Dordogne experts, please!

[CurlyhairedAssassin]

(For August next year.)

We're having a week in a cottage in Cornwall this year but have been thinking about cheaper ways of going abroad. Usually get a villa or apartment near coast in Majorca or Spain but flight costs are increasing too much each year and we have a lower budget than a couple of years back.

Kids would be 12 and 10 so in my head I'm picturing a gite with (shared?) pool in the Dordogne with space to play football and cricket, possibly a games room with table tennis, and not too far away from amenities like shops/supermarket and restaurants. Keen for us all to canoe on the river.

I have a couple of questions:

Is the journey awful? We'd be driving from NW England via euro tunnel and I remember the 3 day hellish journey down to the Côte d'Azur in my teens.

Will it be mostly good weather? I'd hate to spend loads only to have it rain most of the time.

Are mosquitoes a problem? DH is a walking mossie banquet and would hate it if there was a big problem.

Is 2 weeks there doable on an accommodationbudget of around £1200-1400 for 2 weeks? I would share with parents but not sure it's their thing now they're older (they like to be pampered in hotels!)

Thank you. Any other info much appreciated. I only know Paris, Côte d'Azur and the area around Collioure and Argeles near the Spanish border.

Great market in Les Eyzies and one night a week they have a food thing in Le Bugue where there is a "disco" and you can get eg. paella/chips/bread/wine/crepes from different stalls and eat them on tables set up in the square. There is so much to see I don't know where to start.

Pics

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Oh Stare, stop! You do realise I've got to wait over a year, don't you?

We booked Le Tournesol (cheapest) althugh preferred the look of laForge.

We used to go to Bosinver in Cornwall (another MN fave) for years but got fed up of shitty weather. Le Banquet reminds me of that with the beautiful gardens (that lavender in your photos!)

Not been to France for YEARS and the kids have never been so it will be an adventure for them. Am certain it is the kind of holiday that they'll love at their age (12 and 10). We don't like euro camp type sites because of the people but quite like a small number of fellow quests to have the odd chat with so this sounds ideal. Sounds like the boys might make friends too and be free to go off and play.

Nice To hear it's set back from the road. I do like being not too far from a proper road as it means easy access to places but wouldn't want to hear traffic noise so sounds good.

The disco/food night in la Bugue sounds perfect.

We went to the dordogne last year from North Yorkshire. We stayed overnight at the tunnel and then just drove, it took 12 hours (French side) but then what we had not realised was that it was the first sat in Aug which is when everyone travels...... What our gite owners recommended (originally from Cumbria) was to use the ferry, Portsmouth to Le harve, cuts down on driving time and apparantly it is about the same cost.