How to Book

When you confirm your booking a 35% Deposit is required. 65% Balance due three weeks prior to arriving.  

Deposits are non-refundable, but can be used for another visit or transferable to a friend or family member.

The house itself has three floors: the ground floor which includes the common spaces; the middle floor, where the two B&B guest rooms are to be found; and the top floor, which is the self-contained apartment suite. Behind the main house is a courtyard, and a second building, which houses the Atelier guest room. From the courtyard, stairs lead up around this building to access the enclosed garden. From the back of the garden, there is a private access for guests staying in the Atelier. There is no elevator access on the property.

Please note that La Maison des Mots is oriented to creating a relaxing atmosphere for adult travellers. Teenagers are of course welcome, however the house is not suitable for children under 12.

During your stay you might come across the cat-in-residence, Minette. Minette loves people, but she is very aware that not all people like cats, so keeps her distance if she instincts your concern. If you have a severe allergy to cats, we would not like you to be uncomfortable!

La Maison des Mots is located in the centre of town, 30 seconds walk to the main street, with access to an assortment of restaurants, boutiques, bars, and food vendors. There are 2 ATMs in the same area. Nearly all traders will accept card, but it’s always good to keep some cash on hand for the markets, brocantes and festivals. We have a small supermarket in the city centre open 7 days/week with all the essentials. Other larger options are a little further away but still within walking distance.

If you’re not yet accustomed to the French ways, be mindful that most restaurants have a limited opening time for lunch (between 12pm-2pm), while most other stores will close during roughly this same period. Sunday is taken rather seriously as a day of rest, including in the hospitality sector! Outside of that, the local traders have varying hours, so best to check the days and times in the shopwindow if you’re planning to come by later. All part of an authentic countryside experience...

The historic abbey and attached priory, the old city ramparts, and the river are all easily reached within a few minutes walk. Many different day trips by car are also possible starting from La Charité sur Loire. You can ask me for suggestions, and I will provide links for you.

For international visitors travelling by car, make sure to familiarise yourself with the local road rules. Other than negotiating the one-way streets (GPS essential), driving in the region is fairly easy. There’s rarely any traffic, and the roads are well maintained - if somewhat narrow on some routes.

If you are arriving at Charles-de-Gaulle or Orly airports and rent a car, it will take you anywhere from 2 ½ to 3 ½ hours to drive depending on the time of day and traffic around Paris. Once outside of the Paris periphery, the drive is very straightforward, and there’s rarely any traffic once you reach the A77 highway.

There is free parking very close to the house. If you are planning to be in France for over 3 weeks, leasing a car through Renault can be worthwhile compared to short-term rental rates, and you can pick it up at the airport.

Rental car options are also available in Nevers (easily accessible by train) but arrangements should be made well in advance.

Phone coverage is reasonably good through La Charité and the larger towns around, but can be patchy in between when exploring the countryside.

If you prefer to travel by train, from the airport you can taxi into Paris to Gare Bercy. This is a 62 euros flat rate. The station is also accessible by the metro if you’re staying in Paris - but be prepared for stairs.

From Gare Bercy, the fastest, cheapest, and overall best train to catch is the 2.11pm TER train direct to La Charité-sur-Loire. The journey is just over 2 hours. I recommend buying your tickets at the station when you arrive.

By train you arrive at Gare La Charité-sur-Loire. I will meet you at the station, and together we will walk to my house - about 10 minutes, no more.  Being a small town, we don’t have taxis driving about looking for fares, so if you wish to be picked up in a car, it will need to be organized in advance. 

If you can’t make the 2.11pm train, services do run from Bercy throughout the day (about every hour) generally until 7pm. The trains are either TER (Transport Express Régional) direct to La Charité, or by IC (Intercité) which runs express to the next largest city on the same line, Nevers (about 20 mins away). If the timing of the direct service doesn’t work for you, it’s possible to catch one of the IC trains to Nevers, and then connect to a regional train to return along the line to La Charité, but it does add some time to the journey.

The trains don’t usually fill up in advance, even during the summer period - but they can if there’s a disruptions for a preceding service. France has a rather good rail network, but regional train cancellations do happen occasionally (less so for the Intercité services). Important to note here is that tickets for the TER trains that run from Paris direct to La Charité entitle you to board not just the time you booked, but any TER service for that route for the same day. For this reason the SNCF won’t exchange or refund your ticket in event of a service cancellation as you can theoretically catch the next TER train on the schedule. Most often though, the next train is actually an Intercité, meaning you could be waiting 2 hours or more for the next TER service.

Thus it’s generally a better idea to buy TER tickets at the machine or at the ticket counter, once you arrive at the station. I recommend arriving early in any case to ensure you have a seat and luggage space - particularly if you’re travelling in a group.

Unlike the TER, the Intercité tickets to Nevers are only valid for the service at the specific time you’ve booked. The benefit is they are exchangeable/refundable if there’s a cancellation. You can also book first class for a little extra space, although 2nd class is perfectly comfortable. Seats are not allocated so it’s still a good idea to arrive early if travelling in groups.

If you’re coming from elsewhere in France, or continuing your discovery of this beautiful country by rail, Nevers will be your closest connection point. From there you can take lines to the west via Bourges, across the castle region of the Loire, and onward to the Atlantic coast; to the south toward the volcanic hills of Clermont Ferrand; to the east toward Dijon and the Swiss Alps; or south-east to meet the high-speed lines from Lyon to the Mediterranean.