[lagerstarfish]

Although I have never been, I gather (from a careful reading of posts on this forum) that there is a gite and B&B in La Chappele la Reine (walking distance from the elephant and 3.5 miles from the 3 pignons) which is run by a local climber, Stef.

Looks like this.



There is a website www.bonadresse.com/ile-de-france/la-chapelle-la-reine.htm with more information.

It might be possible to negotiate various discount in the b&b according to how many rooms and nights you'd stay in.

Crash pads are available for hire.

Contact Stef if you need more information.

DrT said
"I've stayed at this guy's place a number of times and am going back in Feb'. His breakfasts for the B&B are great but it's the banter that makes the place...
highly recommended..."

Maybe people could use this thread to post their experiences of staying there. The more friends we have in The Forest, the better.

Hope you don't mind me starting a thread on which to place information about your place, Stef.

[dave]

Whats all this about a Gite + b&b at a walking distance from the elephant? Why has no-one mentioned this before?

[Houdini]

Surely some mistake?! 

Really?!

For real?!

Why this is the most outrageous revelation?!

Why did not one soul on Planet Earth reveal it's location sooner?  If only people were more selfishly business-minded . . .

[GCW]

Hi, I'm a local Lancs climber.  Ah, long days, not too hot, not so many climbers in the forest.  I love it in April and sept. / oct.  
Luckily, I happen to run a Gite + b&b at a 3 hour walking distance from the elephant and 350 miles from the trois pignons.
Have a look at www.ilovetoadvertiseeveryfuckingwhere.com/ile-de-france/la-chapelle-la-reine.htm
You can expect various discount in the brothel down the street,  according to how many rooms and nights you'd stay in. You are welcome to ask for more ! Also, I rent crash-pads. Cheers.

[Jaspersharpe]

I was going to write something similar................. but it wouldn't have been as good as that. Best post in ages. 

[Bonjoy]

We stayed at said gite over xmas, as last stop on big trip.
To be fair it's a bit of a walk to Elephant, you'd probably want to drive. The gite is fairly modern and has a very nice stone floor. I did have a few gripes though - no proper oven, piss poor electric hob, dodgy DIY (coat hooks falling off walls, loose taps, skirting boards falling off), plus a combination of a badly flued coverless fireplace which fills the place with smoke if you don't have a window open and large open plan kitchen/dining room means you WILL be spending plenty on the heating at the end of your stay.

[SA Chris]

I rent crash-pads. Cheers.

I crash rent-boy pads, does that count?

[Jaspersharpe]

We stayed at said gite over xmas, as last stop on big trip.
To be fair it's a bit of a walk to Elephant, you'd probably want to drive. The gite is fairly modern and has a very nice stone floor. I did have a few gripes though - no proper oven, piss poor electric hob, dodgy DIY (coat hooks falling off walls, loose taps, skirting boards falling off), plus a combination of a badly flued coverless fireplace which fills the place with smoke if you don't have a window open and large open plan kitchen/dining room means you WILL be spending plenty on the heating at the end of your stay.

A ringing endorsement indeed. However, if this gite is where I think it is (across the road from our place right Lagers?) then it is only a ten minute walk to Elephant and you Bonjoy are a lazy get (I only walked there once as I am also a lazy get).

[Houdini]

. . . no proper oven, piss poor electric hob . . .

For me, this is the most annoying aspect of some gites.  I love my food; I love to cook; and a great part of the attraction of going to France is buying all that wonderful 1st class produce and whipping up a storm in the kitchen.   

Man cannot live on baguette alone (& I loathe French bread).

[Bonjoy]

 Exactly. I was cooking Xmas dinner there too. Fortunately we had a very powerfull portable gas hob in the van.

To be honest I never tried to walk to Elephant and it might not be far over the fields. By road it was at least a mile and a half.
BTW the photo posted up shows the owner's house (the big windows on the right) and the B&B bit (windows over garage), but not the actual gite which is further left out of shot.

