L'Abricotine

The booking started well, with a follow up email telling us that the check in time was between 4 and 8pm (more about that later) and giving directions from the motorway. Check in was very friendly and personal, and I was shown to our room, (lovely touch). We had a large room with a double bed and a single, bathroom and large cupboard, patio doors and a terrace. I think the owners are renovating the bathrooms, as I saw pictures of really up to date bathrooms, we had an old version. The mattresses were new and extremely comfortable, plenty of pillows, spares in the closet and blankets should you need them, spotless bedding, and the place was very clean. I have seen some caustic comments about this place which I really cannot understand unless there has been a change of management or something. Yes, our room was not a clinical box, yes our room was I suppose aged, but it is clean and charming. The water was piping hot and plentiful, there are shutters on the windows, I heard absolutely no noise from the nearby B road. Bearing in mind travellers like us usually hunt for something near to the motorway but (at least in our case) that offers something a bit more than a sterile chain or franchise, my goodness did we hit pay dirt! So, the restaurant - the food was truly lovely. My husband had the cream of vegetable soup I guess you would translate it. Sublime . . . I had one of the salads on the menu. I cannot describe how good it was, lardons, fresh as a daisy leaves, tiny fried raviolis coated in parmesan, perfectly balanced dressing, so, so good. Dorade for me - crispy with the creamiest risotto I have ever tasted, and my husband had a blue steak, unforgiving unless the quality is really good (and it was). Local wine, lovely, couldn't even squeeze in one of the wonderful sounding puddings. The menu is unpretentious but beautifully executed. Breakfast: this is a served affair, as much coffee as you want, the coffee was lovely IMHO, basket of breads and pastries, homemade cookies, platter of confitures / apple sauce / yoghurt / fruit. It was all we could eat. They have I think 9 rooms in this little gem, way too small to have a buffet type affair without a ton of waste, and this was done very well. The thing is, these people really give a fig if you have had a nice stay. I would really urge you to give it a try, and what ever you do don't miss dinner! I asked about the 4pm to 8pm check in time, which is a bit of a turn off for travellers doing any sort of mammoth journey, 'What if we are delayed'. Oh no problem, just call us was the response. Its a small, incredibly personal little place to stay, run by a minimum of people who care about the service they are providing. Highly recommended!