Tranquil holiday location

La Moulin de la Materette nestles in 11 acres of private grounds, next to 600 m of trout stream (The Arize River)

The grounds are a mixture of formal lawns, flower beds, herb gardens, orchards, natural flower beds, meadows and woods.

The grounds are a haven for wild life encouraged by the careful planting and the natural flower beds to encourage butterflies and other insects. Regular visitors to our garden in Summer are – Golden Oriels, Kingfishers, Dippers, Nuhatches, Tree Creepers, Bullfinches, Grey Herons, plus all the other common birds you can expect in a rural garden. Ideal location for bird watchers.

You will appreciate the sounds and sights of nature when you take a walk on our island, surrounded  by the river, mill race and the top and bottom water escape canals. The Island has sculpted paths that meander through natural flower beds up to the weir, where there is a pebble beach.  For the more adventurous, you can enjoy 100 ms of “Wild swimming”  above the weir. A yoga platform / temple is planned for 2015 on the middle of the Island. In November I cut back all the natural flower beds, which allows the snow drops to produce a spectacular carpet of white in January and February. The paths and natural flower beds are recreated in March & April.

You can also walk 200 ms beyond the pool to the west, for complete peace and the opportunity to see a King Fisher pass by. All day, throughout Summer, you will hear the Golden Oriels, an exotic tropical warble, repeated every few minutes. We are lucky to have at least 2 families that return each year. We also have 2 pairs of dippers, which nest each year above the mill race under le Moulin.