Want to disconnect? How about going Green BnB? We invite you to share a 100% Organic, Natural and vegetarian lifestyle, for a nature break in the Viaur Valley, in Aveyron-Ségala. In our eco-friendly and vegetarian guest house, we welcome slow experiential tourism enthusiasts, nature and wellness bathers, tree lovers, bird lovers, whitewater lovers - and especially you if that's all you are! The space THE HOUSE is an old barn/stable, which we have been finishing furnishing since our arrival in spring 2017, with equipment chosen for its lower carbon and energy impact, healthy materials for the environment and its inhabitants, a lot of recycling and even more elbow grease! Want to see more? Visit our website by typing La Vie au Grand Vert in your search engine. THE GRANDE OUEST ROOM We offer a large double room with cathedral ceiling with a 160 cm bed and a bathroom, with private access to dry toilets on the landing... and above all a breathtaking view of the hills of the valley! Bedding and linens are made of natural or organic materials as well as paints, stains and varnishes used for renovation. Breakfasts are usually served on the terrace, facing the grandiose spectacle of the Viaur Valley, or in our large kitchen in case of a cool spell. Bread, spreads, yogurts, granola, cakes... everything is homemade (including some of our cleaning and hygiene products). If you wish to add the evening meal, we suggest you share at our table d'hôtes a healthy and vegetarian homemade cuisine, based on fresh products (partly from our garden), organic, local or from fair trade. We prefer the use of healthy utensils and cooking methods in the kitchen and try to ban plastic. Vegan, gluten-free, lactose-free? Ask us, we know how to adapt! Guest access OUR GUEST HOUSE is perched in a very small hamlet, on the southern slope of the Viaur valley, near Najac, in Aveyron. Far from the noise of the world without being far from everything, the heart of Occitania always has some "most beautiful village in France" or "Grand site of Midi Pyrénées" in store for you, including Laguépie (10 min), Cordes sur Ciel (20 min), Villefranche de Rouergue (20 min), Saint Antonin Noble Val (30 min), Monestiès (35 min) or Albi (50 min). Also worth seeing if you have time: the bastide of Villefranche-de-Rouergue on a market day (Thursday), the village of Belcastel overlooking the Aveyron river, the vineyards of Marcillac and Gaillac... In this haven of greenery with an incredible view of the beautiful Viaur valley, we welcome you to our home, in our guest rooms, according to the original spirit of the guest house. It is therefore neither that of a hotel nor quite that of a classic "charming" bed and breakfast... Please respect our privacy by using only the interior spaces shared to receive you: the reception, your room, toilet and shower room and the kitchen, where meals are served in case of bad weather, which also gives free access to the terrace and outdoors. You can freely park your vehicle in the alleys leading to the house, either to the left or to the right of the welcome sign (space shared with the Gîte du Phénix). Activities easily accessible in the surrounding area: hiking on the GR and trails, mountain biking, horseback riding, tennis, golf, paragliding, climbing, via ferrata, swimming in the Viaur, swimming pool in Najac, canoeing, kayaking and white water rafting, river and lake fishing… More chic: hot air balloon flight! During your stay It is a pleasure to share with you our aspirations and inspirations for a lifestyle in conscious harmony with Nature: well-being, health, natural food and gardening, personal development, healthy habitat, ecological issues, zero waste approach... And of course all the good addresses, visits, activities and hikes to discover nearby - tested and approved by the house. Starting with the organic locavore crêperie-guinguette just down the road! Other things to note We make every effort to make you feel good at our place, but if you want to go even further in wellness, let yourself be tempted by one of Nadia's fabulous massages. She has been practicing this art professionally for about fifteen years and has set up her practice right at the entrance to the house. It's hard to get any closer! OUR ECOLOGICAL COMMITMENTS Our ambition is to make La Vie au Grand Vert an eco-halt in transition towards zero-waste, food and energy autonomy, and the least carbon impact. We experience a "slow" lifestyle on a daily basis: good (for the body and mind), clean (for the planet) and fair (for people). Day after day, step-by-step, on our small scale, we aspire to transform ourselves to "embody the change we want to see in the world". DISCONNECT… silence, we breathe! La Vie au Grand Vert is a eulogy to slowness. Welcome to anyone looking for a beach of serenity, calm and natural beauty in a life under constant pressure. • We encourage you to turn off