"Adopt the pace of nature; her secret is patience."
The nature surrounding Thollet, at the edge of the regional natural park of the Brenne, is overwhelming and the biodiversity in and around the domain is second to none. La Valette is a refuge for birds, bats, frogs, salamanders, lizards, bees and butterflies.
With La Valette as your base, you can go for beautiful walks. Mieke and Patrick will happily take you on a walk with their dogs, Rudi and Eddie, through the rolling “bocage” landscape typical from this region.
Common cranes
The regional natural park of the Brenne starts within 5km of Thollet. La Maison du Parc in Rosnay, 30 min from La Valette, is the park’s information centre, from which various walking and cycling tours start.
The shop, full of local produce, gives you a perfect flavour of the local gastronomy and in the restaurant, you can enjoy the region’s typical dishes.
For a few years now, thousands of common cranes use the Brenne as their wintering area. During the day you will find them throughout the fields of Rosnay, and in the evenings they return back to their sleeping ground in the “etang de la Mer Rouge”. About 1km distance from the maison du Parc. Make sure you bring some binoculars as this is a spectacle you don’t want to miss.
Flora and fauna
Our walled garden “a la Francaise” was consciously designed to highlight that biodiversity and aesthetic go hand in hand. It is a safe haven for birds, butterflies, bees and lots of other creatures, including a kingfisher who regularly visits our basin to catch a fish.
Dozens of swallows use the many outhouses to nest, and twice a year our guests are overwhelmed by the call of the common cranes that fly over Thollet during their migration.
Every night at ten o’clock, when all the lights in the village are switched off, guests can admire the most magnificent night skies, filled with shooting stars. These are the nights where all you hear are the babbling brook, the hoot of an owl or the (little) trumpet of a midwife toad.