We could only think of endless positives. Only positives about this villa and absolutely no negatives. 

First impression as you drive up to the villa is how much land it occupies – must be 8 acres – interspersed with what is basically an adventure playground. I counted 7 slides alone! 

Our boys had endless fun. The trampoline is huge. What grabs you as you walk round is how quiet it is. You feel almost instantly relaxed. 

To cap it all, there is a large wooden stand alone veranda higher up the garden as it slopes up which looks quite new and has incredibly comfortable rattan furniture and looks down on the house and pool. Benefits from a nice breeze which was great on the hot days. Mother-in-law disappeared up there a few times to escape! 

Pool is immaculate, very clean, warm with a covered area to escape the sun. Plenty of loungers and a huge amount of kids stuff for the pool too. Fenced and properly gated so no worries with the kids. 

House has a very fresh shabby chic feel, lots of windows and light with comfy sofas.

Kitchen has all you need with a large table. Boxes of toys, books, cuddly toys. If you keep the main door and a couple of windows open it generates a good airflow and is remarkably cool inside.

Upstairs – plenty of room, amazingly comfortable beds and soft linen.

Bathroom was good and a great shower.

The outside lean-to veranda to the villa is where we ate and BBQ’d. Ideal. Big table and enough chairs – protection from the sun too.

The early morning croissant and baguette run into St Pompont involved a 10 min walk going down and 15 up. Good work out. We loved it.

The village is beautiful and has a Saturday night party in the square which involves numerous cooked food vendors from Vietnamese to pizza and tapas. People sit at loads of tressle tables having picked up a bottle of wine or beer on draft. Absolute bliss and the food was excellent. Small mini market in town is ok but limited.

We drove to Daglan where there is a bigger one. Daglan is beautiful too and has 3 or 4 really good restaurants. La Cantine is really good with a great host and does a €25 fixed price menu.

St Pompont is ideal located as it is rural so you feel like you have escaped but also tends to only be half and hour drive to where you want to visit.

Must do’s are Domme – eat at the peninsula restaurant with incredible views. Or go to Chateau Castlenaud (busy though and queues) but worth a visit. Or drive up to Limeuil and sit on the banks of the Dordogne in the shade as the kids paddle. Monpaziac is also worth a visit on market day. We drove down to Catus which has a beautiful lake with a large sandy beach (sand must have been imported!). Remarkably warm water and perfect for kids.

I could go on but suffice to say this is the best villa we have stayed in and the most relaxing. You’d be mad not to book