your mobile phone, for as long as you deem it tenable and profitable. • We invite you to listen, to communicate "in real life" between you and with the Nature that surrounds you. • We don't have a TV! But we invite you every evening to the spectacle of the stars, without any other interfering light source and a unique quality of silence... populated by birdsong and the thousand rustles of a generous biodiversity! REDUCING OUR IMPACT on the Earth Here we garden, we cook, we sort, we compost, we recycle, we reduce... and we learn every day! • Bread, pie and spread dough, yogurts, cakes, tomato sauces, pestos, spreads for aperitifs, muesli or granola, etc., are homemade. • We use cleaning and hygiene products limited to what is strictly necessary. They are homemade or ecological, free of controversial substances or endocrine disruptors and compatible with our phyto-purification system. We invite you to do the same during your stay. • We work as much as possible with local artisans and materials, prefer sustainable to planned obsolescence, favor bulk, recovery and second-hand purchases, try to limit the purchase of new manufactured products as much as possible... • La Vie au Grand Vert is an LPO refuge and hunting is not allowed. • We strive to cultivate our garden according to the systems put in place by the Living (and without phyto products). The sanitation of the house is done by lagooning, without the addition of chemicals (phyto-purification). CULTIVATE HEALTH THROUGH FOOD and the environment We offer an exclusively vegetarian cuisine composed of 100% fresh, organic, fair trade or permaculture products, in a "healthy AND good" approach. Adaptation to vegan, gluten/lactose-free diets, raw raw, juice… or fasting options. Please let us know about your intolerances, allergies or preferences at least 48 hours before your arrival. • We give priority to local and seasonal produce, fruits and vegetables from the garden. Wild harvests in addition, according to blooms and growth. • For other products - dry groceries, consumables, hygiene - industrial manufacturing is avoided whenever possible. • We have made the choice of healthy utensils and cooking methods and try as much as possible to banish plastic from our kitchen – and more generally from our lives (it's hard)! • The water we drink and cook with is filtered by ceramic and activated carbon (99% filtration of bacteria, fungi, viruses, pesticides, drug residues, heavy metals, limestone). Drilling a small spring allows us to fill our water collection tanks to water the garden when they are empty. • We do not have a box so no Wi-Fi adding a source of electromagnetic We pick up the 3G or 4G network of our phones to connect when we need it and therefore invite you to do the same during your stay. USE NATURAL MATERIALS for renovation and maintenance of the premises • Whenever possible, we choose natural, untreated, biodegradable materials, non-polluting, non-allergenic paints, stains and varnishes. • Bedding and linens are made of natural bio-based or recycled materials (latex, organic cotton, recycled wool plaids, etc.). • The whole place has been energetically harmonized with a geobiologist, we have also applied some Feng Shui principles to the layout. The entire area has a strong grounding, energetically beneficial and soothing. LIMITING WASTE of food and energy • We cook as much of our fruits and vegetables as possible, the green of the leeks, the tops of the carrots, radishes and other beets… and the leftovers if there are any! Surpluses are shared with neighbors, a few jars, the solar dryer or the freezer, a method of preservation that seems to us the most respectful of the nutritional qualities of food. • We collect rainwater for watering the garden and (also) use dry toilets. Our showers are equipped with high-performance water-saving showers. In the family bathroom, a fun and educational meter even tells you your consumption, to the nearest centiliter. WARNING: the water is very hot and the flow is powerful! • We produce our own electricity and solar hot water and the house is fully wood-fired. On some gray and off-season days, the most sensitive may need to bring a light sweater! Of course, all the appliances we have selected are energy efficient (class A++ minimum) and we are gradually replacing all the lighting in place with LEDs. SHARE OUR EXPERIENCES We want to share a little more than good addresses with you, hoping that your stay with us will be an opportunity to discover and adopt (or not) eco-friendly actions and practices with a positive impact. We provide you with a selection of information, magazines and reference books on the themes that feed our thinking: eco-construction, ecology, personal development, zero waste approach, permaculture, natural health, VG cuisine... And of course, if you feel like "getting your hands in the ground", the garden is waiting for you.