also possible. Pets welcome.

For us:
We will be a family with an 8 years old boy (born in 2002). He would be ideally in a state English school. And we want to move with our dog, a well behaved, peaceful and friendly German shepherd “Djinn” and with our cat “Chanel”: 3 years old. We want to work at home, with a good internet provider available. We want to travel to France sometimes for short stays, and to be less than 1 hour from an airport. Our preferred countries are England, Scotland and Ireland… A private garden would be appreciated. We want to exchange to improve our English, to meet people, and for our son to go in an English speaking school.

Previous exchanges
We have already had the experience of a successful home exchange in Somerset in 2007, in the beautiful home of the designer and Channel 4’s television presenter, Kevin McCloud, and his family. It was a very good experience !

Our family

Sandrine BONNET (46 years old), Dominique BONNET (48 years old), married since 1990 . Hobbies : gardening, I.T., reading, dogs, animals, cooking, restaurants, ecology, trips (in Europe, Indonesia), photography. Our job : real estate agent: holiday rentals in Provence (www.Maison-en-Provence.com or www.Maison-en-Provence.eu).

Our son Olivier (10 years old in 2011), our dog Djinn (3 years old in 2011). We have 2 other children who are staying in France for their studies. Our daughter Angélique, 20 years old, is doing scientific studies in Nice, in order to become a vet, she likes horses. Our son Kevin (who is fluent in English after 1 year at school in the USA, Mississippi), 18 years old, is at school an international class, in Grasse. He likes computer games, literature.

Contact details

Contact by e-mail: sandrine@famillebonnet.info or dobonnet@gmail.com
By phone: +33 4 94 70 30 91
By fax: +33 9 79 94 58 73

Our business website : www.Maison-en-Provence.com : Holiday rentals in South of France

This home exchange is provided by the home owners, Sandrine and Dominique Bonnet,
Mail : 13, Clos de la Chesnaye – 83440 Mons en Provence – Provence Côte d’Azur – France.