While noon has already passed, Samuel can finally breathe a little: “We did not land this Saturday, it was a bit the rush between arrivals and departures at the same time, especially departures today. So it was not necessary to hang around this morning, between dismantling the beds, airing the rooms, and serving the breakfasts of course.“.
He and his wife Laurence have owned a cottage for 5 years in Côtes-de-Corps, in the south of Isère. In all, they offer two guest rooms for 2 and 3 people as well as two cottages for 11 and 4 people. “This is the guest room for three people. It was released this morning because these are people who are came two days before, before joining the large gite with their friends“explains Laurence, opening a bedroom with a mezzanine upstairs.
Between cleaning and cooking, very full days
At the beginning of the afternoon, she continues with cooking, because their gite is also table d’hôte. “Tonight I’m making for 8 people. It will keep me busy in the early afternoon to cook my vegetables. I’m also going to make my cake for breakfast tomorrow. Then I’m going to rest a little bit, to be able to attack the evening. Because the table d’hôte is at 8 p.m., we are with our guests _until 11 p.m._and we are already starting to prepare breakfast the next day“, she explains while cutting her zucchini. On the menu this evening: vegetable ravioli from Royans.
– Bastien Roque
Next weekend, they are expecting a busy schedule again, if not more, with several groups arriving at the same time to stay for two weeks. A bearing that bears witness to therather sustained activity in campsites and gites this summer. Marc Boulot, the departmental president of Gites de France thus draws up a rather satisfactory observation: “We are almost on a summer as good as last year, with a month of June filled to 75%, _a month of July filled to 95%_. The beginning of August is going to be like July, and we will start to drop as usual from August 20“.
A prosperous summer driven by a regional clientele and by the Tour de France
Owner of a cottage in Oisans, his clientele is, according to him, very bike-oriented: “We have a foreign clientele, especially Belgian and Dutch. Especially in June-July when there is a lot of entertainment with all the bike races, there in addition there was the Tour de France This year ! But the regular trend over the past two or three years has been the regional tourists. People who come from Isère, Lyon, Valence, who go up to the mountains, to cool off, if only for two days. It helps to fuel rentals and last-minute bookings. They go up on Thursday-Friday, or Saturday-Sunday, rest and cool down“.