FAQs

It's easiest by car (or if you're on a bicycle tour) as we're in a remote location. We're on the D219 between the villages of Le Bourg D'Iré and Loiré. Nantes Atlantique Airport and Rennes Bretagne Airport are both international airports and are 1h20 drive away.

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Angers St Laud is the closest train station, less than 50 mins from Le Boulay, and has frequent direct trains to and from Paris and Nantes.

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Go to our contact page for a map or to find our GPS co-ordinates.

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Not in La Tiny Kiwi itself, but you're welcome to use our Internet in the main house. There is phone network so you can use your mobile data but it works better in some parts of the property than others.

Taxe de séjour is also known as 'tourist tax'. It's a tax that tourists have to pay to towns during their stay in the area. It then goes toward expenses linked to tourism and environmental protection. The tourist tax must be paid to your host (in this case us), who then pays it to the town. If applicable, it will be specified on your final invoice.

The tax isn't included in the amount indicated at the time of booking. The application of such tax is out of our control, but it's usually around 20 to 90 euro cents per night per adult.

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Just yourself (as well as anyone travelling with you, of course). We provide all bed linen, towels, soap, shampoo, kitchen equipment, tea, coffee, and some cooking essentials.

There’s a fridge with a tiny freezer so you can also buy your own food to cook if you’d like to.

We also have optional extras you can choose when you book. If there is anything you need, have questions, specific enquiries or allergies, let us know at the time of booking and we will do our best to accommodate your needs.

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We are in the countryside and we do have a pond, so yes, we do have mosquitoes. We use natural products to help keep them at bay such as strong smelling essential oils and plants but they can still bite. We recommend bringing an insect repellent if you're not keen on getting bitten, especially in the summer months.

Of course, when the season allows you can buy our products at Le Boulay. We'll be happy to show you around the farm so you can see what we grow. Because we have a small production, with some luck you might find our products at the épicerie in Le Bourg d’Iré.

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When harvest allows, you'll be able to pick yourself the fruits and vegetables you need at Le Boulay, please just ask before taking.

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There's lots to visit in the region and something to please everyone! If you just want to stay at Le Boulay and enjoy time slowing down, games and activities are available. You can also start the walking loop from Le Boulay (here's the map).

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La Mine Bleue, a unique site in Europe, La Ferme aux 5 Chemins, and the  Domaine de La Petite Couère  are 10mins away, as well as the town of Segré, where there's plenty to see and do. 

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Vineyards, rivers, castles and cathedrals make up the landscape of the Anjou, as well as botanical gardens and parks like Terra Botanica in Angers. You can find all the visits, walking paths and activities in the Anjou Bleu on the tourism website or on Facebook.

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Check out our gallery for photos of just some of the things to do in the region.

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We love all well-behaved animals. But we also love our furniture, and future guests staying after you may be allergic. So for these reasons we've decided to not allow animals in La Tiny Kiwi. They're still welcome on the property and can sleep under the hangar or in a shelter if needed. Please be aware that you need to clean up after them (and dispose in the compost), so that no one has to step in poo on their stroll! We don't have fences or gates around the property, so keep an eye on your furry friends, it wouldn't be fun to run after your dog for miles because it saw a rabbit...

We also have our own pets at Le Boulay, so we kindly ask you to respect our little friends and please don't feed them as they follow a strict diet for their health (but rather difficult apparently).

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Don't worry, it's very simple. At the beginning, it's business as usual (although it smells like wood). When you would usually flush, instead, you open the box with sawdust, take the scoop and put a scoop or two of sawdust to cover. Then you close the lid and that's it! There's no smell and no noise. At the end of your stay it goes in a compost area where we can use it in a few years in our ornamental garden.

There's no water toilets at Le Boulay, but we'll explain it all to you when you arrive.

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As an extra option, you can choose between a continental (7€ per person) or a hot breakfast (10€ per person).​

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The organic continental breakfast has bread, brioche, yoghurt, and homemade spreads.