[Stef]

Hello Fiona and John (who were in my place for xmas, after a long trip) and everyone.

You are right about the heating bill, it is rather expensive, but you forgot to say that the week you were here was the coldest from 18 months or so. And it is true that energy is really expensive in France.
About the coat hook, well, you should let me know, it takes half a minute to fix it with the right tool. And that is what it took me to fix the 20cm long skirting board in the double bed room.
For the walking to the elephant (or Dame Jouanne, or Maunoury) the right time to walk there is 20minutes, if you go through the fields (half way) and then through the forest. Driving by the road is 4km (2.5miles), takes 5 minutes.

About the kitchen, it is fully equiped with proper electric stove (how did you call it ?) MWave, electric oven (small, I agree, but oven), dish washer, laundry machine, full pates, knives, fourchs, dishes, etc.
I'm terribly sorry it didn't seem to all suit you fine, but these are things you defenetly have to tell the owner. Especially in my case as my house is exactly at the same place as the Gite, and that I am always available for help, info, tips, etc, and for a climb in the forest too of course ! which is what matters the best.

I hope you guys come to see me and chat about this when you are back in the area.

Cheers, Stef.

[Jaspersharpe]

Ah if it's 20 minute's walk then it's not where I'm thinking of. There's no way I'd have walked that far.

Fuck me I'm a retard. Wrong village even. Doh!

[Bonjoy]

 Hi Stef,
 Don't get me wrong, I did enjoyed my stay and you were very friendly and helpfull. Please done take what I said too personally. If you are concerned I can remove this thread.
  I agree I should have mentioned my gripes to you at the time, but I was tired and not in the mood. At least you have my honest feedback now.
 To be fair my complaints regards kitchen set-up also apply to many other gites. However if you did install a gas hob + oven or even a modern electric one it would make the gite loads better in my opinion. The DIY stuff is pretty minor and will take little effort to fix. As for the fire, if you don't mind a bit of smoke and an open wind it's ok, but a glass fronted wood burning stove would be nicer. I don't know the economics of running a gite so I have no idea  how feasible such upgrades are.
 Hope you are getting some nice conditions over there. I'm jealous. It's been raining nearly every day since I got home.
Jon
 

[neil h]

or you could always stay at mine


www.maisonbleau.com


www.maisonbleau.com

[slackline]

Hi, I'm a local Lancs climber.  Ah, long days, not too hot, not so many climbers in the forest.  I love it in April and sept. / oct. 
Luckily, I happen to run a Gite + b&b at a 3 hour walking distance from the elephant and 350 miles from the trois pignons.
Have a look at www.ilovetoadvertiseeveryfuckingwhere.com/ile-de-france/la-chapelle-la-reine.htm
You can expect various discount in the brothel down the street,  according to how many rooms and nights you'd stay in. You are welcome to ask for more ! Also, I rent crash-pads. Cheers.

Thats a bit unfair isn't it?  You might not like or agree with people advertising their accommodation on here, but neil h has done it, and (to the best of my memory) not been slated or had the piss ripped out of him for doing so.  Why the differential treatment?

Its useful to know information about possible places to stay in Font, particularly if they are amenable to climbers, and personal reviews and opinions from people who have actually stay at any of the places there are far more useful than sarcastic rhetoric.

[Houdini]

Slackers!

Neil_h opened a thread just for maisonbleau.  Stef chose to spam threads unconcerned with accomodation in Font with his business details a la an online viagra dealer. 

This is not the way clever business is done, and it's also a little disrespectful to the starter of the thread he spammed, and the non-ad ethos of UKB.

Hence the unprecidented 5 -ve karma points in approximately 5 post from Stef.  Stef would be more appropriate and should have done what Lagerstarfish kindly did for him - himself.  It's a question of politeness really.

[Jaspersharpe]

Beat me to it Houd. 

