Where is Esquirol?

 

Esquirol is surrounded by uninterupted views over farmland, and is 3 km north-west of the village of Montastruc and 4 km east of Tombeboeuf.
 
You will find Montastruc and Esquirol in the centre of the map below, and you will be looking for the entrance drive pictured left.
 
A car is essential to get around, and most of our visitors take flights to Bergerac, Bordeaux or Toulouse and self-drive hire from the airport. You can, of course, drive your own car from home, using www.theaa.com or www.viamichelin.com to plan your route, or see our description below the map.
 
• By Air
There are daily flights from Stansted (Ryanair) and Southampton (Flybe) to Bergerac (40 minutes drive from Esquirol). Flybe also fly to Bergerac from Birmingham and Bristol. Other carriers (British Airways, Easyjet) fly to Bordeaux (1 hour 20 minutes away) and Toulouse (2 hours away). Self-drive car hire (Avis, Europcar, Hertz,) is available at all the airports. Try to avoid expensive parking at UK airports.
 
From Bergerac airport take the N21 south towards Villeneuve-sur-Lot and Agen. At Cancon take the D124 Tombeboeuf road. When you are about 3km from Tombeboeuf, after a large house with two 'pigeonnier' towers and a big barn on the right, take the turn signed 4.4km to Montastruc (left) where there is a refuse container at the corner, and a house known as le Roc opposite.
 
Our house with iron gates at the entrance, is the fourth on the right over the brow of the hill. N.B. There are three houses called Esquirol: ours is the second. Do phone for help if you get lost.
 

• Driving
Driving from the UK obviously involves crossing the channel. The shortest drive of about 6-7 hours in France is from St. Malo, taking the ferry from Portsmouth (Brittany Ferries). Using Caen as the entry port adds about an hour as does Cherbourg, the latter on ordinary roads.
Boulogne and Calais are about nine hours distant (without stops, 600 miles), so would most likely require an overnight stop but the ferries are considerably cheaper (try Speedferries for example).
 
From St. Malo, Cherbourg and Caen, take the N137 or A84 motorway to Rennes and then Nantes, using the ring roads around these two towns. Then follow the signs to Bordeaux (A83 and A10 motorway). On the Bordeaux ring road take the signs for Toulouse (motorway A62) and leave that at Marmande.
At Marmande follow signs to Miramont and leave the Miramont road following signs to Cancon and Monflanquin through Puymiclan, St. Barthelemy and Tombeboeuf.
After Tombeboeuf and about 2 miles, pass the C1 to Montastruc sign (Chateau Lafaurie on the other side of the road) and after a milestone showing 6km to Monbahus take the next road right (with refuse container) up to Esquirol. The house is the fourth on the right over the brow of the hill and has iron gates.
 
From Boulogne and Calais, it is now motorway nearly all the way. Take the A16/A28 through Rouen and then follow signs to Bordeaux via the A10 all the way to Marmande as from St. Malo (above).
 
• Trains
It is possible to travel within a day from Waterloo to Bordeaux using the Eurostar and TGV trains. Trains go from Bordeaux to Marmande but infrequently, so timing them correctly is important.