We are open for our 5th season at Le Portanel, and new for 2026 all our bedrooms now have air-conditioning. The fans and chillers that we were using were good, and generally our stone house stays cool during the summer months, but when the temperatures get up into the 30s it gets uncomfortable, so this will be a big improvement. The heat-pumps we had installed have also been keeping the house warm for us over the winter, although it helped that Tom and I spent the coldest weeks in the south of Spain!
While we were at home over the winter, we once again hosted the musicians performing at the Jazz-Off concerts that take place in Eymet every 2 weeks from October to May. We are lucky to live a village that remains so animated off-season, and the Maquiz’Art association should be congratulated for the time and effort they put in to enable these concerts every year.
Some other highlights for me since my last entry on here have been
- What I call our ‘end of term’ holiday of doing absolutely nothing in the Canaries for a week or two
- Running the Cognac Half Marathon with Tom again (even though he beat me in a race for the first time since we have been running together!)
- A great few days in Paris
- Having family over to stay with us over Christmas
- NOT having any big winter projects for the first time since we bought the house
- Getting out with our lovely running group on Friday and Sunday mornings
… oh, and being able stay in bed until midday if we choose to
Looking at the diary, we already have over 200 room-nights booked for 2026 so it is another busy season ahead, but we are well rested, looking forward to welcoming everyone and trying to make their stay with us as special as possible.
Although nothing major, we still have a long to-do list for the house and garden over the next couple of months before we get too busy, so fingers crossed the glorious weather we have had over the last couple of weeks continues into the spring.
