Les Chaluts - portside hideaway cottage in Marseillan

Discover Marseillan's Port Tabarka, only yards from many and varied restaurants of more bustling quaysides.

Here fishermen and villagers spend their days and evenings. A working port with the sleepy backdrop of fishermen and sailors preparing their boats and nets.

Summer oyster fairs and concerts by the water's edge; winter and spring hours spent buffing, sanding and painting their boats in the sunshine; year-round angling from the rocks of the breakwater in silent solitude.

Oyster-boats and modest pleasure craft, fishermen's sheds and the masts of sailing vessels frame the sea views from the outside dining terrace of this cosy two-bedroom, two-storey cottage.

Through the front door to the welcoming ground floor salon-sejour with its smart modern corner kitchenette, complete with microwave, mini-oven/grill, twin-hob, fridge and worksurfaces. A washing machine is tucked away in the pantry.

Choose to eat outside and watch the daily life of the port or inside around the dining table. Flop in the comfy lounge area, with its TV & DVD player. And bedtime awaits, a double and a twin room and their shower/wc on the first floor.

Shop for local specialities. Oysters from Monsieur Azaïs or Monsieur Ricard, freshest home made pastas and savouries from Philippe Epicier and a bottle of something memorable from La Taverne du Port or the nearest cellars to the house, the always imaginative Madeleine St Jean, whose red-walled warehouse is just behind the house. Then again you could take a slow stroll past the little boatyard and around the corner to the pleasure port or up to the village streets and squares.

The walk itself is a fabulous prelude to an aperitif. The new pavement linking Tabarka to the main quaysides passes the iconic Jusqu'au Bout ever moored off-shore and perhaps Rick Stein's Canal du Midi craft Anjodi or her sister craft, the Athos, tied up midweek by the little jetty.

Dine along the quayside at Entre Ciel et Mer or mingle with the well-heeled across the port at the foodie-fave Château du Port where Laetitia Chicheportiche carries on the family welcome created by her parents Charley and Patricia; Discover unexpected and memorable local wines at the Taverne or head into the village for flame grilled steaks and gambas at the Boulevard or fine dining under the brick vaulted ceiling of the gastronomic Table d'Emilie. As the sun sets over the rigging treat yourself to a crêpe or two chez Camille or simply sip away the hours at a cafe or brasserie table in peak summer as the locals indulge in water jousting or the eccentric Marseillanais sport of Lou Capelet.

You could even take the car

All reservations must be accompanied by a 25% deposit. Balance 8 weeks before arrival. We also require a security deposit against breakages of £150 sterling or €200 euros, refunded a week after departure. Our summer sterling rate is just £500 and midweason £350, with winter breaks from £260.

Upstairs to a double bedroom with views of the port, a good-sized twin-bedroom and the shower / wc.

There is only one question to ask yourself when you treat yourself to a stay at Les Chaluts:

Are we eating in or dining out tonight?

If you decide to stay at home and raise a glass to the setting sun over the masts of the sailing boats, then the fun is to be had in shopping for the freshest local ingredients