The hot breakfast is an organic English breakfast, with sausages and bacon (from Blue Pig Farm),  scrambled eggs (from our farm), and seasonal greens.

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Vegetarian/vegan option is available on request (at the time of booking).

Not that we’ve seen, but there’s two kinds of snakes in the region, one of which is a bit poisonous (the viper) so it’s best not to lift any big rocks where they could be sleeping under on hot days. You might rarely spot some snakes on the road while cycling or walking but they won’t move, it's better you don’t approach them, just like any other wild animal, and you won’t take any risk. There are bees, wasps, hornets and other flying things around so if you're allergic, you’ll need to be careful.

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We often get questions about how we garden, and we often talk about permaculture. The term permaculture (coming from permanent culture) invites us to think about how to cultivate in a sustainable way. By planting perennials (or not too needy plants), work on different heights to save space, like beans climbing on corn, very simple and easy techniques that prevent us from extra work and expenses. We try to avoid watering and generously cover the beds with last year's hay that animals won’t be using. We don't turn the soil. We don’t practice magic and aren't all-knowing, we sometimes follow the moon calendar when we can, and never use pesticide, fungicide or external chemicals. The results are as unpredictable as mother nature and we're ok with it, even if it's frustrating to share your meal with slugs or rabbits. We're hoping to plan enough the following year for both them and us, or to manage to distract them better.

The idea with permaculture is that everything is here for a reason, we work with nature and don't try to control her. We observe within our context, we learn and adapt. We associate plants and flowers together that help each other to grow. It’s a conception model. Not sure we can answer this simple question here altogether but we tried!

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We're lucky to have a local store in the centre of Le Bourg D'Iré called Les Toques De Papa, where Johnny welcomes and advises you on the local, bulk and/or organic products. He even offers takeaway meals on weekends (must be booked in advance) as well as fun cooking classes (also to be booked in advance)! Only 20mins by foot (10mins by bike).

L'Auberge de la Diligence, a Michelin star restaurant, is a few minutes drive away. L'Auberge de L'Ombreée is also 10 mins drive away.

Within 15mins drive, you can find all the necessary shops, supermarkets and other restaurants in Segré, as well as local markets on Wednesday and Saturday mornings, and Friday evenings.

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Fancy a picnic on your local visits ? If you let us know in advance, we can take care of it!

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See previous answer...just kidding, of course your children are welcome at Le Boulay. However, like in any other farm there are quite a few hazardous areas around the property, like the unprotected natural pond, the open barn with dangerous sharp tools, tractors, and some old ruins that could fall more if played with.

Parents are in charge and responsible for their children and they must be accompanied at all times. Same rules go for games and activities that are available during your stay.

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The only thing you'll need to do is clean any dishes that you may have used.

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Please use the products provided as we have a natural plant filtration system for grey water and we don't use any chemicals as they'll kill the plants.

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We'd appreciate it if you could leave La Tiny Kiwi in a similar way that you arrived.

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You can arrive on the day of your booking any time from 2pm. If you could let us know an approximate time you'll arrive, that would be much appreciated.

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On the day of departure, you'll need to leave by 10am, unless we've agreed together on another time.

The amazing team at Baluchon made La Tiny Kiwi for us. We had an initial meeting with them where we talked about what we wanted and they came up with the initial concept for La Tiny Kiwi. Then we talked about a few changes and we agreed on the plan. Next, they organised all the materials and started building. We went to their workshop every two weeks during construction to watch the transformation take place. It was incredible. Then in August 2020, Laëtitia et Vincent delivered La Tiny Kiwi to Le Boulay and we couldn't be happier with the results. You can find more details about the materials used and the technical details on La Tiny Kiwi page of their website.

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If you'd like to ask us anything else, please send us a message on our Contact page, send us an email at le_boulay@outlook.com, or contact us via Instagram or Facebook.