Driving from the West Ferry Ports

If you plan to drive from the UK you probably need to stay somewhere overnight unless you arrive first thing in the morning. It takes 8 hours to drive from the West French Ferry Ports, not including stops to eat.

We get the overnight ferry from Portsmouth to Caen with Brittany Ferries. We hire a cabin and set of early the next morning. We usually get to Le Pouch in the late afternoon.

Driving from Bergerac Airport

When you drive out on the only exit from the tiny Bergerac-Roumaniere airport you will hit the N21 at a T-junction. Turn left, away from Bergerac. Keep on this road all the way to Villeneuve-sur-Lot passing through Castillones and Cancon until you hit a roundabout. Go straight on until you hit another roundabout on the outskitrs of Villeneuve. Go straight across again and onto the bridge that crosses the Lot. At the far end take the last exit on the roundabout signposted to Penne-d'Agenais and Tournon (D661).

Keep going for about 10 miles until you come to the small village of Dausse. Drive into the village and take a right turn just after the church. Just as you leave the village the road takes a sharp turn to the left. Keep going, through a village called Valleilles (where Lotty went to school) until you hit a big crossroads with the D656. Go straight across and down the hill until you come to a T-junction where you turn right. To the left takes you to Montaigu.

After about a mile there is a turn-off to the left which is sign-posted to Ferrussac. You should have just passed a road on the right which takes you up the hill to Roquecor. Take the left turn and wind your way up the hill until you get to the tiny village of Ferrussac. Go straight through until you get to a cross-roads and turn left and straight-away left again. It should be signed Le Pouch and there is a little oak tree at the bottom of the drive. Turn right up the drive and follow the road round until you come to a house with white shutters. You should recognise it from the pcitures on the web site.

Driving from Toulouse Airport

Quite a lot of motorways and peripheriques happen at Toulouse and it can look confusing but just consistently take signs to Bordeaux and that will weave you through onto the right road which will eventually be the A62.

This will split into two not far outside Toulouse and give one direction to Montauban, but although that is fairly near us, continue to follow signs to Bordeaux. Get off the A62 at Junction 9 dir Moissac/Castelsarrasin and head towards Moissac.

Moissac can again seem a little complicated but basically you need to go through it following signs for Cahors (over the bridge over the Tarn you need to turn right). Follow the road out of the town, under a railway bridge and a shop with a huge satellite dish on it and just when you are starting to leave the town there is a roundabout where you need to turn left - it is still signposted Cahors. You are now on the D957 and heading into orchard country. Slightly confusing about 3 kms later you come to a fork where it says Cahors in both directions. In fact you could take both but the right hand fork sign posted Durfort Lacapalette is the one you want. Go to Durfort and then through to Lauzerte.

Lauzerte is on top of a hill and a beautiful Bastide town but don't go up to it, stay on the bypass and take direction Montaigu de Quercy. You are now getting quite close. Stay on the D2 going through little places like Bouloc and going past signs for Belveze and Ste Cecile (it's about 16 kms from Lauzerte), just before you come into Montaigu (it's down a little valley) on the top of the hill on the left-hand-side after a car wreck garage there will be a sign to Aurignac and St Vincent. This is our road but you've still got 5 kms to go.

Follow the road to St Vincent (hill with church and windmill), carry on ignoring roads that join and 2 kms after St Vincent is our turning. It is to the right and signed Le Pouch with a little oak tree at the bottom of the drive. It is before a crossroads. Turn right up the drive and follow road round until you come to a house with white shutters - that's us.

If you overshoot the left turn to St Vincent and find yourselves in Montaigu itself, carry on to the main crossroads and turn left (dir Agen, Roquecor,and Beauville). Take the first turning left (just before a large builders yard) and signed St Vincent and this will take you up to road you missed, turn right to St Vincent and follow directions from there.