Riverside 4 bedroom house full of character and charm

The house is large, very well equipped with an excellent kitchen/dining area, lounge area on the ground floor, and large comfortable bedrooms/beds over the first and second floors. The River Aude flows just beyond the rear garden patio. The house is highly recommended. The town (Quillan) has bars, a couple of restaurants plus other fast food outlets. There is a small but well stocked Carrefour supermarket and a very nice Tabac/shop just across the square. Nice mid-week market. Lots of parking close by. An enjoyable visit.

A lovely centrally located town house with terrace overlooking river.

We were extremely happy with our accommodation in this light and airy town house in Quillan. As is often the case, the house is even more charming than the pictures suggest. We arrived and were delighted with the house, it was better than we could have anticipated. The main advantage of the property is the spacious deck/ terrace which fronts on to the river Aude. We spent most of our time out there, eating under the umbrella, reading, or playing guitar and singing songs. We also swam in the river beneath the deck. There are some steps down directly to the water, however the best place to get in is going left over the rocks and entering the river from the rocks in front of the next door neighbours house. The current is pretty strong so only confident swimmers should attempt this ! But there are also some deep areas where the water is still. The river was a perfect temperature, cold and refreshing, deeply invigorating. To me, the essence of this property is the roar of the river which reverberates through all of the rooms at the back of house. I naturally gravitated towards the bedrooms which gave onto the water and chose a bed nearest to the window. It was so magical to wake up to this noise, like the clatter of a heavy rainstorm. It made one feel very close to nature. A few things to note. The French are very strict on their opening and closing times. All the supermarkets seem to shut Between 12pm and 2pm and in the evening at 7pm. Restaurants won’t seat you beyond 8.30pm in Quillan. We found ourselves caught out the first evening when we confidently strolled out at 9.20pm expecting to walk into a restaurant and be fed. We were turned down by about five establishments, and had to get a local to persuade a Chinese diner to let us takeaway food. There were no shops open either. Quillan is a very small and quiet town, set within a natural amphitheatre of breathtakingly vertiginous and verdant mountains. It is peaceful and picturesque, however if you are after an exciting, raucous nightlife this may not be for you. We created our own entertainment within the house, having dinner, drinks and playing the guitar at night (there is a guest one) on the terrace. One evening there was a live concert in the square. We thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere and joined in with the dancing in the square. It seemed many of the locals from miles around had flocked there. We enjoyed more river swims and ‘ hot springs ‘ at ‘ Renne le bains’