And GCW's parody of said spamming was bang on.

[Houdini]

And no-one means any offence to Stef and I'm sure I speak for all in wishing him a prosperous time in the forest.

[slackline]

Aye, thats fair enough, hadn't thought of it as spamming really, just adding more useful information for people who want to go to the forest.

I agree Stef should have done what Lagers has now done, but there's a bit of tit-for-tat now to help redress the balance.

[Houdini]

Which Stef is free to do himself - assuming Stef can muster up another 45 post (with hopefully no blatant hijacking therein).

I do believe everyone understand everything now.

[SA Chris]

Neil_h opened a thread just for maisonbleau.

Didn't UncSome actually open the thread initially, giving mad props to neil's place? Can't be bothered to dig back and look.

[slackline]

Which Stef is free to do himself - assuming Stef can muster up another 45 post (with hopefully no blatant hijacking therein).

I wasn't referring to Karma tit-for-tat, but neil's post (although its far more subtle).

Anyway, I was perhaps a bit hasty to criticise GCW, apologies.

[SA Chris]

Neil_h opened a thread just for maisonbleau.

Didn't UncSome actually open the thread initially, giving mad props to neil's place? Can't be bothered to dig back and look.

Actually Houdini regarding your

Fucking pointless pedantry. C'mon pal!

Comment attached to the -ve karma, I don't think it's pontless pedantry. Neil didn't start the thread advertising his own place. UncSome started it saying how good the place was.

[Houdini]

Which is a point not worth making within the boundaries of this thread.  Neil/Uncs behaviour is not under the microscope here.  Being a pedant does not mean you are a bad person, it  means you are a pedant.  Take it like a man, Chris.  You've dished out plenty.    If it bothers you enough return the favour - for I care not.

[GCW]

I don't think I was unfair.  Stef has a right to give us info on accommodation and I welcome that.  But, in the appropriate place.  Stef has posted ads in every thread he's posted in.  I haven't puntered him, I've given him the benefit of the doubt.... so far.
I was trying to give an amusing parody, as I felt that was the way this thread had started out.

Maybe Unc should have started a "Font Accommodation" thread, being less specific.  But he didn't- he posted about Maisonbleau.  And Stef chose to spam that thread.  OK, let it slide.  A thread talking about where to go in summer, mostly about NZ/ Oz- another ad.  OK, let it slide.
So far:  Six posts, four of which contain an advert.

Stef- I didn't mean to cause offence, but I hope you can see how you have come across to some of us.  It may be an honest enthusiasm to promote your business, but be aware you may be going a bit over the top.

[SA Chris]

I give not a rat's arse about the negative karma, just what I think is an unjustified reason for it.

[Houdini]

There there . . .

[Stef]

Hi GCW,  I never started the thread on my place myself. Just like Neil. Someone has made a report, and the forum did his job, commenting it.
When I read something like "french owner trying to take my last penny from the wood or whatever'', you understand I must react !!! ahaha !!!
And for other posts, of course it is somehow advertisng when I put on my email address, but this is what poeple are finally asking for, no ?   
Also, please don't take me wrong if my english isn't always so great. It is rather difficult for a french man to understand everything in a spoken-written english, and I wouldn't be surprise to realise that I do many "false meanings".
However, I really like your forum. Nothing such here in Font. We are just too lazy I guess ! or too lucky and attempted to go in the forest instead of working hard..... no need to answer please !
By the way, Neal, are you climbing today ? the whetehr is perfect again. Cheers everyone, Stef.
 

[lagerstarfish]

If any of you are planning a trip to Fontainebleau, I can strongly reccommend driving there in a BMW 320i Coupe, preferably automatic with sports mode and a good stereo. Fortunately I have a fine 1995 example of this awesome car for sale. Luckily for you I am selling it for the low  price of £1200. Contact me as soon as you can to make sure you don't miss out.




hopefully everyone sees the funny side of this post