Cottage les étangs de la Barette. Somme Valley, near Amiens.

The description of this house does not mention that you cannot get your car near the front door but have to mount 28 large brick stairs, nor is this visible on the pictures. The description says the house is near the water, in fact there is rather busy route departemental between the sloping front garden and the water.There is a nice terrace in front of the house with a splendid view but you can only use this in the afternoon as the whole morning the sun is shining directly at this terrace and there is not any form of sunshade. The two roomy sleeping rooms are direct in the attic and only accessible by a very steep and small staircase. This should not be a problem if the bathroom was also located on this floor but there is nothing of the kind not even a toilet. The very simple bathroom is on the ground floor next to the well equipped kitchen. The two bedrooms situated directly under the roof also means that they become very hot in summer. It is possible to ventilate these but then you must be careful because if it starts to rain you have to close these as otherwise the rain is pouring directly into your bed.As to the sitting room and dining area: these are roomy and comfortable.Our conclusion: this is a very good holiday home in spring and autumn, in summer it is too hot in its present state. And it is not suitable for elderly people.We must emphasize, however, that the hosts Pascal and Sandra are the most nice and helpful people you could wish.