About Us

The stream.

Rolling Normandy countryside

Beautiful scenery

A restful environment.

La Fonte is a truly beautiful lake, set in the idyllic Orne region of Normandy, in the heart of the National Parc Du Perche conservation area.  The 10-acre lake stands within its own grounds of around 17 acres, and nestles cosily in a quiet, pretty valley, offering the perfect setting for peace and relaxation. The restful location is embraced by the interesting variety of plants and wildlife, making La Fonte an ‘idyllic hunting-ground’!  This marvellous venue was created by the previous owners John & Alison, in 2006, and was successfully run for the following five years, before they made the decision to leave France and become 'full time grand-parents'!  I became the new proud owner of the property in December 2011, and looked forward very much to running La Fonte.  I, Philippe live just a few miles from the lake, and Joanne Beeker, who will welcome you to the venue and prepare any meals that you may have ordered, lives next door to the venue. We also both speak very good English.  I am very impressed by the work that John & Alison have done, in creating such a great fishing venue, and hope to provide the same quality of service  for which La Fonte is renowned.

It took many years of searching, to discover such a stunning lake, before, existing only in their dreams. On their first visit to the lake, they entered the picturesque valley, and saw the lake glistening in the sun; and knew then that they had to buy it!  From that moment on, it just got better and better. They strolled around the tree-lined lake, and listened excitedly as the owner told them it’s history.

The lake is over 280 years old, dating back to the 17th Century, and had a few years earlier, been run as a Trout fishery. Archives show it was heavily stocked in 1994, with Carp from 10 to 40lbs,  (they are probably Great Great Grandparents now!), but despite this stocking, the lake had never before been seriously fished for Carp. To enhance this, John & Alison introduced over 4 tons of fish (up to November - 06), including some very pretty fully scaled Carp, from 15lbs to 36lbs, mixed high 40lbs, and some awesome 50lbs!

Our beautiful grounds

After purchasing the lake, work was started immediately, concentrating on the preparation needed to be able to welcome guests, and create the envisaged near-perfect fishing experience. 

Sunset tranquility

John & Alison originally planned to ‘open the doors’ of the new venue in 2007, and invited just a few friends and loyal customers, but then soon discovered that word had got around about the new venue, and the diary soon began to fill!  Some customers who had already visited  in 2006, re-booked their second trip for that same year. As a decision was made not to  run any form of advertising for the lake, you can appreciate how pleasing this was for John & Alison.  With such an exciting start to the new venue, they were privalaged, that 2006 and 2007 became fully booked, with 2008 and 2009 following suit.  This continued into 2010/11.