when we stayed at that gite the owner was nothing but friendly. i think it's just another case of the majority giving the minority a bad name.
First time we stayed there, no problemo. The really old guy came over from the farmhouse to check for cleanliness, but just gave us the deposit back after we'd chatted to him for a minute. Second time, the old lady came over and blamed every bloody crumb/speck of dust on us and refused to hand over any of the deposit!!!
Can you remember what the gite reference was though?
JFW - your recommendation looks good, but have you seen how much that place cost for a weekend - 1000 euros!!!