Ancient hill top villages dot the landscape and traditional market towns offer the visitor the chance to sample the excellent local cuisine - such as duck pate, breads baked in wood burning stoves and excellent regional cheeses, all accompanied by crisp white and plumy deep red wines.

Caylus is a Medieval market town with a warm welcome for visitors - not spoilt by tourism, and avoiding the overly English summer invasion that occurs elsewhere.

Here you will find genuinely pleasant locals who are pleased to see you and who will patiently try to understand your O Level French!

For the more energetic, there are tennis courts within walking distance of the house, loads of activities in Caylus and nearby St Antonin (including white water canoeing), with horse riding and golf not far away. This is also a region where the arts feature strongly - from regular live music (mainly jazz and rock - often free) to crafts, museums and art galleries, with the world famous Toulouse-Lautrec gallery not far away at Albi.

If your preference is to stay up all night, you could just sit out at Maison Boye and be fascinated by the incredibly clear view of the stars (as there is remarkably little light pollution in the area)  - or you could visit one of the two nightclubs that are in within easy reach!