Take a map of the region, draw  a  "two hour travel-time circle" with  "Blanchou Cottage" at the centre, and you will find an amazingly wide variety of beautiful scenery in whichever direction you choose to travel. From rolling hills to verdant flood plains, from spectacular beaches and  coastline to deep gorges from huge forests to magnificent mountains.

Within a few minutes from Blanchou Cottage, you have the confluence of the rivers Lot and Garonne at Aiguillon. A few minutes more will get you to the Canal Latéral à la Garonne The western half of France's longest navigable artificial waterway, the Canal des Deux Mers,  this is the only canal ever to have been nominated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Take a  fifteen minute drive to the south or to the east and you will  find yourself winding up to the numerous hilltop 'bastide' towns and villages which will remind you of parts of Tuscany or Provence.

Travel south-west and you'll find 'Les Landes' - a huge area of pine woods and deciduous forest, taking you down to Biarritz (about two and a half hrs away).

Just over an hour to the north-west, following the River Garonne, would see you leaving the myriad world-famous vineyards of the region and entering the beautiful city of Bordeaux with its fabulous 'Miroir d'Eau' (photo above). Used as the model for Paris, Bordeaux is France's most elegant city.

In the same time-frame, but travelling north-east, you would be viewing the valley of the Dordogne, similar scenery in many ways to the hills and valleys of the Lot-et-Garonne. Unfortunately, you will find yourself sharing that scenery with hordes of other tourists. Fortunately, they don't know what lies further south!

In just over an hour and a half to the west, you could be gazing down huge stretches of beach, enjoying tranquil coastal lakes, or swimming in the Atlantic ocean. In the opposite direction, ninety minutes would see you exploring the wondrous waterfalls and gorges of the river Tarn

And finally, just about two hours to the south of us, stand the stunning, three thousand metre (10,000 feet) peaks of Les Pyrénées, the massive mountain barrier which runs all the way from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean and separates France from Spain,

So, there you have it...

Stunning scenery to enjoy while you're travelling in the region, and more stunning scenery when you arrive at your destination. As a base for touring, "Blanchou Cottage" is the ideal choice.